Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of
HealthDay:
Chicken Nuggets Sold at Wal-Mart May Contain Plastic Pieces
More than 91,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets sold at
Wal-Mart are being recalled because they may contain pieces of
plastic.
The recall is for 1 lb., 13 oz. bags of "Great Value Fully
Cooked Chicken Nuggets" distributed by Perdue Farms Inc., said the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection
Service, reported
CBS News and the
Associated Press.
The recall was ordered after Perdue found small pieces of blue
plastic in the chicken nuggets after receiving consumer
complaints.
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Questions Raised About Reprogrammed Adult Stem Cells
Reprogrammed adult stem cells may not offer an alternative to
embryonic stem cells, according to new research.
Scientists believe that reprogrammed adult stem cells (called
induced pluripotent stem cells) can be used as blank cells that can
become any other type of cell. The new cells could then be used in
stem cell treatments and for laboratory research.
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston genetically engineered
adult cells in mice to imitate embryonic stem cells but found that
the reprogrammed cells retained characteristics of the tissue they
once were,
ABC News reported.
"We're finding that there's a subtle memory of where the [adult] cells came from," said Dr. George Daley, director of the stem cell transplantation program at Children's Hospital Boston.
"We thought we could reset [blood cells] so we can make a bone tissue or other tissue types, and realized it did not make a bone tissue as well. But it did well going back to a blood cell," Daley told ABC News.
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California Whooping Cough Outbreak May Be Worst in 50 Years
Children, pregnant women and elderly people in California should
get vaccinated against whooping cough in order to protect them
against what may be the worst epidemic of the contagious disease in
the state in 50 years, warn health officials.
So far this year, nearly 1,500 whooping cough (pertussis) cases
have been reported in California, nearly five times the number of
cases last year, said state epidemiologist Dr. Gil Chavez, the
Los Angeles Times reported.
Five infants, all under three months old, have died of whooping
cough so far this year and a sixth infant death was still being
investigated Monday.
Chavez said that babies younger than six months are at greatest
risk because even those who've been vaccinated against whooping
cough have yet to develop immunity, the
Times reported.
Three-quarters of infants who get whooping cough are infected by
someone in their home, said Dr. Dean Blumberg, an associate
professor of pediatric infectious diseases at UC Davis.
"That's why it's important to make sure their siblings and caregivers are protected," he told the Times.