CHECKUP : NEWS, TIPS AND TRENDS DEER JERKY FOUND AS SOURCE OF E. COLI BACTERIA.

Scientists have discovered yet another source of E. coli bacterial poisoning - deer jerky.

In the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from Oregon, Washington and Georgia describe a 3-year-old Oregon boy who developed bloody diarrhea two days after his family made jerky from a hunted deer.

The researchers were able to match the bacteria, members of the strain O157:H7, with samples taken from deer feces in the nearby woods. They concluded that the boy and other family members became sick from the jerky. While the scientists don't know how the deer became infected, they cautioned that people should dry such meat so it reaches an internal temperature of 162 degrees Fahrenheit.

The E. coli from the deer jerky is the same strain that contaminated Odwalla fruit juices last fall and some Jack in the Box hamburgers in 1993.

Other studies, presented last week at a meeting in Atlanta of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, also show that the germ is popping up in new places.

The bacteria showed up in a Mississippi church nursery in 1996 and affected at least seven children. And mesclun lettuce (a mixture of small-leaf green, red lettuce and mustard greens) served in restaurants in Connecticut and Illinois last June apparently contained the microbe.

The lettuce all came from the same field, which was next to a beef cattle operation. Researchers suspected that the lettuce's wash water was contaminated.

Free body-fat analysis: Think you're too fat - and wondering what to do about it? You can find out May 2 as CareAmerica 65 Plus offers seniors the chance to get a personalized nutrition and exercise assessment - plus a body-fat analysis - at the Goebel Senior Center, 1385 Janss Road, Thousand Oaks.

Alarming alcohol statistic: From 1991 to 1995, the rate of high alcohol consumption among pregnant women nearly quadrupled, underscoring the need for renewed efforts at preventing women from drinking alcohol during pregnancy, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The number of pregnant women who drank frequently (defined as seven or more alcoholic drinks per week or five or more drinks on at least one occasion) increased from 0.8 percent in 1991 to 3.5 percent in 1995, the CDC reported last week in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Frequent drinking among pregnant women was most common in Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Nevada.

Alcohol use during pregnancy is a leading cause of preventable birth defects and mental retardation, and women should completely abstain from alcohol if they are pregnant or plan to be soon, the CDC said.

Clearing your throat: You have a sore throat or sinus infection. You may want antibiotics and your doctor may be anxious to help, but two new studies in the British Medical Journal report that antibiotics probably do little good. Researchers found that between 30 and 37 percent of patients with tonsilitis or pharyngitis got better in three days whether they got drugs right away or not at all, and everyone generally recovered after four or five days.