Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Hospitalized Kids Often Victims of Drug Mishaps
About one of every 15 hospitalized children is the victim of a drug mix-up, accidental overdose, or medication reaction, a new study estimates.
That number far exceeds earlier estimates, the Associated Press reported. The finding follows the well-publicized case of actor Dennis Quaid, whose newborn twins were accidentally overdosed at a Los Angeles hospital with the blood thinning drug, heparin. The infants have recovered from the life-threatening incident.
In the new study, Dr. Charles Homer of the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality used new detection methods to conclude that 540,000 hospitalized children each year are victim of a drug-related harmful event.
More than half of the problems cited involved overdoses or allergic reactions to painkillers.
Homer and his colleagues, writing in the April issue of the journal Pediatrics, said their findings confirm the need for "aggressive, evidence-based prevention strategies to decrease the substantial risk for medication-related harm to our pediatric inpatient population."
Experts cited by the AP said the problem could well be bigger than the study concluded, since researchers reviewed only selected cases and hospitals.
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Millions Endangered by Global Climate Change
Global climate change -- including rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns -- could expose millions of people worldwide to poverty, disease and hunger, the World Health Organization said Monday.
A rise in malaria-carrying mosquitoes, notably in the cooler climates of South Korea and portions of Papua New Guinea, is an ominous sign that global warming has already begun to impact human health, the WHO said.
Hotter weather tends to shorten the breeding cycle of mosquitoes, allowing them to breed much faster and increase the risk of disease, the Associated Press quoted WHO Director Shigeru Omi as saying.
"Without urgent action through changes in human lifestyle, the effects of this phenomenon on the global climate system could be abrupt or even irreversible, sparing no country and causing more frequent and more intense heat waves, rain storms, tropical cyclones and surges in sea level," he predicted.
Residents of poorer countries are particularly vulnerable, since they already face widespread malnutrition among other serious health issues, Omi said.
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Some Teaching Hospitals Cost More Than Others: Study
The U.S. government is paying nearly four times the price to care for chronically ill people at certain teaching hospitals than at other teaching institutions, new research concludes.
The evaluation of Medicare spending to care for chronically ill elderly and disabled people was done by researchers at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice.
The authors concluded that the government could save billions if some hospitals practiced more efficiently, USA Today reported Monday.
Teaching hospitals usually are associated with medical schools and allow new doctors to deal with complex medical cases and use new technologies.
The researchers evaluated cases that ended in death involving 192,242 Medicare patients between 2001-2005. All had at least one of nine chronic ailments such as heart disease or diabetes. Factors evaluated included the length of hospitalization, the number of doctors involved, and time spent in the intensive care unit.
Among the 93 teaching hospitals included, the average cost for hospitalization over a patient's last two years of life was $67,369, the study found.
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Norovirus Strikes 65 Attendees at Medical Meeting
A common gastrointestinal virus associated with facilities where many people congregate to eat and drink was in the news with an ironic twist over the weekend.
About 65 people attending a medical convention became ill late Thursday and Friday after leaving the meeting at the newly-opened Gaylord resort in Oxon Hill, Md., outside Washington, D.C., the Washington Post reported.
The first reports of illness -- primarily nausea -- came as a medical alert from Reagan International Airport late Thursday from attendees who were waiting for flights home, the Post said. According to local health officials, 14 people who had attended the medical meeting became ill at the airport, and the others later reported the same symptoms after arriving home.
Those 14 were taken to local hospitals and treated, the newspaper said, while another seven were given assistance at the airport but not hospitalized. A cause of the illness, known as norovirus, had not been determined, the Post reported, but the Gaylord had begun an extensive cleaning of its guests room and public gathering areas. More than 350 people attended the medical meeting, the Post reported.
Norovirus causes the stomach and intestines to become inflamed, according to the U.S.Centers for Disease Control, and Prevention. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The virus is not usually life-threatening, the CDC says, and is caused by coming in contact -- usually by touching -- with contaminated food or liquids, tainted objects or being in contact with an infected person.
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1-in-4 Repeat Iraq Combat Vets Suffering Mental Stress, Army Report Says
More than 25 percent of U.S. Army combat troops who have been deployed to Iraq more than once are suffering from anxiety, depression, or acute stress, The New York Times reports.
Citing an official Army survey of 2,295 anonymous Iraq veterans and additional interviews with soldiers who served in combat brigades, the newspaper cites Army commanders as being concerned about the morale and mental well-being in two particular categories: sergeants who often have frontline responsibility and captains, who comprise the future of the Army's command staff.
Since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, about 513,000 active-duty soldiers have served in Iraq, and more than 197,000 have deployed two or more times, the newspaper reports. For soldiers who have gone to Iraq more than twice, the study showed that 27 percent of noncommissioned officers exhibited post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, which can cause disorientation and an inability to function properly during the stress of combat, the Times reports.
And because any significant troop withdrawals from Iraq seem unlikely during the remainder of the Bush administration, Army top brass are struggling with how to handle the situation.
"Lengthy and repeated deployments with insufficient recovery time have placed incredible stress on our soldiers and our families, testing the resolve of our all-volunteer force like never before," Army vice chief of staff Gen. Richard A. Cody, told a Congressional committee last week, the Times reported.
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Olympics President: Beijing Smog May Affect Athletes' Performances
Talk about your good news-bad news scenario:
International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge told the Associated Press over the weekend that the bad air pollution in Beijing should not endanger the health of the athletes who compete in China this summer. But, he added, the smog may adversely affect their performances.
Chinese authorities have promised to solve the smog problem before the Olympic Games begin in August, the AP reported, but Rogge wasn't so certain. "It might be that some [competitors] will have to have a slightly reduced performance, but nothing will harm the health of the athletes. The IOC will take care of that," he is quoted as saying.
The world's most-acclaimed marathon runner, Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, has said he won't compete in that event in the 2008 Olympics because of the smog, the wire service reported. Roggee told the A.P. that Gebrselassie is "slightly asthmatic," but that he might change his mind.
"I would say, wait and see ... when he sees the data that we are providing for them," the wire service quotes Rogge as saying. The Olympics Committee president has earlier said that there might be delays in outdoor events if the smog gets too bad, the AP reported.
