Showing posts with label Abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abuse. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Common symptoms as good as lab trials to detect AIDS

I wouldn't be surprised by this discovery: our body would be simply reacting in the same way as it would for diseases - generally...
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Clinical symptoms just as good as lab trials for AIDS patients



A young AIDS sufferer
GENEVA - AIDS sufferers whose treatments are assessed by simple clinical signs are almost on a par with those whose therapies are based on advanced laboratory analysis, the World Health Organisation said Friday.

A new study published in the British medical journal The Lancet reported that monitoring simple physical signs of deteriorating health, such as weight loss or fever, allows doctors to provide therapies almost as effective as those relying on laboratory tests.

"The results of this study should reassure clinicians in Africa and Asia, who are treating literally millions of people without these laboratory tests, that they are not compromising patient safety," said Charles Gilks, a co-author of the study and the coordinator of antiretroviral treatment and HIV care at the WHO.

"In fact, the outcome of their treatment is almost as good as those patients in the USA and Europe where laboratory-guided treatment is the norm," he said.

The five-year survival rate for patients who only had clinical monitoring was 82 percent, against 83 percent for those using laboratory tests.

The WHO recommends that in areas with limited resources, AIDS treatments should be determined by monitoring clinical signs alone. - AFP/fa


From ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:Clinical symptoms just as good as lab trials for AIDS patients
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Mexico closes all schools as swine flu kills 60; disease has spread to US: WHO

Main symptoms of swine flu in humans "Cen...
Main symptoms of swine flu in humans "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention > Key Facts about Swine Influenza (Swine Flu)" . . Retrieved April 27, 2009 . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MEXICO CITY — A rare outbreak of human swine flu has killed 60 people in Mexico and has spread to the United States where authorities are on alert, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

Mexican authorities on Friday closed all schools in the capital and central Mexico. According to the UN health agency, swine flu regularly hits pigs but rarely humans.

"To date there have been some 800 suspected cases with flu-like illness, with 57 deaths in the Mexico City area," said Ms Fadela Chaib, a spokeswoman for the UN health agency. Three deaths were recorded in San Luis Potosi in central Mexico.

In a televised statement, Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova urged people to avoid large crowds, shaking hands, kissing as a greeting, or using the subway.

Most of the Mexican cases were found in healthy young adults with no known record of prior illness. The Mexican government has gathered 600,000 vaccines to help protect health care workers.

Warning that swine influenza — which combines pig, bird and human viruses — could potentially cause a human flu pandemic, the WHO said there are at least seven cases in the United States, in three clusters - five in California and two in Texas.

All the US victims have recovered, but the cases are a medical mystery because it's unclear how they caught the virus.

None of the seven were in contact with pigs, which is how people usually catch swine flu and only a few were in contact with each other, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Scientists keep a close eye on flu viruses in pigs, because pigs are particularly susceptible to both avian and human viruses and a likely place where genetic reassortment can take place that might lead to a new form of pandemic flu. Agencies

From TODAY, World – Weekend, 25/56-April-2009