Feature Channels: Public Health

Filters close
24-Jun-2016 11:05 AM EDT
Monkey Study Shows Zika Infection Prolonged in Pregnancy
University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers studying monkeys have shown that one infection with Zika virus protects against future infection, though pregnancy may drastically prolong the time the virus stays in the body.

27-Jun-2016 12:35 PM EDT
New Research Shows Vaccine Protection Against Zika Virus
Beth Israel Lahey Health

The rapid development of a safe and effective vaccine to prevent the Zika virus (ZIKV) is a global priority, as infection in pregnant women has been shown to lead to fetal microcephaly and other major birth defects. The World Health Organization declared the Zika virus epidemic a global public health emergency on February 1, 2016.

Released: 28-Jun-2016 9:00 AM EDT
Novel Lipid Lowering Medication Improves Blood Sugar Control in Type 2 Diabetes
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Volanesorsen, an experimental lipid-lowering medication, improved insulin sensitivity and glucose control by significantly decreasing patients’ overall hemoglobin A1c – the standard clinical measurement of blood glucose levels for diabetics – in a new study reported by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results are published online this month in Diabetes Care.

27-Jun-2016 8:00 AM EDT
Next Flu Pandemic Could Double Past Cost Estimates
Society for Risk Analysis (SRA)

Policy makers’ and public health officials’ proper reactions could hold down the total costs to U.S. GDP of an influenza outbreak. Otherwise, costs could be nearly double previous estimates.

Released: 28-Jun-2016 5:05 AM EDT
Researcher Receives Grant to Understand Why Some HIV+ Individuals Avoid the “Duet of Death”
Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine experts and colleagues in the United States and Africa have received an $11 million, five-year NIH grant to understand why some people living with HIV in Africa avoid becoming infected with the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB) despite exposure to high-TB-risk circumstances.

Released: 28-Jun-2016 4:00 AM EDT
3D Printed Kidney Helps Doctors Save Woman's Organ During Complicated Tumor Removal
Intermountain Medical Center

Doctors and scientists at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City printed and used a 3D kidney to help save a patient's organ during a complicated tumor-removal procedural.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 7:05 PM EDT
UCLA Health Experts Advisory for July
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

UCLA Health Experts are available to discuss a wide variety of topics of interest for the month of July.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 5:05 PM EDT
AMGA Provides Comments on MACRA Implementation
American Medical Group Association (AMGA)

AMGA today recommended that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) increase possible pathways to participate in Medicare as an advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) in written comments on the proposed rule implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). In addition, AMGA addressed many other issues, including the restrictions on qualifying as an advanced APM, risk adjustment and resource use measurement under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), and the importance of considering outcomes when determining value in health care.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 4:05 PM EDT
Penn-CHOP Named CDC Prevention Epicenter Site
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

The Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have been awarded over $5 million to serve as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Prevention Epicenter site to help develop and test innovative approaches to preventing superbugs and improving patient safety.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 2:05 PM EDT
Researchers Discover the 2009 Swine Flu Pandemic Originated in Mexico
Mount Sinai Health System

The 2009 swine H1N1 flu pandemic — responsible for more than 17,000 deaths worldwide — originated in pigs from a very small region in central Mexico, a research team headed by investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai is reporting.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 2:05 PM EDT
Teaching an Old Drug New Tricks to Fight Cytomegalovirus
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that an old drug once mostly used to treat amebiasis — a disease caused by a parasite — and induce vomiting in cases of poisoning appears to also halt replication of cytomegalovirus (CMV), a herpesvirus that can cause serious disease in immunocompromised individuals, including those with HIV or organ transplant recipients.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 1:05 PM EDT
When Reality Bites: Procedures Meet Practice in Community Pharmacies
University of Manchester

High workload, rigid rules, and conflicting pressures from their employers are all leading to community pharmacy staff deviating from standard procedures at times to ensure patients receive the tailored care they require, a new study from The University of Manchester has found.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 11:05 AM EDT
Political Pitfalls in Handling Ebola May Carry Over to Zika
University of Michigan

If the United States responds to Zika the way it did to Ebola—and early indications are that in many ways it is—the country can expect missteps brought about by a lack of health care coordination and a lot of political finger pointing, according to an analysis by the University of Michigan.

