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South American Health Ministers Gather In Argentina To Discuss H1N1 Preparedness
The health ministers of six South American countries gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday to "coordinate defenses against" the H1N1 (swine flu) virus which has killed nearly 200 people in the region," the AFP/Google.com reports. Ministers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay used the meeting to voice concern over the rapid spread of the H1N1 virus in their countries, which are now in the southern hemisphere"s winter months, and discuss ways to share supplies to help prevent the spread of the virus. The article includes the individual strategies being taken by some South American countries (7/15).

Screening Prevents Aneurysm Deaths, But Questions Remain Over Cost Effectiveness
The national aortic screening programme in the UK should, in due course, prevent about half of all aneurysm deaths in men over 65 and will be extremely cost effective for the NHS, conclude researchers in a study published on bmj.com. However a second study, also published today, concludes that screening is not cost effective and calls for additional research into the long term outcomes and costs of screening.
News of the day
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries
"Blog Watch" offers readers a roundup of health policy-related blog posts.The blogosphere is buzzing about the GOP "alternative" health reform proposal from Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.), and Reps. Devin Nunes (Calif.) and Paul Ryan (Wis.). Known as the Patients" Choice Act (.pdf), it would create state-based private health insurance exchanges and provide U.S. residents tax credits to subsidize coverage premiums. Yuval Levin of conservative stalwart The Corner calls the plan "the best comprehensive health care proposal Republicans have produced to date, and shows that at least some in the party understand the need to engage the issue with a grasp of the differences between underlying problems (like cost control) and symptoms of those problems (like access to coverage), and with an actual appreciation for economic incentives and pressures." Marguerite Higgins of the Heritage Foundation"s The Foundry says the plan "features several important conservative principles for health care reform that would allow free-market solutions to take root in the broken U.S. health care system, and give patients more decision-making power with their health care dollars."But Michael Cannon of the libertarian Cato@Liberty blog says he is "troubled" by aspects of the plan that are "self-contradictory." He writes, "On the one hand, it lists "No Tax Increases" as a core concept. Do its authors not know that imposing price controls on health insurance premiums imposes a tax on healthier-than-average consumers? And where do they think the money for "risk-adjustment" payments will come from? Heaven?" The New Republic"s Jonathan Cohn seems to agree, saying, "The details are pretty unappealing, except where there are none; and the whole thing is presented as the antithesis of big government when, in fact, it too would require at least some government intervention." Overall Cohn thinks the plan indicates good news for Democrats, concluding, "Passage of a bill seems ever more likely, to the point where potential opponents feel they must offer alternatives that embrace some of the same concepts."The Washington Post"s Ezra Klein examines the structure of the plan, calling it "the bastard child of the Massachusetts health reforms and the McCain campaign proposal." He also seems to think it"s positive news for reformers, adding, "But it"s still a step forward for the Republican Party. It"s an admission that individuals can"t go it alone. That the state has a large and important regulatory role to play. The business model of insurers is not simply broken but actively cruel. A Republican Party that accepts the principles of this plan is a Republican Party that is much likelier to accept the principles of Obama"s eventual plan." He notes that GOP leadership was not involved in the proposal.Interesting elsewhere:
Medical Devices

Fungi Pathogenic To Insects Are New Tool In Fight Against Chagas Disease

Entomopathogenic fungi may be a safe and efficient means of controlling Triatoma infestans, the bug that helps spread Chagas disease, according to new research conducted in Argentina. The study, published May 12 in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, shows the success of the fungi to kill bugs resistant to current control methods. Chagas disease is the most relevant parasitic disease in Latin America, being a major burden that affects mostly poor human populations living in rural areas. The parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is mainly transmitted through blood-feeding triatomine bugs; in the southern Cone of South America the most prominent vector is Triatoma infestans. Current control strategies based on residual chemical insecticide application are threatened by the emergence of pyrethroid resistance. The researchers, led by Patricia Juç¡rez, performed both laboratory and field experiments showing that the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is virulent against bug populations from pyrethroid-resistant foci in the Argentina/Bolivia border. An attraction-infection trap was developed and tested during a 15-day period in field assays performed in two rural villages, demonstrating that more than 50% of the bugs detected were killed by fungal infection. By existing vector population models, the bug population reduction was estimated to reduce the risk of acquiring the parasite infection. This approach might also prove useful at different settings, e.g. peridomiciliary environments where current tactics and procedures are reported to fail, and rural communities located in remote areas inaccessible to sanitary control teams. The authors emphasize that these results might help to provide a safe and efficient alternative to overcome bug pyrethroid-resilience in the short term, and might be useful to control other Chagas disease vectors as well. Financial Disclosure: Partial financial support came from the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization/Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Disease (A20433), the Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica, Argentina (PICT 01-14174), and the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (CONICET), Argentina, to MPJ. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: NP, SJM, JRG, and MPJ have a patent pending on a blood-sucking insect trap, and a method to detect and control those insects. Citation: "Control of Pyrethroid-Resistant Chagas Disease Vectors with Entomopathogenic Fungi." Pedrini N, Mijailovsky SJ, Girotti JR, Stariolo R, Cardozo RM, et al. (2009) PLoS Negl Trop Dis 3(5): e434.doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000434 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases


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