Health Highlights: April 10, 2013

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Young Boy Recovers From H7N9 Bird Flu

A 4-year-old boy in Shanghai who was hospitalized due to infection with H7N9 bird flu has recovered and been discharged, according to a doctor in the infectious disease department of the Pediatric Hospital affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai.

The doctor, who refused to give her name, said she did not know if this was the first recovery from H7N9, the Associated Press reported.

However, the official state news agency Xinhua did say that the boy was the first person to completely recover from H7N9. To date, 28 people in China are confirmed to have been infected with the new strain of bird flu and nine of them have died.

People appear to be getting sick from direct contact with infected birds, according to Chinese officials. But they say it is difficult to track the virus because it seems to be spreading in birds without making them ill, the AP reported.

In related news, South African officials said Tuesday that the H7N1 bird flu strain has been detected on an ostrich farm and that farms in a two-mile radius have been quarantined while an investigation is conducted, the AP reported.

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FDA Probing Problems With Robotic Surgery System

There has been a huge increase in the use of a surgical robot called da Vinci, but health officials are investigating reports of a number of problems --including several deaths -- associated with the device.

The robot was used in nearly 400,000 surgeries in the United States last year, triple the number compared to four years earlier, the Associated Press reported.

The da Vinci is used in a number of procedures, including removal of gallbladders, wombs and prostates, heart valve repair, organ transplants and reducing stomach size. Surgeons control the robot while sitting at a computer screen.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating reports of problems with the da Vinci and the high cost of using the system. Those incidents include: a robotic hand that would not release tissue grasped during surgery; a woman who died when a blood vessel was nicked during a hysterectomy; and a man whose colon was perforated during prostate surgery, the AP reported.

Some doctors say aggressive marketing and the technological appeal of the robot have helped increase its use and that it is time to take a closer look at the device. They contend that there is not enough proof that robotic surgery is at least as good or better than conventional surgeries.

Proponents say patients who undergo robotic surgery sometimes have less bleeding and often leave hospital sooner than those who have conventional laparoscopic or open surgery, the AP reported.

However, the FDA is looking into an increase in the number of reported problems involving the da Vinci system. At least five deaths are mentioned in reports filed since early last year.

The da Vinci is the only FDA-approved robotic system for soft-tissue surgery. Other robotic devices are approved for other types of operations, including neurosurgery and orthopedic procedures, the AP reported.