   
23-Jun-2016 11:05 AM EDT
Researchers Uncover Global, Evolving, and Historic Make-Up of Malaria Species
New York University

A team of scientists has uncovered the global, evolving, and historic make-up of Plasmodium vivax, one of the five species of malaria that infect humans. The research, which links the spread of the parasite back to colonial seafaring, among other phenomena, underscores the challenges health experts face in controlling the parasite.

Released: 27-Jun-2016 9:05 AM EDT
Zika Virus Research at Biosecurity Research Institute Aims to Control, Fight Mosquitoes
Kansas State University

Kansas State University is helping the fight against Zika virus through mosquito research at the Biosecurity Research Institute.

20-Jun-2016 7:05 PM EDT
Substance User’s Social Connections: Family, Friends, and the Foresaken
Research Society on Alcoholism

It’s no secret that social environments can play a role in the development as well as recovery from substance-abuse problems. A new study, designed to uncover how individual relationships respond to substance use and social influences, has found that the links between substance use and social connections are bidirectional and strong.

Released: 24-Jun-2016 5:05 PM EDT
Health Tips for Traveling Abroad with Kids
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

Before your family heads to Mexico, Asia or beyond, do a little planning ahead of time to keep everyone healthy during their journey. Dr. Nava Yeganeh, an assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases and director of the Pediatric International Travel and Adoption Clinic at Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA, explains three important strategies.

22-Jun-2016 5:05 PM EDT
Minimum Legal Drinking Age of 21 Can Protect Against Later Risk of Death
Research Society on Alcoholism

The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) in the U.S. regulates the age at which individuals can legally purchase and possess alcohol in public. An MLDA of 21 has been linked to a number of benefits, including a lower risk for alcoholism in adulthood. However, no studies have examined linkages between exposure to MLDAs during young adulthood and mortality later in life. This study examined if young adults – college and non-college students – exposed to a permissive MLDA (younger than 21) had a higher risk of death from alcohol-related chronic diseases compared to those exposed to an MLDA of 21.

   
Released: 24-Jun-2016 2:05 PM EDT
WIU Faculty, Students Studying Zika Virus
Western Illinois University

A group of Western Illinois University student and faculty researchers are spending the summer conducting surveillance of tick-borne diseases and mosquito-borne arboviruses in regional counties.

Released: 24-Jun-2016 9:00 AM EDT
Nation’s Leader in Mosquito Elimination Challenges Americans to Be Vigilant, Follow CDC Recommendations
Mosquito Squad

The American Mosquito Control Association’s annual National Mosquito Control Awareness Week aims to educate about the significance of mosquitoes and the importance of eliminating them. Amy Lawhorne, vice president and brand leader at Mosquito Squad, the largest and most experienced home and commercial mosquito control firm in the country, is putting mosquitoes on notice.

Released: 24-Jun-2016 8:05 AM EDT
$1.8 Million Grant Will Support Public Health, Safer Shipping & Boating, Better Hurricane Predictions and Healthier Gulf Ecosystems
Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System-Regional Association (GCOOS-RA)

The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS-RA) has been awarded $1.8 million a year for the next five years to support data collection and distribution in the Gulf of Mexico.

Released: 23-Jun-2016 4:05 PM EDT
Loyola Patients Win Four Medals at 2016 Transplant Games
Loyola Medicine

A Loyola Medicine liver transplant patient won three medals and a heart transplant won one medal during the 2016 Transplant Games.

Released: 23-Jun-2016 4:05 PM EDT
Stopping Zika: Saint Louis University to Launch Human Vaccine Trial
Saint Louis University Medical Center

Saint Louis University's vaccine center has been tapped by the National Institutes of Health to conduct a human clinical trial of a vaccine to prevent the Zika virus, which can cause devastating birth defects in babies.

Released: 23-Jun-2016 2:05 PM EDT
Dengue Virus Exposure May Amplify Zika Infection
Imperial College London

Previous exposure to the dengue virus may increase the potency of Zika infection, according to research from Imperial College London.

Released: 23-Jun-2016 2:05 PM EDT
Nanotechnology and Math Deliver Two-in-One Punch for Cancer Therapy Resistance
University of Waterloo

Math, biology and nanotechnology are becoming strange, yet effective bed-fellows in the fight against cancer treatment resistance. Researchers at the University of Waterloo and Harvard Medical School have engineered a revolutionary new approach to cancer treatment that pits a lethal combination of drugs together into a single nanoparticle.

