Officials seek passengers on TB flight
Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:11:11 GMT
By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - A 30-year-old woman infected with a hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis is recovering at a Bay Area hospital, as health officials search for dozens of international air passengers who may have come in contact with her as she traveled back from
India.
The woman, who authorities declined to identify, arrived in
San Francisco Dec. 13 aboard an American Airlines flight that she boarded in
New Delhi, India. The flight stopped in Chicago before continuing to San Francisco International.
Health officials said she was diagnosed with TB in India, but boarded the flight anyway. U.S. officials have little authority over who boards incoming international flights. Such passengers are typically barred from boarding flights originating in the United States.
"She did have symptoms on the flight," said
Santa Clara County Health Director Dr. Marty Fenstersheib. "She was coughing."
About a week after the flight landed, the woman showed up at the Stanford Hospital emergency room with advanced symptoms of the disease. Hospital spokesman Gary Migdol said that the woman is being treated in isolation and is in stable condition.
Fenstersheib said the woman will remain hospitalized until she tests negative for the disease, which could take a least two weeks. Fenstersheib said her stay could last longer because she has a strain of the disease that resists the most common antibiotics.
Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are asking health authorities in 17 states to contact 44 people who sat within two rows of the woman and urge them get checked for tuberculosis. The risk of infection is far lower than passing on influenza or the common cold, doctors said.
"TB requires pretty constant contact with someone," Fenstersheib said. Fenstersheib said about 1 percent to 2 percent of all tuberculosis cases are of the multi-drug resistant variety.
CDC spokeswoman Shelly Diaz said the agency has not received any reports back. Diaz said it will take more than eight weeks to receive definitive results.
In May, a TB patient caused an international health scare when he flew to
Europe for his wedding. There has been no evidence that Andrew Speaker spread the disease on the flights there and back.
Chinesemade 39supplements39 contain Viagra drug US regulator warns
Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:26:28 GMT
WASHINGTON -
The US drug safety watchdog warned Monday on its website that several Chinese-made 'dietary supplements' contain the active ingredient found in Viagra, and could be harmful to consumers.
"The US Food and Drug Administration is advising consumers not to buy or use Super Shangai, Strong Testis, Shangai Ultra, Shangai Ultra X, Lady Shangai, and Shangai Regular, also marketed as Shangai Chaojimengnan, products," the FDA said in a statement.
"These products, which originate in
China, are being marketed for the treatment of
erectile dysfunction and for sexual enhancement," the statement said.
None of the product labels mention that they contain sildenafil, the active drug in Viagra, or a similar compound, it said.
"The undeclared ingredients in these products may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs and can lower blood pressure to dangerous levels," the statement warned.
Particularly at risk are sufferers of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease.
"Erectile dysfunction is a common problem in men with these medical conditions," the FDA statement said.
"Because they may have been advised against taking erectile dysfunction drugs, they may seek out products like these because they are marketed as 'all natural' or as not containing the active ingredients in approved drugs."
The products, which were distributed in the United States by a company based in
Puerto Rico, have not been approved by the FDA and are illegal.
