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Tulane Receives $7.07 Million NIH Grant To Develop Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Detection Kits
Researchers at Tulane University, in collaboration with Corgenix Medical Corporation, a worldwide developer and marketer of diagnostic test kits, have received a five-year $7,073,538 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for continued development of detection kits for Lassa viral hemorrhagic fever, a serious disease spread by contact with infected rodents. Viral hemorrhagic fevers are characterized by fever and bleeding disorders and can progress to high fever and shock. Lassa fever is estimated to infect 300,000 to 500,000 people per year across West Africa, resulting in approximately 5,000 deaths.
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Heating Heart With Catheter Better Than Drugs For Common Heart Rhythm Disorder
Treating a common heart rhythm disorder by burning heart tissue with a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments, a major international study has found.
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Insured Immigrants Have Lower Medical Costs Than U.S.-Born Citizens, Study Finds
Insured immigrants have lower medical expenses than insured U.S.-born citizens after taking into account their health status and other characteristics, according to a study released on Thursday and published in the American Journal of Public Health, Reuters Health reports. For the study, Leighton Ku, a health policy researcher at George Washington University, and colleagues examined data on adults ages 19 to 64 from the 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, and found that about 44% of recent immigrants and 63% of established immigrants were insured.After controlling for possible contributing factors, researchers found that medical costs averaged about 14% to 20% less than those who were born in the U.S. The finding was the same even after taking into account lower insurance levels among immigrants. Ku said, "When you control for their health status and all sorts of characteristics like age, they actually have medical expenditures that are far below those of U.S. citizens." According to the study, "Being a recent immigrant or an established immigrant was independently associated with both a reduced likelihood of using any medical care in the year and with lower total medical expenditure levels, compared with U.S.-born adults" (Reuters Health, 5/14).
Sexual Health

Common Cancer Drug May Increase Risk Of Deadly GI Perforations

Cancer patients treated with the widely used drug bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with chemotherapy are at greater risk of life-thereatening gastrointestinal (GI) perforations. This is the conclusion of Shenhong Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Principal Investigator, and colleagues at Stony Brook University Medical Center, in a study published online and in the June print issue of The Lancet Oncology. Bevacizumab is an angiogenesis inhibitor that slows down the growth of tumors by cutting off their blood supply. The agent has been shown to be effective in treating many forms of cancer, including colorectal cancer, renal cell cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer. There has been concern about the use of bevacizumab and GI perforations, which are dangerous holes that develop in the stomach, small intestine or large bowel. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a black-box warning to discontinue bevacizumab in patients with GI perforations. However, a link between the use of bevacizumab in cancer patients and GI perforations had not been established until the SBUMC study results. "Our study establishes a significant association between the use of bevacizumab in cancer patients and the risk for GI perforations, one in which the risk of GI perforations was double that in those taking the medication compared to those taking a control medication," says Dr. Wu, Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology. "We hope the study results will help to identify a subset of patients receiving bevacizumab at high risk of bevacizumab-associated perforation." In "Risk of gastrointestinal perforation in patients with cancer treated with bevacizumab: a meta-analysis," Dr. Wu and colleagues completed a systematic review and meta-analysis of 17 randomized controlled trials involving 12,294 patients with various types of solid tumors to assess the role of bevacizumab in GI perforation. The overall incidence of GI perforation among patients receiving bevacizumab was 0.9%. Of those patients with a GI perforation, the mortality rate was extremely high at 21.7 percent. The study results revealed that risk varied with bevacizumab dose and tumor type. The higher the dose of the agent, the greater the risk for GI perforation. Patients taking 2.5 mg/kg per week of bevacizumab were 61 percent more likely to have a perforation. Patients receiving the highest dose (5 mg/kg per week) had a 167 percent higher risk. The highest risks for GI perforation were found in patients with advanced colorectal cancer and renal cell cancer. The lowest risk was in patients with pancreatic cancer. The authors believe that because bevacizumab is extensively used in routine cancer treatment and the risk for GI perforation is significant in patients, it is increasingly important to recognize symptoms indicating perforation and intervene to reduce morbidity and mortality. In addition, they recommend further studies to "investigate risk reduction, and the possible use of bevacizumab in selected patients who have recovered from GI perforation." Dr. Wu"s co-authors at SBUMC include Sanjaykumar Hapani, M.D., and David Chu, M.D. The study was funded in part by the Stony Brook University Research Foundation. Stony Brook University Medical Center


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