HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the award of $17 million to fund projects to fight costly and dangerous health care-associated infections, or HAIs.
An experimental drug cocktail that includes three prescriptions now widely available offers the best hope in developing a single agent to treat drug-resistant H1N1 swine flu, says a UAB virology researcher. The combo of oseltamivir, amantadine and ribavirin drug works better than currently recommended single or double antiviral therapies used to treat both seasonal and swine flu strains.
Some doctors fear people who think the seasonal flu shot gave them H1N1 won't come back for the seasonal shot next year, opening themselves and others up to serious illness.
Injections of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine appear to be no more painful than other shots that prevent disease, according to a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Saint Louis University researchers in the department of family and community medicine have received an $880,000, three-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to develop and test a new program aimed at helping older children and young adults with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) successfully transition into adulthood.
Pregnant women in the U.S. infected with the novel H1N1 influenza A virus have died at a rate six times higher than the general population. With flu season upon us, that mortality rate may escalate, so UMDNJ physicians strongly advise expectant mothers to get immunized as soon as the H1N1 vaccine becomes available.
1) Many U.S. health care workers lack health care coverage; 2) Tobacco prevention efforts may benefit by expanding media campaigns into hard-to-reach rural areas; 3) Text messages to parents of teens may help with vaccine reminders.
A University of Michigan study may give clues to why Republicans and Democrats disagree on nearly every aspect of health policies and reform. When looking at social factors that impact health, such as lack of neighborhood grocery stores or safe places to exercise, Republicans became less supportive of public health policies to prevent diabetes. The social factors made Democrats more supportive. The same information can be polarizing.
A University of Illinois at Chicago study finds girls and young women do not believe the human papillomavirus vaccine protects them against other sexually transmitted infections, nor do they believe they should stop cervical cancer screening.
Mass vaccination clinics to protect against the 2009 H1N1 virus offer public health officials a chance to hone procedures for future emergencies, says University of Maryland expert, Jeffrey Herrmann. “It’s like a preseason game for public health officials," says Herrmann, an engineer who developed software officials use to plan logistics of mass vaccinations.
Hospital workers are asking the same questions about the safety and necessity of flu vaccines as the general public, according to a survey conducted by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). The survey of pharmacy directors at 341 hospitals across the country raise troubling concerns about whether health care workers will choose to get vaccinated against H1N1 and seasonal flu.
Critical illness from 2009 influenza A(H1N1) in Mexico occurred among young patients, was associated with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock, and had a fatality rate of about 40 percent, according to a study to appear in the November 4 issue of JAMA. This study is being published early online to coincide with its presentation at a meeting of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.
Despite the severity of disease and the intensity of treatment, most patients in Australia and New Zealand who experienced respiratory failure as a result of 2009 influenza A(H1N1) and were treated with a system that adds oxygen to the patient’s blood survived the disease, according to a study to appear in the November 4 issue of JAMA. This study is being published early online because of its public health importance.
Despite evidence that low-cost diarrhea treatments such as lower osmolarity oral rehydration salts (ORS) and zinc supplements could drastically reduce the number of deaths among children, little progress has been made in implementing these life-saving techniques.
The University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health has received a three year, $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to prepare kids for careers in public health.
For most women, their “time of the month” is seen as a hindrance to daily life. In impoverished and developing countries, however, monthly periods are a major cause for concern among women. Researchers at North Carolina State University are helping to combat the problem by designing affordable pads made from natural, available materials that will allow for local production and sale.
According to a new Harris poll, when encountered by a public restroom without soap or towels, 74% of people who use public restrooms say they would rinse their hands with water and let them air dry. However, LifeBridge Health experts stress that this action is meaningless without soap.
Pharmacists are increasingly being called on to take a more active role in public health. ASHP’s new book, Pharmacy in Public Health: Basics and Beyond, provides pharmacists and with critical information they’ll need to play a much-needed role in public health, for flu season, emergency preparedness, and chronic disease prevention and management.
C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health finds nearly 90% of public supports required H1N1 vaccination for health care workers in case of outbreak, while only 38% of health care workers intend to get vaccinated.
