Antibiotics

Myra Roseman, a retired bacteriologist and research associate with the department of epidemiology at what is now the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, died Nov. 21 from complications of dementia at the North Oaks retirement community. She was 88. Myra Goldenberg, the daughter of an engineer and homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in Forest Park. After graduating from Western High School in 1937, she was 19 when she earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and bacteriology from Goucher College.

Diverticulitis occurs when small, bulging pockets - or diverticula - occur within the colon and become infected. In most cases a slight or micro-perforation occurs. The majority of the time, the healthy body confines the infection to a very small space, and with time and a course of antibiotics, the infection will resolve itself. Dr. John L. Newman, a gastroenterologist with Anne Arundel Gastroenterology Associates, writes about diverticulitis. Diverticulosis, the presence of the pocket without infection, is very common as we grow older.

Most people come to a hospital expecting to get better. But many don't realize that on average, one in 20 patients admitted to a hospital in the United States will contract an infection during his or her stay. These infections cause a staggering 99,000 deaths per year. And a growing proportion of these infections no longer respond to a wide range of antibiotics. Doctors must turn to more costly antibiotics or ones with more side effects - if they can cure the infection at all. A 2005 report showed that hospitals could charge the cost of health care-associated infections to third-party payers such as Medicare and Medicaid.

Safeway stores offering some antibiotics free Safeway Inc. yesterday became the latest area grocer to offer some prescription antibiotics for free. The program, which covers up to a 14-day supply of nine generic antibiotics, is in affect until March 31. Safeway is among grocers around the country offering the antibiotics program in an attempt to lure customers. Giant Food and Wegmans Food Markets Inc. also offer free antibiotics. Andrea K. Walker 10 tech companies get $750,000 from TEDCO The Maryland Technology Development Corp.

The miracle drugs of the 20th century are under threat. Doctors are frustrated by rising numbers of illnesses resistant to their arsenal of antibiotics. When these medicines don't work, patients suffer or even die, and our nation's health tab ratchets upward. Drugs such as penicillin and tetracycline, used routinely to treat respiratory disease and heart infections in humans, are also fed routinely to farm animals - not to treat diagnosed disease but to promote growth and to compensate for the overcrowded, stressful, unsanitary conditions on factory farms.

Tyson Foods Inc. has settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by two competitors, including Maryland's Perdue Farms, alleging that the Arkansas company used deceptive marketing to lie about its antibiotics use in poultry. But now the company faces lawsuits from consumers. Four cases claiming to represent thousands of people have been filed this month in federal courts across the country, including two in Baltimore since Friday. Each seeks class action status, and each alleges that Tyson violated state consumer protection acts.

Higher education level might mean lower BMI When it comes to a healthy body weight, education matters. Highly educated men and women in the U.S. have a lower average body mass index than their less-educated counterparts, according to a new comparison of international data. Conversely, highly educated men and women in poor countries where malnutrition is prevalent tend to have a higher BMI than less-educated people. In short, education appears to confer a healthy buffer against obesity, or malnutrition, depending on the country of origin.