One in four people leave work a year after a heart attack

Dallas, Texas - One in four people leave their job within a year of returning to work after having a heart attack, according to a newly published study from Denmark in Journal of the American Heart Association, the Open Access Journal of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.

American Heart Association opposes delay of revised nutrition facts label

Washington, DC - American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown issued the following comments today on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed rule that extends the compliance date for the revised Nutrition Facts label by 18 months:

Tdap vaccination during pregnancy can prevent whooping cough in babies

Washington, DC - A new CDC study published today in Clinical Infectious Diseases reported that vaccination with whooping cough vaccine, Tdap, during the third trimester of pregnancy prevented more than three out of four (78 percent) cases of whooping cough (also known as pertussis) in babies younger than two months. However, only 49 percent of pregnant women who delivered between fall 2015 and spring 2016 received the vaccine. CDC recommends women get Tdap during each pregnancy to provide critical short-term protection to babies when they are most at risk for this life-threatening illness.

FDA approves first test for screening Zika virus in blood donations

Washington, DC - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the cobas Zika test, a qualitative nucleic acid test for the detection of Zika virus RNA in individual plasma specimens obtained from volunteer donors of whole blood and blood components, and from living organ donors. It is intended for use by blood collection establishments to detect Zika virus in blood donations, not for the individual diagnosis of Zika virus infection.

FDA approves new antibacterial drug

Washington, DC - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Vabomere for adults with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTI), including a type of kidney infection, pyelonephritis, caused by specific bacteria. Vabomere is a drug containing meropenem, an antibacterial, and vaborbactam, which inhibits certain types of resistance mechanisms used by bacteria.