National News  | Mistake Prompts State to Test Dozens for HIV, Hepatitis CONNECTICUT :: HIV/AIDS,Viral Hepatitis
NBC Connecticut (WVIT-HD) (08.23.2013) :: By Sabina Kuriakose | | | Up to 74 diabetic inmates at the MacDougall-Walker State Prison in Connecticut may have been exposed to hepatitis C and other infectious diseases when a nurse put a contaminated needle into an insulin vial, according to court records. The nurse stuck an inmate with a needle but realized she hadn’t yet filled it with insulin. She then put the same needle into the vial before injecting insulin into the inmate, who also had hepatitis C; the vial was then used on dozens of other diabetic inmates, the documents detailed.
The inmates were first informed of the contamination in a letter dated May 28 that requested inmates to voluntarily be tested for three infections: hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV, but gave few other details. A local television station was asked by family members of one inmate to investigate further because their relative was “scared and he was upset and he was crying,” according to the inmate’s sister-in-law.
The medical error was detailed in court records because the Department of Corrections requested a judge to force the inmates to take a blood test for HIV. The inmate at the center of the scare has since tested negative for HIV and hepatitis B, which prompted the agency to send an additional letter dated June 20 that stated “the transmission of HIV or Hepatitis B is unlikely. There is still the concern for the transmission of Hepatitis C.”
The University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center, which manages inmate health care for all Connecticut state prisons, said they are still investigating the incident and that the nurse in question had been put on administrative leave. A letter from UConn stated in part, “all appropriate notifications have been made and protocols followed. This includes a pending…joint investigation, which limits disclosure of additional details. The risk of an infectious disease contracted as a result of this is considered extremely low, and all tests so far have been negative.” The state is continuing to test the inmates.
|  Read Full Article | Share this Article     | | Back to Top  |  | | International News  | Doctors Aim to Beat Hepatitis C Battle NEW ZEALAND :: Viral Hepatitis
The Wellingtonian (08.22.2013) :: By Caroline Brown | | | The Hepatitis Foundation of New Zealand has launched a pilot program that would test the effectiveness of a new hepatitis C treatment among patients in the Wellington, Hutt, Wairarapa, and Bay of Plenty District Health Boards. The novel treatment would consist of a daily pill that would cure “all” hepatitis C-infected people, in comparison to the traditional treatment, which consists of weekly injections and daily pills. Wellington Hospital gastroenterologist Dr. Reese Cameron stated that traditional treatment has “nasty” side effects, like depression, and has cured only 50 to 60 percent of hepatitis C infections. If the pilot proves successful, the Hepatitis Foundation plans to expand the program to the entire nation.
Cameron explained that hepatitis C transfers only through blood-to-blood contact, and most hepatitis C-infected people in New Zealand are injection drug users. The new one-pill-a-day treatment regimen would have none of the side effects of traditional treatment and would be more compatible with the lifestyle of his patients.
Approximately 50,000 New Zealanders had hepatitis C, according to Cameron. Because the virus caused few symptoms other than fatigue, people often lived with hepatitis C for 10–30 years and developed advanced liver disease before being diagnosed. Hepatitis C was the primary reason for liver transplants in most developed nations.
The pilot program followed the Hepatitis Foundation’s “Can You Say Yes” hepatitis C testing campaign. John Hornell, the Hepatitis Foundation’s Chief Executive Officer, listed key risk factors for hepatitis C infection: intravenous drug use, unsterile tattoo or piercing equipment, or medical treatment overseas.
| | Read Full Article | Share this Article | | Back to Top | | | Medical News  | New Strategy Tests for Lethal Stage of TB in Asia PAKISTAN :: TB
Medical Xpress (08.21.2013) | | | A new TB screening method to diagnose active TB was introduced to screen more than 20,000 people in Pakistan. The test looks for antibodies that are present in the blood of individuals fighting active TB. Currently, TB is diagnosed by examining a sputum sample under a microscope to identify the TB bacterium, which only detects approximately 50 percent of cases of active TB. The new test is expected to find almost 80 percent of cases and uses a few drops of blood. Results are available in two hours compared to the sputum test, which requires three sputum samples collected over three days. Peoples’ immune systems do not always produce the same kind of antibodies in reaction to the TB bacterium; hence, the system screens for eight to 10 key antibodies.
