Most Clicked AABB SmartBrief Stories
1. American woman diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 22, 2008
Massachusetts health officials have confirmed that an elderly woman in the state has been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a brain illness that in rare cases is caused by eating meat from cows infected with mad cow disease. The state's director of communicable disease control said this is not likely one of those cases, judging by the woman's age and history of travel. Yahoo! (07/21)
2. Some transplant recipients say they take on traits of donor
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 23, 2008
Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wis.), The (07/22)
3. Expectant parents face dilemma over cord blood banking choices
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 22, 2008
Some expectant parents have to decide whether to preserve their children's umbilical-cord blood in private cord blood banks or in public registries seeking to increase donations to spur research. Private firms argue that they provide parents with a resource that they can use for their children's future medical needs. An official with the National Marrow Donor Program, however, said publicly stored cord blood units are more likely to be used than those in private storage. MSNBC (07/21)
4. New network will look at transfusion issues, provide best practices
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 18, 2008
By 2009, the U.S. Biovigilance Network expects to have a fully functional network that will monitor adverse events associated with blood transfusions. The network "will allow us to see what's happening in transfusion and transplantation, use experts to analyze the situation and recommend improvements in the system leading to augmented patient safety," said a physician at a participating hospital. Modern Healthcare (free registration) (07/16)
5. Washington blood center gathers double the blood with new machine
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 21, 2008
New technology is allowing the Inland Northwest Blood Center in Republic, Wash., to draw two units of blood from donors in a single visit. The LifeSaver 3 is able to draw twice as many red blood cells from donors while returning platelets and plasma, as well as a small amount of saline solution to the donor. Chronicle (Omak, Wash.), The (07/20)
6. Weak spot of HIV found, researchers claim
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 18, 2008
Financial Times (07/18)
7. Brazilian lab to produce smaller dosage of Chagas' disease drug
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 23, 2008
The Pharmaceutical Laboratory of Pernambuco in Brazil will begin to produce child-sized doses of a drug used to treat Chagas' disease, which caused by a blood parasite. The new dosage amount will be available across the Americas in 2009. Google (07/22)
8. FDA announces new plan to recruit young staffers
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 18, 2008
The FDA has announced a two-year fellowship program to attract physicians, chemists, statisticians and other science professionals to the agency, to help replace the hundreds of scientists who are retiring. About 30 to 40 people will be accepted for the first program, set to start in October, with some of the fellows expected to stay on as full-time FDA employees after they finish the program. CNNMoney.com (07/18)
9. FDA staffers to be assigned overseas by end of 2009
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 22, 2008
The FDA is set to station employees in China, India, Europe and Latin America by the end of 2009 to boost the safety of food and drugs imported to the U.S., said Murray Lumpkin, the agency's deputy commissioner of international and special programs. The agency, which also intends to set up offices in the Middle East, awaits final approval from China to permanently assign personnel in the country. Bloomberg (07/21)
10. Study links parasitic worms to HIV/AIDS
AABB SmartBrief | Jul 23, 2008
A new study has found that people with parasitic worms may be more susceptible to the AIDS virus. The results of the study in monkeys may explain why HIV/AIDS is extremely prevalent in the population of certain areas including sub-Saharan Africa, where parasitic worm infection is common. "The presence of the worm is like adding fuel to the fire -- it creates more fertile ground for the virus to take hold," said Dr. Ruth Ruprecht of Harvard Medical School, one of the study's researchers. Yahoo! (07/22)
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Companies in the news
- Amgen Inc
- ArthroCare Corp
- Biogen IDEC Inc.
- Cape Cod Hospital
- Concord Hospital
- County General Hospital
- Genentech
- Georgetown University Hospital
- Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc.
- Mercy Health System
- Moses Taylor Hospital
- South Miami Hospital
- Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
- Trinity Biotech
- VHA