ROCHE: AUTOMATED URINE TESTING & MICROSCOPY

Roche Investor Update: Roche launches fully automated urine testing analyzer for enhanced result reliability and staff safety

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Roche launches fully automated urine testing analyzer for enhanced result reliability and staff safety 

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today the launch of cobas 6500, a fully automated urine testing system that consists of two modular analyzers combining urine strip testing and digital urinary microscopy. The system tests for 23 parameters to help diagnose diseases such as urinary tract infection, kidney disease, and diabetes.  The cobas 6500 offers the highest throughput on the market, ensures high-quality results and increases laboratory productivity significantly, while reducing manual steps and contamination risks for laboratory staff. 

“At the moment, many manual steps are still required for urine analysis. With the cobas 6500 we can offer fully automated urine testing to laboratories, processing more than one thousand urine samples per day, which is significantly more than what can be done today,” said Roland Diggelmann, COO of Roche Diagnostics. “Building on our 50 years of experience in urine analysis, Roche Diagnostics is now entering digital microscopy for urine testing, bringing even higher-quality solutions to the laboratories. This enables laboratories to generate faster and more reliable results for the benefit of people’s health.”

The system will be available in in Europe, the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Roche is also planning to submit an application for the approval of the cobas 6500 in the United States. 

About urine analysis (urinalysis)

Urinalysis has been an important diagnostic tool for more than hundred years. Urine remains a key indicator of many diseases such as urinary tract infection, kidney disease and diabetes. Urinalysis can reveal serious damage that is asymptomatic in early stages yet treatable when identified in time. The urine test strip is a key diagnostic tool that yields quick and reliable information on pathological changes in the urine. Its diagnostic significance lies primarily in first-line diagnosis, screening during routine or preventive examinations, and treatment monitoring.

About cobas 6500
The cobas 6500 consists of two modular analyzers: The urine test strip analysis module quickly tests for the risk of diseases such as kidney disease and urinary tract infection. The second module replaces the manual steps involved in urine microscopy and allows for fully automated quantification and classification of urine particles such as blood cells by digital microscopy. The unit significantly speeds up the microscopy process with as many as 116 test samples per hour, while eliminating variability of test results, driving standardization. For flexible use, the two modules can be operated separately or together as a single platform.

HEINZ & KELLOGG leave Leaminton & London Ontario.

Possible cause is high demand by Unions for Medical perks. As example:new spectacles for the whole family every two years even if no refractive changes. (usually at $300/pair).

Retirement of CPSO REGISTRAR Dr.Rocco Vincent GERACE MD(Wester Ont. 1972)

Retirement of CPSO Registrar expected at age of sixty-seven.  Royal College of Ont  Dental Surgeons employs a Registrar who is a Lawyer with a Specialist Certificate in Health Law.: Irwin W FEFERGRAD CS,BCL,LLB.There are seven Lawyers in Ontario who are specialists  in Health Law..

Ontario Minister Health:,RHODES SCHOLAR Dr.E.W.HOSKINS Officer of Order Canada, Meritorious Service Cross ,BSc(Chem) MD(Hamilton) FRCPC(Comm.Med.)Dip.TM&H(Lond.) D.Phil(Oxon)

New Ont.Min.Health Aberdeen & Oxford Post-grad. Public Health expert Eric Williams HOSKINS.(born 1960:  Simcoe Composite Public school)). Has pt-time family practice in Toronto's Ethiopian area, @ 2009 Danforth. Married to Community Med.Specialist at Womens' College Hospital Samantha Joan NUTT MD(Hamilton1994), FRCP(C). One child (a son).

Ontario MOH capitulates to a mother's demand for OHIP $60,000/year payment for KALYDECO for 13y daughter.

Toronto Star: Mrs Beth VANSTONE's  media activity and personal visits to the Ontario Legislative assemblyshamed the Ministry of Health to agree to pay $60,000/year for IVACAFTOR (Kalydeco) to treat Cystic Fibrosis of 13y daughter.. The real cost is $300,000/year.. Mr VANSTONE's private insurance pays 50%; Boston VERTEX Pharm.Inc discounts 30%.. Thjs shows the importance in Ontario of PRIVATE insurance and persistence against OHIP "guidelines".

