FINDINGS

Meningitis Vaccinations Advised for Preteens

A shortage of meningitis vaccine supplies has ended, federal officials said yesterday as they revived their recommendation that children ages 11 and 12 get the shot.

Concern about tight supplies had prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend in May that preteens defer getting the vaccine while two other groups -- adolescents entering high school and college freshmen living in dormitories -- continue to get vaccinated.

The vaccine was approved by the government last year for preventing bacterial meningitis, an infection that can cause seizures, brain damage, memory loss and even death in otherwise healthy people in less than 48 hours.

The Menactra vaccine is made by Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccine unit of Sanofi-Aventis Group.

Migration's Role In Bird Flu Confirmed

Studies of satellite data have confirmed that migrating ducks, geese and swans spread the H5N1 bird flu virus from Russia to Romania, Turkey and Ukraine last year.

Analysis of the virus's spread from Central Asia into Eastern Europe shows that wild birds, especially mallard ducks, were the chief culprits.

"We conclude that the spread of H5N1 virus from Russia and Kazakhstan to the Black Sea basin is consistent in space and time with the hypothesis that birds in the Anatidae family have seeded the virus along their autumn migration routes," researchers wrote in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Anatidae include geese, ducks and swans, some of which are killed by H5N1, and other species that often show no ill effects from the virus but can spread it.

Bird flu remains mainly an animal disease but has infected 256 people since late 2003, killing 152 of them, according to the World Health Organization. Experts fear that the virus could mutate and spark a human influenza pandemic, which could kill millions.

Marius Gilbert of the Free University of Brussels and colleagues used satellite data to figure out the start of the fall migration and plotted known migration routes against the outbreaks of H5N1.

MDs Tutored to Say No To Drug Companies

Medical schools in several states are boosting programs that teach doctors and students to challenge the sales pitches of drug companies and avoid being dazzled by them.

The pharmaceutical industry spends billions of dollars a year on marketing to doctors -- sometimes throwing lavish events to seal the deal on certain medicines.

Critics say slick promotion is unduly influencing how drugs get prescribed, sometimes to the detriment of patients. A small number of schools are now adding lectures and continuing-education seminars aimed at persuading doctors to challenge claims made during sophisticated sales presentations.

"We want to appeal to physicians' natural skepticism," said Ethan Halm, an associate professor of medicine and health policy at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Another part of Mount Sinai's program will advise providers how to tactfully deal with patients who see a drug on television and demand a prescription for it.

Adriane Fugh-Berman, an associate professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine, said the number of medical school professors even willing to broach the subject with students is still small.

-- From News Services