The Health News – 07 July 2015

Overview:

• The Philippines has confirmed its second case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus. A 36-year-old foreigner who showed symptoms of the disease after arriving in Manila from Dubai was admitted to a government hospital and was under observation, Health Ministry spokesman Lyndon Lee-suy said.

• Drinking moderate levels of alcohol significantly increases a person’s risk of developing mouth and throat cancer, new data has revealed, prompting calls for people to limit themselves to two standard drinks per day according to researchers from Cancer Council and the University of Melbourne.

• Australian medicine wholesaler Symbion has urged parents to check any children’s medicine they have recently purchased, with concerns three products present a choking hazard sold under the brand names Pharmacy Choice and Chemmart.

Health News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 7th July 2015. Read by Rebecca Foster.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-06/philippines-confirms-second-mers-case/6598010

The Philippines has confirmed its second case of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus.

The virus was detected in a 36-year-old foreigner who showed symptoms of the disease after arriving in Manila on June 19 from Dubai.
The man was admitted to a government hospital on July 4 and was under observation, Health Ministry spokesman Lyndon Lee-suy said.
The man had also travelled to Saudi Arabia, the spokesman said.
Mr Lee-suy said that contact tracing was now underway to prevent the spread of the disease.
The man’s condition was reportedly improving and there was no known transmission to the community.
The first case discovered in the Philippines was in January. A Filipino nurse who worked in Saudi Arabia survived the disease.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-06/moderate-alcohol-consumption-doubles-risk-of-cancer/6597668

Drinking moderate levels of alcohol significantly increases a person’s risk of developing mouth and throat cancer, new data has revealed, prompting calls for people to limit themselves to two standard drinks per day.

Researchers from the Cancer Council and the University of Melbourne used data that tracked the drinking habits of 41,000 adults since the early 1990s.
They found that average lifetime consumption of four or more standard alcoholic drinks per day more than doubled the risk of mouth and throat cancer, compared with drinking no alcohol at all.
Long-term alcohol use causes about 3,000 cancers across Australia each year and about 350 deaths in Victoria, which is similar to the number of those who die from melanoma.
The Cancer Council of Victoria has warned Australians to stick to a two-drink maximum if they want to help reduce their cancer risk.
The council’s Craig Sinclair said many people did not understand the risks of a lifetime of drinking.
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A separate online poll by the Cancer Council found the majority of Victorians did not know what constituted one standard drink.
Only 13 per cent of respondents had an accurate understanding of the number of standard drinks in a bottle of wine.
The council said that lack of knowledge could lead people to underestimate the amount they drank, placing themselves at a higher risk.
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-06/childrens-medicine-can-present-choking-hazard-wholesaler-warns/6596818

An Australian medicine wholesaler has urged parents to check any children’s medicine they have recently purchased, with concerns three products present a choking hazard.

Medicine wholesaler Symbion has issued an urgent recall of “Ibuprofen Children’s Suspension” medicine sold under the brand names Pharmacy Choice and Chemmart.
The products are described as being similar to a children’s Nurofen and they come in a 200ml package.
Symbion says the Pharmacy Choice medicine with batch numbers IA45162, IA50044 and IA50026 have been recalled, with expiry dates of May and June 2017.
The Chemmart medicine has the same expiry period with batch numbers IA45163 and IA50030.
The 200ml Chemmart concentrated children’s paracetamol for children aged 6–12 should also be returned if it has an expiry date of October 2016.
The company said although there was nothing wrong with the medicine itself, bottle grooves could break off when people opened the bottles, creating a choking hazard for small children.
Symbion made the decision to issue a recall after consulting with the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
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Customers with the products are being advised to return them to the place of purchase for a refund.

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