CANADA: Ethyl alcohol Legal age of consent

18y Alberta, Manitoba, Quebec.
19y Rest of Canada

(compare France @ 18y; Germany & 16y for beer/wine 7 18y for spirits; Switzerland &16y for < 18%,18y for spirits.;UK @ 16y with meals in pubs/rests & 18y unlimited. USA @ 21y.)

TORONTO: World "PRIDE" meeting 10 days of downtown traffic difficulty

Toronto will have traffic difficulty for next  10 days due to multiple parades. and street demos.

DAILY MAIL,UK Cambridge Med.Student "MISS ENGLAND"

By Naomi Greenaway

Published: 10:01 GMT, 17 June 2014 | Updated: 11:48 GMT, 17 June 2014

Brains and beauty is quite the enviable package, and now one 24-year-old student has proven she has both in droves.

Last night, Carina Tyrrell, who is in her fifth year of medicine at Murray, Edwards College, Cambridge, beat 60 other contestants to take the title of Miss England.

Next, the 24-year-old Miss Cambridgeshire, who only finished her university exams last week, will compete in Miss World.

+22

Carina Tyrrell, 24, was crowned Miss England in Torquay, Devon last night

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2659954/It-no-brainer-Cambridge-medical-student-crowned-Miss-England-compete-Miss-World.html#ixzz34tss22mr
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Provincial Election:

Southern Rural Ontario mainly (Right-wing ) ":Progressive Conservative". Ottawa & Toronto: mainly  (Socialist ) "Liberal"... Northern Ontario mainly (Left-Wing Socialist) "New Democratic Party" with Liberal.patches.

CIHI in Longwoods "Heathcare Quarterly":COMPROMISED WOUNDS in CANADA

Compromised Wounds in Canada : CIHI 2013 (reprinted in Longwoods: Healthcare Quarterly Vol 17,No.11 2014:  7-10. K..Denny, C.Lawand, D.Perry.)

Compromised Wounds :chronic wounds; breaches of skin barrier; iatrogenic surgical wounds.

4% : In-patients(acute)
7%   Homecare.
10% Long-term care
30% Continuing care pts in Hospital.

USA ProMed: Increase in Syphilis & Gonorrhoea

PRO/EDR> Syphilis & gonococcal dis. - USA (04): (OR) rising incidence, MSM, HIV coinfect.

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promed@promedmail.org	19:35 (1 hour ago)
to promed-post, promed-edr-post

SYPHILIS AND GONOCOCCAL DISEASE - USA (04): (OREGON) RISING INCIDENCE,
MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN, HIV COINFECTION
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***********************************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Fri 6 Jun 2014
Source: The Body [edited]
<http://www.thebody.com/content/74578/syphilis-gonorrhea-on-the-rise-in-oregon.html>


The Statesman Journal reported that Oregon's syphilis and gonorrhea
rates have increased dramatically in recent years. Syphilis prevalence
recently tied high numbers from more than 2 decades ago and is now
twice the national average. Gonorrhea rates saw a sharp 18-percent
increase between 2012 and 2013. Dr. Sean Schafer, a medical
epidemiologist with the Oregon Health Authority, thinks the numbers
are distressing. "We haven't seen numbers like this since the late
1980s, early 1990s. And this year [2014] is looking like another bad
year," he said.

When syphilis is in its early stage of infection, it is the most
contagious. The 1st symptoms of syphilis, a sore then a rash, often go
undetected and a person can transmit the disease easily to another
person. There was nearly a 25-percent increase of early syphilis cases
between 2012 and 2013, from 312 to 404. This year [2014] has already
seen 2 cases of congenital syphilis in infants, causing one death.

Schafer reports that 96 percent of 2013 syphilis cases were in men,
with 77 percent of them among men who have sex with men. More than 50
percent were coinfected with HIV. 77 percent of 2013 gonorrhea cases
were also among men. Gonorrhea often has no symptoms and is
unknowingly transmitted to other partners. HIV-infected gay men often
choose HIV-positive partners to avoid using condoms, but they still
can transmit STDs. Schafer recommends that all gay men and women
younger than 24 should get a syphilis and gonorrhea test every year.
Both STDs are easily treated with antibiotics if detected early.

