News of Interest for Late-in-Life Moms June 9, 2008

News to know:

11 infants caught whooping cough from nurse
A health-care worker was identifed as the source of an outbreak of whooping cough, or pertussis, among newborns in Texas, according to public health officials investigating the 2004 occurrence.
The report, published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, identified a 24-year-old nurse who had worked in the newborn nursery from early June until mid July. During that time she directly cared for 113 infants, including the 11 who came down with whooping cough. She had been fully immunized against whooping cough as a child.

FDA: Mercury dental fillings may be harmful to some
Silver-colored dental fillings containing mercury, called amalgams, may be harmful to pregnant women, children and fetuses, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said after settling a lawsuit with several consumer advocates.
The FDA agreed to alert consumers about the risks on its Web site and to issue a more specific rule for fillings that contain mercury by July 2009.