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Recovery Act To Fund 12 State Efforts To Improve Care In Ambulatory Surgical Centers
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius provided the down payment for a nationwide effort to reduce health care associated infections in stand-alone or same-day surgical centers. The first effort will begin later this month in 12 states under provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
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Study Finds Survival Rates From Gastrointestinal Tumors Improving Among African-Americans
New research published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reveals that African Americans with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), a rare cancer that begins in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract, now have survival rates equivalent to those of Caucasians. Prior to 2000, African Americans were more likely to develop GIST and less likely to undergo surgical treatment for this type of cancer.
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Senate Finance Committee Holds Second Closed-Door Meeting On Health Care Reform; Details Of House Energy And Commerce Committee Overhaul Plan Leaked
The Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday both worked on health care proposals aimed at overhauling the U.S. health care system, CQ Today reports. In its second of three closed-door meetings, the Finance Committee came to "early, broad agreement" on some issues but continued to disagree over a public option as part of a reform bill. Meanwhile, portions of an overhaul plan being developed by the Energy and Commerce Committee were leaked on Thursday, after Democrats on the committee held a closed-door session on the topic earlier this week (Armstrong, CQ Today, 5/14). Finance Committee
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The Characteristics Of Clarithromycin-Resistant Helicobacter pylori

Clarithromycin is currently one of the antibiotics used for eradication of Helicobacter pylori. However, reports of H. pylori resistance to this antibiotic are increasing worldwide. Clarithromycin resistance has been attributed to the presence of mutations in the 23S rRNA gene, a component of the ribosome that is the protein manufacturing machinery of all living cells. There is little information on the prevalence and characteristics of clarithromycin resistance in H. pylori strains isolated from Malaysian patients. In a research article published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology, the authors determined the prevalence of resistance and characterized the types of mutations present in their resistant strains. In this study conducted by Norazah et al on strains isolated in Malaysia, a low prevalence of clarithromycin-resistant strains was noted. Transitions of adenine to guanine at positions 2142 and 2143 of the 23S rRNA of H. pylori were the main mutations found in clarithromycin-resistant isolates. The A2142G and 2143G mutations of 23S rRNA genes in these strains can be detected easily by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the PCR product of the 23S rRNA genes, using MboII or BsaI restriction enzymes. This eliminates the need to detect these mutations by sequencing. The result of the study demonstrates that clarithromycin resistance is present among local strains. However, even though it is an uncommon occurrence, the possibility of the patient being infected with a resistant strain should be considered if the patient does not respond to treatment with clarithromycin, so that an alternative treatment can be given. The ability to detect clarithromycin resistance by molecular methods such as RFLP showed that this rapid method has the potential to be used as a diagnostic tool. Reference: Ahmad N, Zakaria WR, Abdullah SA, Mohamed R. Characterization of clarithromycin resistance in Malaysian isolates of Helicobacter pylori. World Journal of Gastroenterology 2009; 15(25):3161-3165 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/15/3161.asp Correspondence to: Dr. Norazah Ahmad, Bacteriology Unit, Institute for Medical Research, Jalan Pahang, 50588 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Lin Tian World Journal of Gastroenterology


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