The Health News – 28 September 2016

Overview:
•  McGrath Foundation’s inaugural Breast Health Index survey found while almost three quarters of women considered themselves “aware” of breast health, only 15 per cent met all four criteria for breast health understanding. McGrath Foundation CEO Petra Buchanan is hopeful because the research provides clear direction as to how we can address these factors.

• An elderly man developed gangrene and later died in hospital after staff at a Gold Coast nursing home failed to properly monitor and treat pressure wounds on his buttocks and feet, according to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner. Ms Selir said her father-in-law was placed in a “fallout chair” for several hours at a time without being rotated and more should have been done to improve blood circulation but by the time Zdenek Selir reached the hospital, it was too late.

• A worldwide recall of testing kits used to screen for cytomegalovirus (CMV) was issued by manufacturer Siemens in September after it was revealed there was a risk they could have been producing false negative results. An SA Health spokesperson said All people who had a CMV test at SA Pathology between July 17,2 015 and August 24, 2016 should be rest assured that no incorrect result was found during the re-testing of more than 2,000 samples.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the  28th of September 2016. Read by Rebecca Foster. Health News

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-27/breast-health-awareness-alarmingly-low-mcgrath-foundation/7879596

A worryingly low proportion of Australian women understand breast health and the full risk factors for breast cancer, according to a new survey by the McGrath Foundation.

The foundation’s inaugural Breast Health Index survey found while almost three quarters of women considered themselves “aware” of breast health, only 15 per cent met all four criteria for breast health understanding.

McGrath Foundation CEO Petra Buchanan said the results were both “alarming and hopeful”.

“We really need to ensure that there is greater knowledge, greater understanding of how we can take better control of our own health,” she [said] …

“[I’m] hopeful because the research provides clear direction as to how we can address these factors.”

Almost 16,000 women are expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer during 2016, and more than 200,000 currently live with the disease.

The McGrath Foundation survey identified six risk factors for the disease: being a woman; a strong family history; smoking; growing older; drinking; and starting menstruation earlier or menopause later.

Yet only 10 per cent of women could identify all risk factors, and there was a clear disconnect between women’s knowledge of some of these risk factors and the actions they took to be aware of their breast health.

The survey did find some positive generational shifts in the way Australian women discuss breast health.

Women aged 16-19 are twice as likely to have had a conversation with their mother about breast health than those aged 61 and over.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-27/man-dies-after-nursing-home-staff-fail-to-properly-treat-wounds/7877820

An elderly man developed gangrene and later died in hospital after staff at a Gold Coast nursing home failed to properly monitor and treat pressure wounds on his buttocks and feet, according to the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner.

Zdenek Selir, who was known to friends and family as Danny, moved into the Leamington nursing home in Southport in June 2015 after suffering a stroke.

The 88-year-old had minor pressure wounds when he arrived, but the operator of the facility acknowledges his condition deteriorated during his stay.

A family member was first alerted to the situation when she visited the home and noticed a foul odour.

“She could smell something in the room and she couldn’t work out what it was and she pulled the covers up because she thought maybe he needed changing or something,” said Mr Selir’s daughter-in-law, Yvonne Selir.

It turns out the situation was much more serious than that.

“He had pressure wounds to the lower buttocks and his back and it had eaten into his skin and it was actually going to go gangrene,” she said.

“The other pressure sore he had was on his heel and his heel was that badly affected it had already gone to gangrene.”

Ms Selir claims the visiting family member asked nursing home staff to call for an ambulance but they instead insisted his wounds were manageable. The operator of the facility disputes this.

According to Ms Selir, the relative took their own steps and called for alternative help.

Mr Selir was taken to the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital, where doctors took photographs of his wounds and forwarded them to his family.

The images … reveal an enormous pressure wound, measuring 15 centimetres, on his buttocks.

They also show the full extent of the gangrene on one of his heels, which had turned black.

Ms Selir said her father-in-law was placed in a “fallout chair” for several hours at a time without being rotated and more should have been done to improve blood circulation.

But by the time Mr Selir reached the hospital, it was too late.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-27/cmv-tests-returned-correct-results-sa-health-confirms/7879154

The retesting of more than 2,000 test[s] used to screen for a virus which can cause birth defects has confirmed the original results were correct, SA Health says.

A worldwide recall of testing kits used to screen for cytomegalovirus (CMV) was issued by manufacturer Siemens in September after it was revealed there was a risk they could have been producing false negative results.

SA Health said pathology staff worked extended hours to conduct a “clinical look-back” of 2,108 tests deemed most at risk.

“All people who had a CMV test at SA Pathology between July 17,2 015 and August 24, 2016 should rest assured that no incorrect result was found during the re-testing of more than 2,000 samples,” an SA Health spokesperson said.

CMV is similar to glandular fever and rarely causes any noticeable symptoms or serious health problems.

But if a woman catches the virus while pregnant and it is passed onto the unborn baby, there is a risk of the child being born with a disability.