People exposed to a H1NI strain of influenza A while in utero were significantly more likely to have cardiovascular disease later in life, reveals a new study to be published in Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease on Oct. 1.
“The center of the protection bull’s-eye should be children,” says one of the four U.S. physicians serving on the federal Safety Monitoring Committee reviewing trials of H1N1 vaccines. The reasoning behind making children the highest priority comes from decades of experience with flu transmission, prevention strategies, infection monitoring and many other factors.
Last spring, closing schools was an often contested strategy to control influenza A/H1N1. U-Michigan and CDC researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of U.S. cities and public school systems during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic to uncover lessons applicable to today’s communities.
The Great Depression had a silver lining: During that hard time, U.S. life expectancy actually increased by 6.2 years, according to a University of Michigan study published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
While Americans wait for the H1N1 influenza vaccine, it’s important to know and understand the options for treatment for those who have been diagnosed and are ill.
The latest C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health finds less than half of parents in the United States intend to have their children vaccinated against H1N1 flu, even though it is strongly encouraged by the CDC that children be vaccinated.
H1N1 influenza could slow growth in key industries and stall already-weak GDP growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2009, says a health economist in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Business.
In a study published in the September 24th issue of Nature, an international team describes how they harnessed modern genomic technology to explore the ancient history of India, the world’s second most populous nation.
A study led by Johns Hopkins researchers found that when African Americans and whites live in similar environments and have similar incomes, their diabetes rates are similar, which contrasts with the fact that nationally diabetes is more prevalent among African Americans than whites.
Four University of Arkansas researchers will look at ways to prevent and treat the influenza virus thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Adults are nervous enough about H1N1. Imagine how our children might fear "Slime Flu." Here's a different kind of anti-viral: common sense advice to calm our children and calm ourselves.
From a working member of the H1N1 influenza working group of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to several experts in antiviral treatment for influenza, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has noted faculty available for swine-flu coverage.
Wash your hands! Sounds simple, but that advice can make all the difference when it comes to avoiding the flu and colds...if you teach children the right way when they are young. LifeBridge Health has produced a public service announcement for children of all ages about hand washing.
Schools as well as the flu season have officially started, so this is a great time to follow some simple health tips that will help provide protection from not only H1N1 (swine flu), but seasonal influenza as well.
1) Lack of health insurance leads to 45,000 excess deaths annually; 2) Effective prevention extends lives and increases medical cost savings; 3) Risky behaviors among truckers leads to higher rates of STIs including hepatitis C; 4) Pregnancy serves as opportune time for HIV prevention education.
AHRQ has released "Staying Active and Healthy with Blood Thinners," a new 10-minute video to help educate patients about how to use anticoagulant drugs, commonly called blood thinners, safely. The video is available in both English and Spanish.
In a commentary published in the Sept. 16, 2009 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Stern and Markel provide a historical snapshot of Mexico’s emergency A(H1N1) public health strategies that is based on dozens of interviews they and their researchers conducted in Mexico in July 2009 with citizens and public officials.
As cold and flu season get underway, breaking poor eating habits can not only prevent sickness, but also give you more energy, make you feel better about yourself, and help you live a healthier life. Ara DerMarderosian, PhD, professor of pharmacognosy for University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and an expert in nutraceuticals and natural foods, provides guidance to change how you eat and break habits that pack on the pounds and compromise immunity.
There are steps you can take to reduce anxiety and improve your psychological and physical health during the H1N1 swine flu outbreak, says a certified disaster mental health specialist and associate professor at UAB. Keeping a cool head and maintaining perspective are top of the list for coping guidance.
A suspected case of H1N1 reported on the ISU campus this week led one professor to alter the curriculum of her class on communicable diseases. Students are now working to educate the campus about the disease.
An aggressive vaccination program that first targets children and ultimately reaches 70 percent of the U.S. population would mitigate pandemic influenza H1N1 that is expected this fall, according to computer modeling and analysis of observational studies conducted by researchers at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Institute (VIDI) at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.