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January 31, 2009)
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Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:33pm
EST
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About a fifth of
people with tuberculosis in the United States report abusing drugs or alcohol,
and the figure is even higher when only U.S.-born patients are included,
government researchers said on Monday.
The substance abusers were more contagious
than others with the disease and remained contagious longer, the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention researchers wrote in the journal Archives of
Internal Medicine.
About a third of people worldwide are
infected with the bacterium that causes TB. Only a small percentage of people
ever develop the disease. But the effect of substance abuse on the body may
raise the chances that the latent infection turns into active disease, and
substance abusers may be less likely to be screened for TB, the researchers
said.
The researchers tracked 153,268 people with
TB in the
Overall, 19 percent of them reported that
they abused drugs and/or alcohol, according to the study. Among the 76,816
U.S.-born people with TB, 29 percent reported substance abuse.
The
"The most commonly reported risk factor
for TB was substance abuse," CDC epidemiologist Eric Pevzner, one of the
researchers, said in a telephone interview.
It was greater than are other leading risk
factors such as HIV infection or homelessness, the researchers said.
TB is an infectious bacterial disease
typically attacking the lungs. It can be spread by breathing in droplets from a
cough or sneeze of an infected person.
Pevzner said the findings had important
public health implications as the
"We can't treat the TB in
isolation," Pevzner said. "We have to bring in people who are experts
in substance abuse and also treat the life circumstances that people are facing
so that we can help cure this disease and help end a chain of
transmission."
Substance abusers are less likely to
complete TB treatment, the researchers said. They also may have TB diagnosed
later and have less access to routine medical care.
Thu Jan 22, 1:58 PM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A new external vaginal
treatment works to protect against genital herpes infection for as long as a
week, a new study has found.
The topical microbicide works by
"silencing" two genes, and was shown effective in mice, the study
released Wednesday by Albert Einstein College of Medicine of
The treatment backed by Alnylam
Pharmaceuticals Inc. protected mice from simplex 2, which causes genital herpes,
according to Dr Deborah Palliser of
Their results were published in the January
22 issue of Cell Host and Microbe.
Her team used a lab technique called RNA
interference, or RNAi, the treatment cripples the virus in a molecular double
hit: it disables its ability to replicate, as well as the host cell's ability to
take up the virus.
"People have been trying to make a
topical agent that can prevent transmission, a microbicide, for many
years," Lieberman said. "But one of the main obstacles for this is
compliance. One of the attractive features of the compound we developed is that
it creates in the tissue a state that's resistant to infection, even if applied
up to a week before sexual exposure. This aspect has a real practicality to it.
If we can reproduce these results in people, this could have a powerful impact
on preventing transmission."
And that also could help in reducing HIV
transmission, the authors noted, as herpes sores can help ease HIV transmission.
Some 536 million people worldwide are
infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), the most common strain of
this sexually transmitted disease, World Health Organization data show.
Infection rates are strikingly high in the
Friday January 30, 3:49 pm ET
WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J.
(AP) -- Merck & Co., a Dow component and the world's No. 8 drugmaker by
revenue, reports earnings for the fourth quarter on Tuesday morning. The
following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the
period.
OVERVIEW:
Merck is in the process of eliminating about 7,200 jobs, or nearly 13 percent of
its workforce, as sales of some key products have been flat or slumping,
including blockbuster osteoporosis treatment Fosamax, which got generic
competition early last year.
It's
also been plagued by a variety of production problems with its vaccines,
troubles that have limited supplies and reduced revenue. Shingles vaccine
Zostavax remains back-ordered, although many orders were filled in December,
while hepatitis A vaccine Vaqta is only being shipped for children. It is
expected to become available for adults in the second quarter. Shortages hit
hepatitis B vaccine Recombivax in January, due to the need to upgrade some
manufacturing equipment, with only a version for children available now.
Sales
of the cholesterol drugs Merck jointly sells with partner Schering-Plough Corp.
have been hammered for a year by reports questioning their efficacy and safety.
