Health Highlights: Oct. 2, 2008

ByABC News
October 2, 2008, 1:56 PM

Oct. 3 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

27 Bus Riders Sought in Canadian TB Probe

Canadian health officials are looking for 27 people who may have contracted tuberculosis from an infected passenger during a Toronto-to-Windsor bus trip in late August, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

The infection risk is low, according to Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, but those on the Greyhound bus who may have been exposed need to be evaluated. The Detroit-bound bus had 42 passengers aboard when it reached Windsor, just across the Canadian border from Detroit, and 27 passengers got off the bus there, the wire service said.

The infected person, according to Williams, had already tested positive for tuberculosis in the United States, was refused entry back into the country at the border, and was only identified as carrying a Canadian passport. Williams said officials don't know where the person was sitting on the bus or how many people sat close by, the AP reported.

Mark Nesbitt, an Ontario health spokesman, said doctors are monitoring the remaining passengers on the bus, but none appears so far ill. Passengers on the bus are being asked to contact their local public health office as soon as possible.

Williams said the infected person doesn't have the more serious forms of multi-drug resistant or extensively-drug-resistant tuberculosis. TB can take three to eight weeks to incubate, officials said.

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Kids' Breakfast Cereals Way Too Sweet, Report Says

A Consumer Reports nutritional analysis of 27 popular children's breakfast cereals found only four of them could be rated "very good" because of low sugar content, the Washington Post reported Thursday.

The good cereals were Cheerios, Kix, Honey Nut Cheerios and Life. Cheerios topped the list with just 1 gram of sugar and 3 grams of fiber per serving. The ratings were based on energy density and nutrient content on the labels' serving-size recommendations and confirmed by an outside laboratory, the paper said.

Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Golden Crisp, Froot Loops, Apple Jacks, Rice Krispies, Cap'n Crunch and Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch fell to the bottom of the list, with all of them rated as having too much sugar and sodium and very little fiber. Golden Crisp and Honey Smacks had more than 50 percent sugar, and another nine cereals had at least 40 percent sugar.