The new test is based on a diagnostic instrument approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and developed by the University of California Davis Medical Center in collaboration with colleagues in Pakistan. The preliminary trials funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were published in the journal Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. A grant from the US State Department and USAID will be used to develop and commercialize the test in collaboration with the Forman Christian College in Pakistan.
Since children have difficulty providing sputum samples, they are often not screened. Also, an individual can have extrapulmonary TB, which is not detected with sputum screening. These two groups represent 20 percent of cases that are usually not diagnosed, but now their disease can be detected with the new test. Another technique used in some clinics is growing a culture from a sputum sample before the sample is examined. The culture test can take two months compared to the new technique that can analyze approximately 100 samples in two hours. As a result, a large number of people can be tested and begin early treatment.
The initial cost of the antibody testing machines is high, but because more people can be tested, the cost per patient is similar to that of the microscopy test. Three hospitals in different regions of Pakistan will share the machine. The machine can also test blood samples that were dried on filter paper and sent from rural clinics to a major urban hospital.
Imran Khan, assistant professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Center for Comparative Medicine at UC Davis Medical Center, and colleagues are working on a second method that screens for certain immunomodulators. Testing for antibodies and immunomodulators can improve the new strategy’s rate of TB diagnosis to 90 percent. The team is also developing a third test using the same diagnostic screening platform to detect drug-resistant TB strains. | | Read Full Article | Share this Article | | Back to Top | | | Local and Community News  | Safer Sex this Weekend with Condom Nation in Fort Worth TEXAS :: HIV/AIDS,STDs
Fort Mill Times (08.22.2013) | | | The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) announced two Fort Worth, Texas, events to close out the Condom Nation Big Rig Tour that featured HIV testing and free condom distribution. The Texas mini-tour, which also included four stops in Dallas, was part of an AHF nationwide tour that began in Los Angeles on March 10.
Based in an 18-wheel, custom-wrapped big rig, the AHF team collaborated with government and nonprofit organizations at events in Texas, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Condom Nation Program Manager Marco Benjamin stated that the tour aimed to make condoms available and to de-stigmatize having, selling, and giving away condoms. The AHF team distributed more than two million free condoms and provided HIV testing for hundreds of people during the nationwide tour.
The final events in Fort Worth include a collaboration with the AIDS Outreach Center from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Saturday, August 24, at the Poly Sub-Courthouse, located at 3500 Miller Avenue, and a Hip Hop for HIV Concert by radio channel 97.9 The Beat, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Fort Worth Convention Center, located at 1201 Houston Street.
The Condom Nation Big Rig Tour on-the-road contact was Marco Benjamin, Condom Nation Program Manager, (347) 577-2757. In Los Angeles, the AHF Marketing and Communications Coordinator was Kyveli Diener, (310) 779-4796 (mobile) or (323) 960-4846 (office). AHF Texas Regional Director was Bret Camp, (469) 534-0393.
CDC reported 20 million new STD cases annually, approximately half of which occurred among people aged 15–24. The associated health care cost was approximately $16 billion per year. | | Read Full Article | Share this Article | | Back to Top | | | News Briefs  | AHF Partners with Florida Department of Health on New Wellness Center FLORIDA :: HIV/AIDS,STDs
Fort Mill Times (08.22.2013) | | | AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest nonprofit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider in the United States, is partnering with the Florida Department of Health to provide free testing and treatment for HIV, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea at the new Broward Wellness Center located in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., beginning September 3. The facility will host a grand opening ceremony on August 26 at 10:00 a.m. when Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) and AHF President Michael Weinstein open the center with an official ribbon cutting. Hours of operation for the center will be Mondays and Fridays, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Tuesdays through Thursdays, from 12:00 noon to 9:00 p.m., with walk-ins welcome. | | Read Full Article | Share this Article | | Back to Top | | | | | |
8/23/2013
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