The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a sixth flu vaccine to be marketed in the United States in an attempt to increase the number of doses available before winter and flu season set in. The new vaccine, Afluria, is intended for use by adults ages 18 and older and is expected to contribute about two million doses to the estimated 134 million available in the United States this year. According to Kristin Bell, assistant director of general medicine for Student Health, Afluria was given fast-track approval by the FDA in continued efforts to avoid a shortage such as that suffered in 2004, when only 63 million doses were available to the entire U.S. population. This means tests did not have to prove the vaccine would prevent infection; instead, they only had to show it caused the body to produce a level of influenza antibodies likely to prevent infection.
Bell said Afluria is "basically a new company making the same vaccine -- a mimic of other vaccines already available," decreasing concerns that it will prove ineffective. Flu vaccines are recommended for the young and elderly, but are also beneficial in a college environment where extensive contact with other people heightens the risk for disease transmission, Bell said.
Continuing research into the health effects of smoking has concluded the habit can lead to erectile dysfunction in otherwise-healthy men. Furthermore, it has shown the number of cigarettes smoked per day increases risk. In a study by Tulane University, researchers found men who smoke 10 or fewer cigarettes a day are 27 percent more likely to develop erectile dysfunction than their colleagues who do not smoke. Eleven to 20 cigarettes per day resulted in a 45-percent increased risk and more than 20 a day led to a 65-percent greater likelihood. Bell said the link was most likely because of atherosclerosis, a common side effect of smoking in which blood vessels narrow, restricting blood flow and circulation. She also cautioned that although the effects of atherosclerosis take time to become noticeable, they can linger even in people who have quit smoking, leaving former smokers at risk for developing erectile dysfunction and other health problems.
A September study by the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program links alcohol consumption to an increased occurrence of breast cancer in women. An analysis of the consumption habits of 70,033 women of different ethnicities and ages showed women who drink two alcoholic beverages a day are 10 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than their colleagues who consume only one a day. Women who drink more than three beverages a day are 30 percent more likely to do so. These statistics also proved to be consistent for different types of alcohol. This study led researchers to conclude about five percent of all breast cancer occurrences are correlated with alcohol consumption.
According to Dr. Christine Peterson, of Student Health's gynecological clinic, "No one knows what the link is between alcohol consumption and breast cancer." She explained that this study was not designed ahead of time to test the occurrence of breast cancer in women who drink, but instead examined women who had already developed breast cancer, questioning them about their alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, the National Cancer Institute has verified the validity of the research and strongly cautions women against drinking alcohol in large quantities.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is currently producing a drug for the treatment of Hepatitis C, which causes liver diseases including cancer. Dr. Patrick Northup, of the University Hospital's Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, said Hepatitis C is transferred through contact with infected blood, needle-sharing, from infected parents at birth and contaminated blood transfusions. Northup noted transfer through contaminated transfusions is increasingly less common as screening systems for donations improve. Hepatitis C is the leading cause for liver transplants in the United States and currently infects about 150 to 200 million people worldwide. Vertex's drug, telaprevir, has appeared very effective in trials. Though not yet developed to a level where it can be approved for mass-marketing, Northup believes it will successfully shorten treatment times and improve treatment effectiveness when combined with preexisting options.
"The drug's development is very similar to that of HIV drugs -- it works against the virus itself, blocking receptors before Hepatitis C has a chance to do so," Northup said.
Currently a year of chemotherapy and Hepatitis C medication cures four of 10 patients.
-- compiled by Amanda Cote
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