Health Headlines - August 30

Gulf Coast Births Fell Post-Katrina

Births plummeted in most of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in the 12 months after the catastrophic storm, a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.

Overall, in 14 coastal counties and parishes of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, births declined 19 percent in the year after the hurricane compared with the year before the storm, according to a review of birth certificates filed in Federal Emergency Management Agency-designated areas of the Gulf Coast.

In the selected parishes of Louisiana, births dropped 30 percent and in Mississippi, 13 percent. But births increased 6 percent in the selected areas of Alabama.

Other findings:

Births in the chosen parishes of Louisiana plunged 51 percent among non-Hispanic black women, 21 percent for Hispanic women, 34 percent for Asian/Pacific Islanders and 14 percent for non-Hispanic whites.

Among non-Hispanic black women in Orleans Parish, the central parish of New Orleans, the proportion of total births fell from 78 percent before the storm to 60 percent afterward.

The proportion of teen births was unchanged, except in the Louisiana counties where teen births fell 11 percent.

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UN Wary of Swine Flu in Birds

Now that the H1N1 swine flu has spread to turkeys in Chile, the UN is concerned that poultry farms around the world could become infected, BBC News reports.

Although swine flu is no deadlier than the seasonal flu, scientists worry that it could mix with more dangerous strains. Already it has spread from humans to pigs. Last week's discovery of the virus in turkeys on two farms near the seaport of Valparaiso may be a "spillover" from farm workers, experts believe.

Up to now, no cases of H5N1 bird flu have emerged in flocks in Chile. But, "the introduction of H1N1 in these populations would be of greater concern," said Juan Lubroth, interim chief veterinary officer of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. "In Southeast Asia there is a lot of the (H5N1) virus circulating in poultry.

Colin Butter from the Institute for Animal Health in England agrees. "We hope it is a rare event, and we must monitor closely what happens next," he told BBC News.

"However, it is not just about the H5N1 strain. Any further spread of the H1N1 virus between birds, or from birds to humans would not be good," Butter said.

"It might make the virus harder to control, because it would be more likely to change," he said.

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Pregnant Women, New Parents Urged to Get Swine Flu Vaccine

Women who are pregnant and new parents should get the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available this fall, to protect themselves and their children, U.S. health officials said Thursday.

Speaking during a telebriefing, Dr. Anne Schuchat, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said women at any stage of pregnancy should get the shot, the Associated Press reported.

"There's no benefit to waiting until you're out of the first trimester," added Dr. Laura Riley, of Massachusetts General Hospital.

The H1N1 swine flu first appeared in Mexico and the United States in mid-April, and then spread to the southern hemisphere, where winter and the flu season are drawing to a close. The swine flu is expected to return to North America in the fall.

The swine flu, which typically produces mild symptoms and a quick recovery, has shown no signs of mutating into a more dangerous disease.

Vaccines for the regular seasonal flu are already available in many parts of the United States, and testing continues for a swine flu vaccine. The experts urged people Thursday to get both seasonal and swine flu vaccinations, and not wait to get them together, the AP reported.

Asked if there will be swine flu vaccines available without the controversial preservative Thimerosal, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there would be. He said there's no evidence that Thimerosal poses any health threat, but because some people are concerned about it, a form of the vaccine without it will be available, the news service said.

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U.S. Issues New Guidelines for Treating Children With HIV

Experts at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have revised their guidelines on the prevention and treatment of dangerous infections in children with HIV.

The new guidelines -- which update 2004 recommendations -- stress the importance of using powerful antiretroviral drugs to suppress the virus that causes AIDS, and offer guidance on when medicines might be discontinued once a child's immune system recovers.

"The guidelines will help health-care workers and public health officials who work with children to save lives that might otherwise be lost," Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a joint NIH/CDC news release. "The infections that can accompany HIV are often the major cause of illness and death of HIV-infected children."

Children with HIV have depleted immune systems and are therefore vulnerable to so-called "opportunistic" infections, including tuberculosis and pneumonia. These types of infections remain the leading cause of death for HIV-infected children, the news release stated.

The new guidelines, to be published in the Sept. 4 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Report, include:

• a renewed emphasis on the use of antiretroviral drugs to keep HIV at bay,
• advice on managing "immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome," a potentially dangerous over-activity of the immune system which can occur as formerly impaired immune responses rebound under treatment,
• information on drug interactions for children on HIV medications,
• new advice on the use of antibiotics to fight off a form of pneumonia that often threatens newborns suspected of being HIV-positive,
• updated advice on immunizing HIV-positive children against pathogens such as hepatitis and HPV,
• new recommendations that might allow some well-treated, HIV-infected children with newly robust immune systems to discontinue medicines aimed at preventing opportunistic infections. Formerly, experts advised that people stay on these medicines for life.