Tag: infectious disease

      Over The Counter HIV Test Approved By The FDA

      July 3, 2012 /

      The FDA has approved a rapid at home HIV test.

      OraSure Technologies Inc. of Bethlehem PA. has produced OraQuick for over-the-counter sales.

      The hope is that the at-home test will reach the 20 percent of HIV infected people who do not know that they are infected.

      Taking the test will not eliminate the need to follow up with further testing.

      The test has the potential to identify large numbers of previously undiagnosed HIV infections. An estimated 1.2 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV infection. About one of every five don’t know they’re infected. About 50,000 new HIV infections are diagnosed every year.
      percent accurate in correctly identifying positive results, a measure known as sensitivity, clinical trials showed. That means that one false negative test result could be expected out of every 12 tests.
      It was also about 99.98 percent accurate at correctly identifying negative results, a measure known as specificity. That means one false positive would be expected out of every 5,000 test results in uninfected individuals.

      OraSure expects the at-home HIV test to be available starting in October at more than 30,000 retail outlets across the U.S. and online.

      Quality Control, Resources, Wellness

      Call in Sick to Work, Do or Don’t?

      November 21, 2011 /

      Should you call in sick to work?

      In a tough economy you certainly don’t want to put your job in jeopardy, however, putting the health of everyone you work with in jeopardy might not be the better choice.

      Not only is this cold and flu season but holiday stress and activity can take it’s toll, as well.

      Make sure that you can maintain distance and avoid contact with others.

      Wash hands often and try not to share office equipment.

      Consider your job; serving food? Waiting on clients or supervising young children, immunocompromised or the elderly could make your illness a real health threat to others

      A few more things to consider:

      How well can you carry out your work duties?

      If you’re feeling quite sick, “you’re going to have a hard time functioning and performing at your normal level,” Cummins says.

      Are you contagious?

      If you have a viral or bacterial illness, you’ll expose your coworkers and they in turn will infect others. Staying home when you’re sick helps to curb germs in the community. “It’s to contain the illness,” Cummins says.

      Will resting at home help your body to overcome the illness?

      “We see a lot of worsening symptoms because people will just not stop and rest. They want to go; they want to be able to do everything that they normally do,” Cummins says. “What they don’t understand is that they’re pushing themselves to the point where they’re actually a lot sicker at the end of two to four days than they would have been if they had just taken that first day off and let their body fight the infection.”

      Are you taking medications that could impair your ability to think, work, operate machinery, or drive?

      Let’s say, for example, that you’ve been prescribed Vicodin for back pain and it’s causing fuzzy thinking. “If you’re so sick that you’re using opiates or any controlled substance to control pain, you really need to stay home,” Cummins says. “You shouldn’t be driving, and you could have your performance impaired or it could even be dangerous.”

      Quality Control, Wellness

      Pediatricians Turn Away Children Without Vaccinations

      September 3, 2011 /

      Parents failure to immunize their children could lead to conflict with pediatricians.

      On one hand, doctors are there to treat everyone, and turning patients away leaves them still unvaccinated and without care. But an unvaccinated child who is carrying a virus is “literally a walking Typhoid Mary” who puts other children in a waiting room at risk.

      Unvaccinated children who carry a disease infect those infants and smaller children who are too young to be inoculated and are therefore vulnerable to illness.

      Doctors, Health Care Policy, Quality Control

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