USA: IMMUNIZATION ACTION COALITION:

Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule -USA 2014 5p.laminated Guide on sale. www.immunize.org/shop

SWITZERLAND: IMMUNISATION SUBOPTIMAL

Article as PDF Email this article Original article | Published 29 April 2014, doi:10.4414/smw.2014.13955 Cite this as: Swiss Med Wkly. 2014;144:w13955 Immunisation coverage of adults: a vaccination counselling campaign in the pharmacies in Switzerland Fabio Valeria, Christoph Hatza, Dominique Jordanb, Claudine Leutholdb, Astrid Czockb, Phung Langa a Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, Division of Epidemiology and Prevention of Communicable Disease, University of Zurich, Switzerland b pharmaSuisse, Bern, Switzerland Summary OBJECTIVE: To assess vaccination coverage for adults living in Switzerland. METHODS: Through a media campaign, the general population was invited during 1 month to bring their vaccination certificates to the pharmacies to have their immunisation status evaluated with the software viavac©, and to complete a questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 496 pharmacies in Switzerland participated in the campaign, of which 284 (57%) submitted valid vaccination information. From a total of 3,634 participants in the campaign, there were 3,291 valid cases (participants born ≤1992) and 1,011 questionnaires completed. Vaccination coverage for the participants was 45.9% and 34.6% for five and six doses of diphtheria, 56.4% and 44.0% for tetanus and 66.3% and 48.0% for polio, respectively. Coverage estimates for one and two doses of measles vaccine were 76.5% and 49.4%, respectively, for the birth cohort 1967–1992 and 4.0% and 0.8%, respectively, for the cohort ≤1966. There was a significant difference in coverage for most vaccinations between the two aforementioned birth cohorts. A plot of the measles vaccine coverage over time shows that the increase in coverage correlated with policy changes in the Swiss Immunisation Schedule. CONCLUSIONS: Despite selection bias and low participation, this study indicates that vaccination coverage for the basic recommended immunisations in the adult population in Switzerland is suboptimal. More efforts using various means and methods are needed to increase immunisation coverage in adolescents before they leave school. An established method to determine vaccination coverage for the general population could provide invaluable insights into the effects of changes in vaccination policies and disease outbreaks.

Need for Sun Life OMA critical illness insurance $250,000

Cost of Stem-cell transplant in Swiss Zurich Cancer centre (2-3 wks) approx Can$110,000 + hospital private room $34,000 = $144,000. Davos rehab center post-transplant (private room)$2,750/day @ say 30 days = $82,500 TOTAL= $226,000

ProMed: Red Maple & Box Elder leaves toxic to hoses.

[Byline: Brad Pritchard] -- Communicated by: ProMED-mail [In North America, the toxic ingredient in red maple (_Acer rubrum_) leaves is believed to be gallic acid (1). Gallic acid causes methemoglobinemia [a blood disorder in which an abnormal amount of methemoglobin -- a form of hemoglobin -- is produced] and is plentiful in both water and methanol extracts of red maple, sugar maple and silver maple, and in the extract fractions from these species that oxidize blood cells (1). Ingestion of wilted or partially dried red maple leaves from fallen or pruned branches causes lysis of the red blood cells with the subsequent development of a hemolytic anemia, which can be deadly (2). Horses often die within 18-24 hours of ingestion of wilted leaves. Horses that remain alive for 18-24 hours after ingestion of wilted leaves will be severely depressed and cyanotic and produce dark red or brown urine. The mucous membranes are blue to brown from poor oxygenation. They suffer intravascular and extravascular hemolysis (red blood cell breakdown). The percentage of red blood cells circulating in the blood (packed cell volume [PCV]) can drop as low as 8-10 percent, and the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration can be as low as 50 g/L. The normal PCV and Hb concentrations in horse blood are 28-44 percent and 112-169 g/L, respectively (3). Death is due to a severe lack of oxygen delivery to vital cells from hemolysis of red blood cells, anemia and the oxidation of hemoglobin to methemoglobin, which is incapable of transporting oxygen. Of 32 horses, 19 ( 60 percent) died after ingesting wilted red maple leaves. The clinical signs observed included: colic, fever, followed by laminitis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. All horses had both gross and microscopic evidence of hemoglobin in their urine (hemoglobinuria) (4). Another _Acer_ plant, is the Box elder (_Acer negundo_). The tree seeds contain a toxin, which results in severe muscular disease in horses called seasonal atypical myopathy, which is frequently fatal.