News in brief - Jan. 31, 2005

Foodborne illness primer downloadable - Dietary guidelines include exercise - Canadian company cleared to test flu vaccine in the United States - Shakespeare may have had an STD

Foodborne illness primer downloadable

The latest edition of The Diagnosis and Management of Foodborne Illness is now available on the American Medical Association Web site (www.ama-assn.org/go/foodborne) for downloading to personal digital assistants. The primer was produced by the AMA in collaboration with several other health professional groups.

The first edition of the primer, released last year, was met with such demand that a PDA edition was created. The primer covers the diagnosis, treatment and reporting of foodborne illness. The latest edition includes sections on hepatitis A, noroviruses, antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, congenital toxoplasmosis and intentional contamination.

Every year in the United States, 76 million people get sick as a result of the food they eat and 5,000 die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The very young, the elderly and the immunocompromised are those most at risk.

The AMA produced the primer in collaboration with the American Nurses Assn., the CDC, the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration and Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

Dietary guidelines include exercise

New federal dietary guidelines, released Jan. 12, for the first time add physical activity to healthy eating as a way to curb the obesity epidemic that threatens to undermine the health of many Americans.

"The new dietary guidelines highlight the principle that Americans should keep their weight within healthful limits and engage in ample physical activity," said Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman.

The guidelines recommend at least 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise most days of the week, 60 minutes most days to prevent gradual weight gain for adults and 60 to 90 minutes to sustain weight loss.

They also recommend consuming two cups of fruit and 2½ cups of vegetables per day, three or more ounce-equivalents (a one ounce-equivalent would be one slice of bread) of whole grain products and three cups per day of fat-free or low-fat milk.

A joint product of the Agriculture Dept. and the Dept. of Health and Human Services, the new guidelines update those released in 2000 and will be used as the government considers whether to reconfigure its food pyramid graphic. Various federal food programs, including the school lunch program, follow the guidelines.

Canadian company cleared to test flu vaccine in the United States

The Food and Drug Administration has given the go ahead to the Vancouver-based vaccine manufacturer ID Biomedical Corp. to begin testing its influenza vaccine under an investigational new drug application, according to a statement issued by the company this month.

ID Biomedical intends to enter the U.S. market by 2007, although it may do so earlier dependent on regulatory approval. This clearance is part of that process.

"We are very excited to initiate clinical testing of Fluviral in the United States," said Louis F. Fries, MD, vice president of clinical affairs at ID Biomedical. "We believe this trial data ... will be necessary to support licensure of Fluviral for the U.S. market."

ID Biomedical currently has the capacity to manufacture 22 million doses, with much of that being purchased by the Canadian government. The company intends to expand its capacity to 50 million by 2007.

The company is also developing an intranasal version of the vaccine. According to data, also released in January, use by healthy adults ages 18 to 64 was effective at preventing the flu without significant adverse events.

Shakespeare may have had an STD

English playwright William Shakespeare may have had syphilis, and 17th century treatment for the disease could have reduced his creative output in his later years and hastened his death, according to a study in the February Clinical Infectious Diseases.

John J. Ross, MD, author of the paper and an infectious disease specialist at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, analyzed Shakespeare's writing, contemporary gossip about his relationships and reports on his health in his later years.

Dr. Ross found that fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe only mentioned the disease in six lines out of a total of seven plays. Shakespeare, however, talked about it for 55 lines in Measure for Measure, 61 lines in Troilus and Cressida and 67 lines in Timon of Athens.

Sixteenth-century gossip also acknowledged that the bard was not frequently intimate with his wife Anne Hathaway but that he may have sought outlets elsewhere.

Analysis of his handwriting on papers produced close to his death suggest significant tremor possibly caused by mercury, the treatment of the time for the infection. Mercury poisoning may also explain the writer's social withdrawal and baldness in his later years.

"This medical misadventure may have prematurely ended the career of the greatest writer in the English language," Dr. Ross wrote.