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Researchers Describe History Of Swine Flu And Warn About Using Extinct Viruses
In a leading medical journal this week US researchers describe the 90-year history of swine flu and warn about working with "freezer" viruses,

Dozens Arrested In National Medicare Fraud Bust
The Associated Press reports: "Federal authorities arrested more than 30 suspects, including doctors, and were seeking others in a major Medicare fraud bust Wednesday in New York, Louisiana, Boston and Houston, targeting scams such as "arthritis kits" - expensive braces that many patients never used. More than 200 agents worked on the $16 million bust that included 12 search warrants at health care businesses and homes across the Houston area, where the bulk of the arrests were made. Federal authorities say those businesses were giving patients "arthritis kits," which were nothing more than expensive orthotics that included knee and shoulder braces and heating pads. Patients told authorities they were unnecessary and many never even received them. But health care clinic owners billed between $3,000 to $4,000 for each kit. ... In some cases, clinic owners billed patients who were dead when they allegedly received the items" (Kennedy, 7/29).
News of the day
Chinese Government Reports Abortion Statistics
Chinese state media on Thursday reported that women in the country have about 13 million abortions annually, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. According to the China Daily newspaper, the actual number likely is much higher because the 13 million includes abortions performed in hospitals but not unreported procedures performed in rural clinics. Most of the abortions were among single young women who experts say know little about contraception. The paper also said that about 10 million pills for medical abortion are sold annually in the country. China imposed strict population controls in the 1970s that prohibit most couples from having more than one child. For married women, sterilization and the use of intrauterine devices are widely promoted and subsidized. However, Chinese policies typically do not address the needs of unmarried women, even as national attitudes have become more accepting of sex outside of marriage, the AP/Chronicle reports. According to the newspaper, about 62% of the abortions were among unmarried women ages 20 to 29. The Chinese report called the number of abortions "an unfortunate situation" but did not indicate whether the procedures are increasing or decreasing from year to year. National Population and Family Planning Commission official Wu Shangchun is quoted in the report as saying that almost half of the women seeking abortion had used no form of contraception. Wu also said that reducing abortions is a national challenge that requires significant effort. Peking University professor Li Ying said that sex education in China must be improved at the university level and that Chinese parents must do more to teach children about sex (AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/30).
Mental Health

Limbal Stem Cells - To Be Or Not To Be?

There has been a recent questioning of the role of the limbal stem cell in corneal maintenance and the recent Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting in Fort Lauderdale May 3 -7, 2009 saw some fairly hot debate son this topic. Professor Colin Green, University of Auckland, New Zealand reviews an interesting series of sessions for The Society for Clinical Ophthalmology. The almost universally accepted "X,Y,Z" model for the natural turnover of corneal epithelial cells arose from the brief two page hypothesis of Thoft and Friend published in 1983 (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1983;24:1442-3). Superficial cells are said to shed from the corneal surface by constant desquamation (Z component) and replaced from a population of stem cells which reside in the basal limbal region and continue to cycle slowly throughout life. Their daughter cells migrate centripetally (Y component) into the basal layer of the corneal epithelium and differentiate into upper layers of the cornea (X component) to become post-mitotic cells. The "X, Y, Z" hypothesis has been widely accepted and combined with the general belief that corneal epithelial stem cells reside in a highly specialised and protected limbal niche. Recently FranÃýois Majo and colleagues (Nature. 2008;456:250-4) suggested instead that oligopotent stem cells are distributed throughout the mammalian ocular surface and Chang et al. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2008;49:5279-86) have shown that the central human cornea expresses stem cell markers and is quite capable of healing after laser ablation in an ex vivo model. Presentations at the recent ARVO meeting (May 3 -7) were set to be controversial and both poster and workshops sessions saw lively debate. The full article can be accessed through the Society for Clinical Ophthalmology"s website, click here. The Society welcomes submissins and comments from eye care practitioners across all specialities. If you were at ARVO, we are particularly keen to hear from you. Society for Clinical Ophthalmology


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