Released: 23-Jun-2016 2:05 PM EDT
New Findings Challenge Current View on Origins of Parkinson's Disease
University of Leicester

The neurodegeneration that occurs in Parkinson's disease is a result of stress on the endoplasmic reticulum in the cell rather than failure of the mitochondria as previously thought, according to a study in fruit flies. It was found that the death of neurons associated with the disease was prevented when chemicals that block the effects of endoplasmic reticulum stress were used.

Released: 23-Jun-2016 1:35 PM EDT
RTI International to Serve as Data Coordinating Center for Study of Pregnant Women in Areas Affected by Zika
RTI International

RTI International will serve as the data coordinating center for a multi-country study to evaluate the magnitude of health risks that Zika virus infection poses to pregnant women and their developing fetuses and infants. The study is led by the National Institutes of Health and Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz.

Released: 23-Jun-2016 11:05 AM EDT
Some Viruses Could Survive on Children’s Toys for Hours and Cause Infection, Study Finds
Georgia State University

Certain viruses, such as influenza, could survive on children’s toys long enough to result in exposures, placing children at risk for getting infectious diseases, according to researchers at Georgia State University.

Released: 22-Jun-2016 1:05 PM EDT
Psychiatric Diagnostic Tools May Not Be Valid for African Americans
Lehigh University

Depression in African Americans, according to Sirry Alang, assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at Lehigh University, is expressed in ways that are inconsistent with symptoms of depression laid out in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). The DSM-V is the primary source of diagnostic information, relied upon by not only clinicians and researchers, but also psychiatric drug regulation agencies, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, the legal system, and policy makers.

   
Released: 22-Jun-2016 1:05 PM EDT
Australia 20 Years After Gun Reform -- No Mass Shootings, Declining Firearm Deaths
University of Sydney

Since gun law reform and the Firearms Buyback program 20 years ago, Australia has seen an accelerating decline in intentional firearm deaths and an absence of fatal mass shootings, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports today in a landmark study.

22-Jun-2016 8:00 AM EDT
Memory Loss Caused by West Nile Virus Explained
Washington University in St. Louis

Many West Nile encephalitis survivors suffer long-term neurological problems such as memory loss. New research from Washington University School of Medicine shows that the patients’ own immune systems may have destroyed parts of their neurons, and that intervening in the immune response may help.

Released: 22-Jun-2016 12:05 PM EDT
ACOEM Praises Passage of TSCA Reform Bill
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM)

American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) President James A.Tacci, MD, JD, MPH (FACOEM) today called the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act "a major step forward for health and safety in the workplace.”

Released: 22-Jun-2016 11:05 AM EDT
Johns Hopkins Students Design Ebola Protection Suit Improvements
 Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University engineering students working to develop a better suit to protect health care workers in Ebola outbreaks have developed prototypes for a more comfortable hood and face mask that make breathing easier, and for a battery-powered system that curbs humidity in the suit.

Released: 22-Jun-2016 9:05 AM EDT
Cancer, Violence Among Top Health Concerns for Chicago's South Siders
University of Chicago Medical Center

Residents on the South Side say cancer, violence prevention and sexually transmitted infections are among their top health concerns, according to the latest comprehensive assessment conducted by the University of Chicago Medicine. The 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), published online in mid-June, also identifies diabetes among adults, pediatric asthma and pediatric obesity as other critical health issues faced by South Siders. In addition to uncovering the community’s health needs, the report also includes a plan to advance outreach, prevention and education in those six health areas.

Released: 21-Jun-2016 5:05 PM EDT
Zika Mosquitoes Differ From West Nile Mosquitoes, ‘Bite At All Times Of The Day,’ National Expert Says
Baylor University

In the following Q&A, Richard Duhrkopf, Ph.D., associate professor of biology in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences and nationally recognized expert on mosquitoes, provides an update on national and statewide (Texas) efforts and gives tips to avoid mosquitoes known to carry Zika (Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus), which, he said, are different from those that carry other viruses such as West Nile.

Released: 21-Jun-2016 2:05 PM EDT
Tainted Frozen Vegetables Prompt Latest Ingredient-Driven Foodborne Illness Outbreak
PEW Charitable Trusts

An ongoing incident of Listeria contamination linked to frozen vegetables is causing illnesses across state and national lines. At least 350 products use the vegetables, which are distributed to retailers in all 50 states and four Canadian provinces.

Released: 21-Jun-2016 1:05 PM EDT
Itchy Inflammation of Mosquito Bites Helps Viruses Replicate
University of Leeds

Mosquito bite sites are not just itchy, irritating nuisances - they also make viral infections spread by the insects far worse, new research has found.

