News in brief - Jan. 24, 2005

Urinary infections tied to contaminated food - Suicide hotline launched - Younger women more successful with ART - Most older patients with colon cancer have not been screened

Urinary infections tied to contaminated food

A multistate outbreak of urinary tract infections caused by drug-resistant Escherichia coli was probably due to consumption of contaminated food, perhaps meat or milk, concluded a study published in the Jan. 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Urinary tract infections are one of the most common infections in women but are not generally considered food-related, said lead researcher Lee W. Riley, MD, professor in the division of public health, biology and epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley. Sensible food preparation can help avert a host of health problems, such as diarrhea, cramping and fever; apparently UTIs should now be added to the list.

Between October 1999 and January 2000, a single strain of E. coli was determined to be responsible for drug-resistant urinary infections in university communities in California, Michigan and Minnesota.

Bacterial drug resistance due to unnecessary antibiotic use is a growing problem in health care, according to many experts.

Suicide hotline launched

A National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was launched Dec. 31, 2004, by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The hotline, 800-273-TALK, is part of the National Suicide Prevention Initiative -- a collaborative effort led by SAMHSA that incorporates the work of several other organizations in an effort to reduce the incidence of suicide in the nation.

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death among all age groups in the United States, accounting for about 30,000 deaths annually.

More than 100 crisis centers in 39 states participate in the new hotline, which is funded by a three-year, $6.6 million grant from SAMHSA's Center for Mental Health Services. The grant was awarded to the Mental Health Assn. of New York City and its partners, the National Assn. of State Mental Health Program Directors, Columbia University and Rutgers University.

Callers to the hotline will receive suicide prevention counseling from trained staff at the closest certified crisis center in the network. A nationwide public education campaign to raise awareness about suicide and the national hotline is under development.

Younger women more successful with ART

Assisted reproductive technology is more likely to produce a live birth for women in their 20s and early 30s than older women, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month.

Among procedures completed in women younger than 35, 37% resulted in live births. This number decreased to 31% among those ages 35 to 37. The rate was only 21% among those 38 to 40 and plummeted to 4% for those older than 42.

"This is a reminder that age remains a primary factor with respect to pregnancy success, and younger women have greater success than older women, even with technology," said Victoria Wright, one of the authors and a public health analyst in the agency's reproductive health program.

The report, "2002 Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates," also found that more than 45,000 babies were born that year with ART, an increase from 40,687 in 2001. The number of procedures also increased from 107,587 in 2001 to 115,392 in 2002. Attempts were also slightly more successful with 28% of all procedures leading to a live birth in 2002. That was true for only 27% of attempts in 2001.

Most older patients with colon cancer have not been screened

Fewer than half of colorectal cancer patients received screening for the disease more than six months prior to the diagnosis, according to a paper published in the journal Cancer online in January and in the print edition in February.

Researchers at the University Hospitals of Cleveland analyzed data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results tumor registry. They found more than 5,000 patients older than 70 with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

Only 44% had been screened for the disease more than 6 months before diagnosis. Fecal occult blood testing was the most popular option with 35% being screened with this test. Only 6% had been screened with colonoscopy. Those who received screening were also diagnosed earlier in the course of the disease.

Authors of the paper suggested that colon cancer screening is underutilized.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that those older than 50 be screened for colon cancer but does not recommend a specific method.