Daily Rounds: Testing Bacterial Vs Viral; Blocking AIDS Treatment; Porn-Group Database For STDs; The Happy Meal Diet

Test Tells Viral And Bacterial Infections Apart: Scientific American Podcast "Antibiotics don’t work against viruses. But doctors sometimes give antibiotics to patients who have what turns out to be a viral infection. Which adds to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. Tests to tell a bacterial infection from a viral one take one to two days and don’t always return a clear prognosis. So researchers in Israel have developed a rapid test – using a CSI tool." (scientificamerican.com)

A Trade Barrier to Defeating AIDS - NYTimes.com "But countries just above this cutoff line are on their own.  “There are countries that are considered to be “middle income” that will never be able to afford the high prices charged by innovative pharma companies,” said reader A. Grant of New York.  These nations are also losing the discounts that major manufacturers of AIDS drugs used to offer them.  According to Médecins Sans Frontières, which tracks drug prices, prominent manufacturers of AIDS drugs have stopped offering discounts to middle-income countries, or now require that countries negotiate those discounts one by one." (opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com)

Adult film industry: Porn trade group plans to revive STD database - latimes.com "A San Fernando Valley-based porn trade group plans to revive a controversial database that tracks adult performers' sexually transmitted disease test results. As of Friday, the new database, Adult Performer Health and Safety Services, will provide porn producers and agents with access to results from numerous testing facilities..."  (Los Angeles Times)

McDonald's Is Altering Happy Meals by Removing Half the Fries - NYTimes.com "The company announced Tuesday that it had planned changes to its popular children’s meal that will more than halve the amount of French fries in the package and add fruit.
The new Happy Meals will be introduced in September. In most cases, they will include apple slices, or perhaps another fruit, and parents will have the option of requesting vegetables in lieu of fries. Additionally, the company will offer a choice of milk with 1 percent fat or fat-free chocolate milk rather than soda, although parents can still ask for soda." (prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com)

Papayas Recalled Over Salmonella Risks : Shots - Health Blog : NPR "There's a recall of papayas from Mexico after testing by the Food and Drug Administration found samples from Agromod Produce had the same strain of bacteria seen in outbreaks of salmonella affecting 97 people in 23 states. McAllen, Texas-based Agromod Produce distributes four papaya brands: Blondie, Mananita, Tastylicious and Yaya.
The company is recalling all the papayas shipped before July 23." (npr.org)