The World Health Organization (WHO) released a report last week stating that alcohol-based hand cleaners for hospital staff, could save thousands of dollars in healthcare costs, by reducing patient [tag-tec]infection[/tag-tec] and need to treat those infections.
As you may know, people with poor immune systems often become worse in the hospital due to transmission of germs and [tag-ice]infections[/tag-ice] within the hospital environment.
Estimates suggest that 1.4 million people (worldwide) are sick at any moment due to infections they catch in hospitals.
Up to 10 percent of those who catch an infection will die as a result, according to WHO officials.
Many of these illnesses could be prevented by using alcohol based cleaners in health care settings.
Easier to use than soap and water, and in fact, probably more hygienic than the water in some developing nations, it seems that this one simple change to current practice would be good for patients and doctors alike.
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In early October, 2006, the drug Zolinza was approved by the FDA to treat CTCL (cutaneous T-cell lymphoma), a rare form of skin cancer.
Zolinza is permitted for use if the disease gets worse, persists, or recurs after treatment with other skin cancer medications. CTCL impacts about 3 in 1 million Americans per year, and was thus approved under the FDA’s Orphan Drug Program, which offer companies incentives for treating diseases which affect fewer than 200,000 Americans each year.
Zolinza is manufactured by Pantheon, Inc., for the drug giant Merck & Co.
The drug is not recommended for pregnant women, as animal studies indicate it could cause fetal harm.
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Gaithersburg, MD based Iomai Corp. has just begun testing two types of skin patch vaccines, one to prevent the flu, and the other to prevent travelers’ diarrhea. Tests are being conducted on hundreds of volunteers, with funding and assistance from The National Institutes of Health.
The National Institutes of Health is interested in skin patch research (also called transdermal delivery mechanisms) as skin patch vaccines may replace some existing vaccine technologies, and may be used to provide an extra boost to others when needed (such as in the case of a super-bug or pandemic).
If the skin patch works for one disease, it is believed that it could be adjusted to deliver multiple kinds of vaccines. Iomai has funding from the Department of Defense to help develop a patch to prevent anthrax.
Most of today’s vaccines are injected into the muscle, though getting the vaccine just under the skin would be enough. Recent research using small needles to place flu vaccine just inside the skin found that lower doses of the vaccine were needed for full protection. Smaller doses of vaccine, with no loss in protection, could potentially save millions of dollars in healthcare costs.
The Iomai patches work very simply- the top layer of skin is scuffed away, such as with an emery board, and the patch is pasted to this area for several hours. Specialized (Langerhans) cells recognize the presence of foreign invaders and activate the immune system.
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