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

Daycare Seems to Protect Children Against Hodgkin's Disease

Children who go to daycare or other kinds of preschool programs appear to have much less chance of developing the common childhood cancer Hodgkin's disease, says a Harvard School of Public Health study.

The reasons for this apparent association between preschool programs and reduced risk of Hodgkin's aren't clear. But the study authors suggest that the sharing of germs between children in these preschool programs may stimulate their immune systems.

The study found that going to daycare for one year reduces the risk of Hodgkin's by more than one-third. The findings appear in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

"As parents of young children know well, the rate of exposure to childhood infections is high when groups of children spend time in close proximity, as is the case in daycare and nursery school settings," researcher Dr. Ellen Chang told the Globe and Mail newspaper of Toronto.

"This frequent contact appears to prime the immune system," Chang said.

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Health Worries Linger in Hurricane's Wake

Contaminated water, rotting food, and exposure to mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus are among the factors that have health officials concerned there could be more deaths and injuries in Florida as residents cope with the damage caused by Hurricane Charley.

Some people aren't taking their prescription drugs and others are having heart attacks as they try to clean up their homes and properties. On Monday, three people died in a crash at an intersection where the traffic lights weren't working, the Associated Press reported.

So far, 20 deaths have been attributed to the hurricane and its aftermath.

As of Tuesday, 493,00 people were still without electricity and it could take weeks to restore power to everyone, state officials said. A lack of air conditioning means that people have their windows open, even though their window screens may have been blown away during the hurricane.

That increases the risk of exposure to mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus.

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South Africa Hardest Hit by HIV/AIDS

South Africa tops the list of countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, with a prevalence rate of 15.2 percent in 2004, according to the country's statistical agency.

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is even higher -- 23 percent -- among servicemen in the South African National Defense Force, Statistics South Africa said.

That figure is based on tests done on servicemen being assessed for deployment on foreign peacekeeping missions, the Xinhuanet new agency reported.

So far, 1.7 million South Africans have died from AIDS. Critics blame the South African government for the HIV/AIDS crisis and say the government must increase education and public spending to fight the epidemic.

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Arizona Leads Nation in West Nile Cases

Thousands of abandoned swimming pools, along with irrigation canals and other prime breeding sites for mosquitoes in Phoenix, have made Arizona the state hardest hit by West Nile virus this year.

Arizona has accounted for at least 290 of more than 500 reported cases of West Nile virus in the United States so far in 2004. Nearly all those cases in Arizona have been in Maricopa county, which includes Phoenix, the Associated Press reported.

It's estimated that at least 30,000 Arizona residents may have the virus and are unaware that they're infected because they have only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, the AP said.

The virus appeared west of the Continental Divide for the first time in 2003, when Colorado was hit hard. The virus has now moved through Arizona and into California.

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Kidney Cancer Drug Receives Fast-Track Status

An experimental drug to treat advanced kidney cancer has received fast-track status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug, temsirolimus, is made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a company news release said.

The fast-track process is meant to speed development and review of new drugs designed to treat life-threatening or serious health problems. This designation is given to drugs that have potential to fulfill unmet medical needs.

In March 2002, temsirolimus received fast-track status as an alternative treatment for renal cell carcinoma patients who did not respond to initial therapy.

Currently, a Phase III trial is being conducted on temsirolimus to determine the survival benefit when it's used as a first-line treatment for renal cell carcinoma. A Phase II trial found that seven percent of renal cell carcinoma patients responded to the drug.

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New Blood Screening Method for Mad Cow Variant

A method to screen blood donations for the proteins that cause the human form of mad cow disease has been developed by a Canadian biopharmaceutical company called Prometic.

The process uses a chemical filter that binds to prions in bags of donated blood and highlights any residues, CBC News Online reported.

Prions are the misshapen, infectious proteins that cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Prions, which attack the central nervous system and then invade the brain, can be transmitted through blood transfusions.

This new screening method is costly. The chemical filters have to be inserted into the membrane of blood bags when they're manufactured, which would double the cost from about $25 a bag to $50 a bag.

The company plans to market the technology in Europe next year.

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