Released: 21-Jun-2016 12:05 PM EDT
In What Is Believed to Be a U.S. First, UAB Physician Uses Telehealth to Replace Comprehensive Face-to-Face Visit for Home Dialysis Patient
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Eric Wallace is piloting a telehealth program, which he says could open the door for Alabamians in rural communities to receive more subspecialized care without traveling long distances.

Released: 21-Jun-2016 11:05 AM EDT
The Wistar Institute Contributes Technology Critical to the Development of the First Zika Vaccine to Be Tested in Human Clinical Trial
Wistar Institute

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved initiation of the first phase I human trial for a Zika vaccine, based on new research with key findings generated in the lab of David B. Weiner, Ph.D., executive vice president, director of the Vaccine Center, and the W.W. Smith Endowed Chair in Cancer Research at The Wistar Institute.

18-Jun-2016 1:05 PM EDT
Study Finds Decrease in Uninsured Hospital Patients, Increase in Those with Medicaid
JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association

In a study appearing in the June 21 issue of JAMA, Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues examined changes in insurance coverage among hospitalized nonelderly adults after Michigan expanded Medicaid coverage in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

18-Jun-2016 12:05 PM EDT
Improvement Seen in U.S. Diet
JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association

In nationally representative surveys conducted between 1999 and 2012, several improvements in self-reported dietary habits were identified, such as increased consumption of whole grains, with additional findings suggesting persistent or worsening disparities based on race/ethnicity and education and income level, according to a study appearing in the June 21 issue of JAMA.

Released: 21-Jun-2016 9:05 AM EDT
Drones Could Be Cheaper Alternative to Delivering Vaccines in Developing World
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Using unmanned drones to deliver vaccines in low- and middle-income countries may save money and improve vaccination rates, new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center suggests.

Released: 21-Jun-2016 8:00 AM EDT
Getting a Better Handle on Hispanics’ Health
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Medical researchers, policymakers and providers are paying greater attention to race, national origin, immigration status and a wide range of cultural and socioeconomic factors in addressing the health of the country's large, growing and diverse Hispanic population.

21-Jun-2016 4:00 AM EDT
Mayo Clinic Introduces Precision Medicine in Psychiatry
Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic highlights the potential merits of using precision medicine in prescribing antidepressants. Details appear in the current issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Eleven percent of Americans 12 years and older have been prescribed antidepressant medication, according to CDC data from 2005–2008.

Released: 20-Jun-2016 10:05 PM EDT
New 'Aspirin-Guide' App for Clinicians Helps Personalize Decisions About Aspirin Use
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Low dose aspirin is recommended by clinicians as a preventive measure for patients who have already had a heart attack or stroke, but the risk of taking low-dose aspirin to prevent or delay a first heart attack or stroke is less clear, as the benefit for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) must be balanced with the increased risk of gastrointestinal or other bleeding. To help clinicians and patients make informed decisions about aspirin use, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed a new, free, mobile app, "Aspirin-Guide" that calculates both the CVD risk score and the bleeding risk score for the individual patient, and helps clinicians decide which patients are appropriate candidates for the use of low-dose aspirin (75 to 81 mg daily).

Released: 20-Jun-2016 8:05 PM EDT
RSA 2016 Featured Research Findings
Research Society on Alcoholism

The 39th annual Research Society on Alcoholism Scientific Meeting will take place June 25-29 in New Orleans, Louisiana. RSA 2016 provides a meeting place for scientists and clinicians from across the country, and around the world, to interact. The meeting also gives members and non-members the chance to present their latest findings in alcohol research through abstract and symposia submissions.

   
Released: 20-Jun-2016 6:05 PM EDT
Rheumatology Providers, FDA Leaders Discuss Biosimilar Policy Challenges and Opportunities at National Policy Briefing
American College of Rheumatology (ACR)

Experts from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other leading national healthcare groups spoke about the emerging biosimilars market, including key policy and regulatory questions for patients, providers and the healthcare system, during a national policy briefing held today by the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform.

Released: 20-Jun-2016 5:30 PM EDT
Long-Term Opioids May Not Be Best Pain Management Option for All Sickle Cell Patients
Johns Hopkins Medicine

In a small study looking at pain assessments in adults with sickle cell disease, researchers at Johns Hopkins says overall, those treated long-term with opioids often fared worse in measures of pain, fatigue and curtailed daily activities than those not on long-term opioids.



close
4.82454