But
earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration said patients should not
stop taking Vytorin, Zetia or other cholesterol-lowering drugs, based on its
review of a controversial study that hammered Vytorin and Zetia sales.
In
December, Merck ended its partnership with Dynavax Technologies Corp. on an
experimental hepatitis B vaccine that ran into safety problems.
BY
THE NUMBERS: Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expect, on average, earnings
per share of 74 cents and revenue of $5.98 billion. In the year-earlier period,
Merck posted a net loss of 75 cents per share, mainly due to a $4.85 billion
charge to settle thousands of lawsuits over withdrawn painkiller Vioxx; revenue
that quarter was $6.24 billion.
In
the third quarter, earnings per share fell to 51 cents on a charge for
restructuring, from 70 cents in the 2007 period.
ANALYST
TAKE: Deutsche Bank analyst Barbara Ryan, who has a "Buy" rating on
Merck, expects fourth-quarter revenue to be down about 7 percent because of
slight declines in sales of vaccines, cholesterol drugs and asthma drug
Singulair, plus Fosamax generic competition and unfavorable currency exchange
rates, which hurt all major
Credit
Suisse analyst Catherine Arnold sees Merck cutting marketing and administrative
costs by a few hundred million dollars in 2009, boosting research spending by
$100,000 or more and facing a slightly higher tax rate.
WHAT'S
AHEAD: Merck has asked federal regulators to approve use in males of Gardasil,
its vaccine against the human papillomavirus, which causes cervical and other
sexually transmitted cancers and genital warts. Gardasil was launched in 2006
for girls and young women. Last June, the Food and Drug Administration rejected
its use for older women, but in January it asked for more data on that issue.
Merck also is seeking FDA approval to market its HIV drug Isentress in new
patients, not just ones already treated with other medicines.
STOCK
PERFORMANCE: Shares fell 37 percent to $30.40 during the fourth quarter. Over
2008, shares fell 48 percent.
Tuesday January 27, 5:57
pm ET
For
the period ended Dec. 31,
Excluding
one-time items, including stock-based compensation,
Wall
Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predicted earnings of 55 cents per
share.
The
company's revenue surged 30 percent to $1.43 billion for the quarter, up from
$1.09 billion in fourth quarter 2007.
Sales
were mainly driven by
Full-year
2008 earnings grew to $2 billion, or $2.10 per share, from $1.6 billion, or
$1.68 per share, in 2007. Revenue advanced to $5.34 billion from $4.23 billion.
Analysts
expected earnings of $2.04 per share.
The
company benefited from a lower annual tax rate, which fell to 26.5 percent from
28.9, thanks to the resolution of certain tax audits, among other reasons.
Shares
of Gilead Sciences Inc. fell 96 cents Tuesday, or 2 percent, to $47.27 in
after-hours trading. In the regular session, the stock fell 16 cents to close at
$48.23.
Wednesday January 21, 7:24
am ET
Myriad
will not owe Panacos any milestone or royalty payments on bevirimat, which is
currently in mid-stage clinical testing. Myriad said it will handle all clinical
and commercial development of the drug. Bevirimat is being studied in both
tablet and liquid formulations.
Myriad
said it will include the payment in its results for the fiscal third quarter,
which ends March 29.
The
companies said Watertown, Mass.-based Panacos has completed 15 studies on
bevirimat, involving more than 100 HIV patients and a total of about 650 people.
In
December 2007, Panacos reported disappointing trial results for bevirimat, as a
350 mg dose of the drug appeared to be less effective than a 300 mg dose. The
company later concluded that patients who have few mutations on a protein called
HIV Gag are more likely to have a strong response to bevirimat.
Myriad
Pharmaceuticals is a unit of Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics Inc. The
pharmaceutical business is being spun off into a separate publicly traded
company, a process expected to be complete by the end of the second quarter.
The
remaining Myriad Genetics business will focus on predictive and personalized
medicine.