News

There's a lot more to petting zoos than fluffy rabbits and goats that eat out of your hand. Farm animals can be carriers of nasty critters such as E. coli, salmonella and other zoonotic diseases.

But visitors are not taking adequate measures to protect themselves from infection, according to a new Canadian study published in the Journal of Infectious Disease.

Fewer than one in three visitors wash their hands after touching the animals, and a large number of children carry items into the petting area that will likely be in their mouths later, including pacifiers, baby bottles, stuffed toys and food items.

"Petting zoos can be an excellent educational and social event, but there are potential health risks that are not always being properly addressed," said Scott Weese, a professor of clinical studies at the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ont., who led the research team that examined practices at 36 petting zoos in Ontario.

He said that while all provide hand-washing facilities, they are used infrequently.

Prof. Weese said worrisome bacteria can live in the intestinal tracts of animals and be shed in feces and saliva. People - and children in particular - can be infected by putting their fingers or other items into their mouths.

CPR: PUT YOUR BACK INTO IT

Don't be afraid to break a rib or two if that's what it takes to save somebody's life.

That message emerges from a study showing the majority of people do not push with enough force to restart a heart promptly when they are performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The American Heart Association recommends pushing with enough force to compress the chest 1½ to two inches, which requires 100 to 125 pounds (57 kilograms) of force.

But the new research, published in the journal Cardiovascular Engineering, shows that 60 per cent of people untrained in CPR fail to push hard enough. More surprising is that 40 per cent of those who are properly trained in CPR, such as firefighters, also fail to put their back into it.

Leslie Geddes, professor emeritus of biomedical engineering at Purdue University in Indiana and lead author of the study, said that rescuers need to "push harder and faster" even if doing so cracks a rib.

"As a result of this recommendation, it's likely that the resuscitation rate will increase, but it's equally likely that the fracture rate will increase," he said, noting that is a pretty good tradeoff for someone only minutes away from death.

Sperm cells up in smoke

Smoking a cigarette, à la Humphrey Bogart, may look macho, but gentlemen be warned: Smoking can damage your manhood in a fundamental way. Canadian researchers have demonstrated that - in mice at least - smoking can cause changes to the DNA sequence of sperm cells, alterations than can be inherited by offspring.

"We have known that mothers who smoke can harm their fetuses, and here we show evidence that fathers can potentially damage offspring long before they may even meet their future mate," said Carole Yauk, a research scientist at Health Canada and lead author of the study published in Cancer Research.

Males, be they mice or men, produce a constant supply of sperm from spermatogonial stem cells. Dr. Yauk and her colleagues studied these stem cells, examining a specific portion of DNA called Ms6-hm in mice that were exposed to the equivalent of two cigarettes daily.

After six weeks, the smoking mice had 40 per cent more genetic mutations and, at 12 weeks, 70 per cent more.

"This suggests that damage is related to the duration of exposure, so the longer you smoke, the more mutations accumulate and the more likely a potential effect may arise in the offspring," Dr. Yauk said.

LQTS diagnoses miss mark

Long QT syndrome, a genetic disorder of the heart's electrical system, has garnered a lot of attention in recent years because it has felled some promising young athletes.

But recent awareness appears to be having a perverse effect: a lot of misdiagnoses and unnecessary treatments, up to and including heart surgery, according to a new study published in the medical journal Circulation.

Michael Ackerman, a pediatric oncologist and director of the Long QT Syndrome Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said that of 176 patients referred for a second opinion, about 40 per cent had been originally misdiagnosed.

"This is dramatic evidence of just how challenging LQTS is to correctly diagnose," he said.

But Dr. Ackerman said the need for cautious, correct diagnosis is crucial because treatments can have a profound effect on a patient's quality of life.

Possible treatments include having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator installed, lifelong medications and being restricted in sporting activities.

LQTS occurs in about one in every 3,000 people. About 10 per cent of the time, its first symptom is sudden death, often related to physical exertion.

LQTS has been dubbed the "sudden-death disorder," although, in most cases, it can be diagnosed and treated.

The key warning signs of the syndrome are fainting spells and a family history of sudden, unexplained death before age 50, notably during physical activity.

KIDNEY DRUG ON THE WAY?

Kidney cancer, while rare, is one of the most deadly forms, a situation made worse by a dearth of effective treatments.

So it is noteworthy that a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine shows that patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (advanced kidney cancer) treated with the drug temsirolimus (brand name Torisel) lived 49 per cent longer than those who received the standard treatment, interferon-alpha.

They also had fewer side effects.

While the relative improvement in survival seems impressive, the reality is that patients treated with the new drug lived, on average, only 1.3 months longer after diagnosis - seven months rather than 5.7 months.

These data serve to underscore just how devastating kidney cancer can be, said Anil Kapoor, a urologic oncologist at the Juravinski Cancer Centre and associate professor of surgery at McMaster University in Hamilton.

"Advanced disease is associated with a poor prognosis and is particularly difficult to treat.," he said.

"We're very encouraged by the results of this study because they demonstrate that Torisel is effective in patients with the most advanced disease and can extend their lives without serious side effects."

The drug has not yet been approved for use in Canada.

apicard@globeandmail.com