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Viewing Child Porn Not A Risk Factor For Future Sex Offenses
For people without a prior conviction for a hands-on sex offense, the consumption of child pornography alone does not, in itself, seem to represent a risk factor for committing such an offense. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry studied 231 men convicted of consuming child pornography in 2002 and found that only 1% had gone on to commit a hands-on sex offense in the following six years.
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Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis And Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents
Even at very high doses, gadolinium-based contrast agents alone are not sufficient to cause nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) in patients with kidney problems, according to a study performed at the Mayo Clinic Florida, Jacksonville, FL. NSF is a rare and serious syndrome that leads to fibrosis of the skin, joints and even internal organs. Some research indicates NSF is caused by gadolinium-based contrast agents that are commonly used today during MR procedures.
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New Jersey Senator Proposes Plan To Avert HIV/AIDS Drug Copayments
New Jersey state Sen. Joseph Vitale (D) -- chair of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee -- earlier this week proposed a plan to temporarily reduce rebate checks to senior citizens earning $100,000 to $150,000 in an effort to alleviate the effects of possible budget cuts on certain populations, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. Vitale"s proposal also would avert planned $6 to $15 prescription drug copayments for people living with HIV/AIDS in the state (Livio, Newark Star-Ledger, 5/12). The copayments are part of Gov. Jon Corzine"s (D) $29.8 billion spending proposal for the state"s new fiscal year and would collect $1.36 million by creating copayments for HIV/AIDS drugs based on a sliding scale determined by income. The copayments would affect 9,000 people living with HIV/AIDS who have obtained no-cost medicine from the state because they do not qualify for other assistance programs. Advocates said that the copayments will hurt patients who are already struggling because of the poor economy (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/23). According to the Star-Ledger, Vitale"s proposal would save the state $15.7 million, including $9.7 million needed to allow 17,000 low-income families to enroll in the state"s health insurance program, FamilyCare. Senate Budget Committee Chair Barbara Buono (D) said that she does not believe it is possible to restore program cuts "given the collapse of revenues." According to the Office of Legislative Services, the current deficit for this year"s budget, which ends June 30, is at least $1.2 billon. Vitale said, "Our convictions are going to be tested as we come to terms with the fact that we simply don"t have enough money to fund all of the state"s priorities." He added, "But unless funding is restored for programs like NJ FamilyCare, Medicaid drug benefits and the AIDS Drug Distribution Program, I will be voting against the" fiscal year 2010 budget (Newark Star-Ledger, 5/12).
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Discovery Of Ebola In Pigs Raises Concerns

Scientists studying a strain of Ebola virus found in domestic pigs in the Philippines last year suggest that although the particular strain is not one linked to disease in humans its emergence in the human food chain is cause for concern. The investigation was the work of scientists from the US Department of Agriculture at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and the Department of Agriculture in the Philippines and is published as a paper in the 10 July issue of Science. Ebola and Marburg viruses belong to the filovirus family, which cause hemorrhagic fever, characterized by bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea, and a 90 per cent death rate. Outbreaks of infection appear to happen in humans and primates at random, making it very important to locate s of host organisms that could be acting as potential reservoirs. Ebola-Reston was found in pigs raised on farms near Manila, the capital of the Philippines after farmers reported high rates of sickness and deaths among their livestock in May 2008. The infected pigs were originally investigated because they were experiencing an unusually severe outbreak of porcine reproductive and respiratory disease syndrome. Reston is deadly in monkeys but doesn"t appear to infect humans: it is the only member of the filovirus family that does not, said the authors, who nevertheless expressed concern that it has emerged in the human food chain. When they studied isolates of the virus taken from pig samples, the researchers found that they were more divergent from each other than from the original strain isolated in 1989, when Reston was first identified in crab-eating macaques imported to the US from the Philippines (Reston is the place in Virginia where the lab was based that first spotten the new strain). When you have isolates that are more different from each other than from an original strain, it indicates they have multiple ancestral origins (they did not descend in a neat line from generation to generation). This suggests, said the authors, that the Ebola-Reston isolated from the pigs is a strain that has been around since before 1989 when Reston was first found in the crab-eating macaques. Although Reston has not been found to cause deadly hemorrhagic fever in humans, when the researchers tested some of the pig farmers they found antibodies to Reston in their blood, suggesting pig-to-human transmission had taken place, even though the farmers showed no symptoms. The concern is that pig herds could be convenient hosts for Reston to mutate into a form that does cause illness in humans, and also, if pigs can be hosts to Reston, as this outbreak reveals, then perhaps they could also be hosts to other Ebola strains that do cause harm to humans. There are lots of unknowns, a lot more questions than answers, and this is the worry, said the researchers, because pigs are in the human food chain and there is lots of contact between pig herds and humans. "Discovery of Swine as a Host for the Reston ebolavirus." Roger W. Barrette, Samia A. Metwally, Jessica M. Rowland, Lizhe Xu, Sherif R. Zaki, Stuart T. Nichol, Pierre E. Rollin, Jonathan S. Towner, Wun-Ju Shieh, Brigid Batten, Tara K. Sealy, Consuelo Carrillo, Karen E. Moran, Alexa J. Bracht, Gregory A. Mayr, Magdalena Sirios-Cruz, Davinio P. Catbagan, Elizabeth A. Lautner, Thomas G. Ksiazek, William R. White, and Michael T. McIntosh. Science 10 July 2009 325: 204- 206. DOI: 10.1126/science.1172705 s: CDC, Science. Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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