Feature Channels: Public Health

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Headlines about America’s worsening drug epidemic have focused on deaths from opioids—heroin and prescription painkillers such as OxyContin. But overdose deaths have also soared among the millions of Americans using benzodiazepine drugs, a class of sedatives that includes Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin, according to a study led by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Health System and the Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania. Their findings appear online today in the American Journal of Public Health.

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Risk of long-term stroke equally and effectively lowered in stenting and invasive surgery procedures.

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Young people with mental problems - especially those with psychotic-like symptoms - should receive help as early as possible and in their own environment. This was the conclusion of a joint study of the University of Helsinki, the Helsinki University Hospital Department of Psychiatry and the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland.

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The way in which pediatric rehabilitation services are delivered has changed in the last decade, according to research presented this week at the Association of Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting in Sacramento, Calif.

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Aged drivers and women using prescription sleep medicines at higher risk for motor vehicle collisions.

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Antibiotics may be linked to a serious disruption in brain function, called delirium, and other brain problems, more than previously thought, according to a “Views and Reviews” article published in the February 17, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, a medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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A UCLA study has found that the state agency responsible for protecting Californians from the dangers of pesticides is failing to assess the health risks likely posed by pesticide mixtures, which are believed to be more harmful than individual pesticides.

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With the outbreak of viruses like Zika, chikungunya, and dengue on the rise, public health officials are desperate to stop transmission.

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The World Health Organization posted its “ZIKA Strategic Response Framework & Joint Operations Plan” on Feb. 16. Global health law expert Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University, is pleased to see the WHO plan but says the financing needed to stem the Zika epidemic is grossly underestimated.

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It can be stressful when your doctor sends you for further evaluation after an office visit. Fears may be heightened when it's a heart stress test.

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While the number of prescriptions for the stimulant Adderall has remained unchanged among young adults, misuse and emergency room visits related to the drug have risen dramatically in this group, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

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Viewing graphic anti-smoking images on cigarette packs triggers activity in brain areas involved in emotion, decision-making and memory as observed via brain scans. Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center and Truth Initiative reported their findings online this week in Addictive Behaviors Reports.

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Global concerns about Zika virus aren’t stopping Americans from making international travel plans, a new study finds, but many who do plan to go abroad say they want more information about the virus.

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Researchers at the University of Michigan Life Sciences Institute and School of Public Health have discovered a new class of anti-biofilm compounds derived from marine microorganisms that show promise against a drug-resistant bacterium commonly associated with hospital-acquired infections.

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Major infections such as influenza and bacterial sepsis kill millions of people each year, often resulting from dangerous complications that impair the body's blood vessels. But the reasons why some patients experience these dramatic responses to infections -- and others don't -- have been unclear. Now, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center find that the Tie2 gene plays a role.

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Northern Arizona University researcher studies the impact of CMV on healthcare providers.

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New research shows that more than 5.5 million people die prematurely every year due to household and outdoor air pollution. More than half of deaths occur in two of the world's fastest growing economies, China and India.

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Following their release of a state-commissioned study on the potential public health impacts of fracking in Western Maryland, University of Maryland researchers are helping to inform the conversation about the potential risks associated with unconventional natural gas development and production.

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A common toxin used to kill yellow fever mosquito larvae – the most prevalent transmitter of dengue, chikungunya and zika viruses – is highly effective. While there are some fitness advantages to surviving adults, this is still an effective way to control the damaging health impacts of these mosquito-borne diseases, a new University of Florida study shows.

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A recent study examined injection risk behaviors among heroin injectors in the Colombian cities of Medellín and Pereira to explore the implications for possible increased HIV transmission within PWID.

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Researchers at UC San Francisco and Johns Hopkins may have found a new way to diagnose Lyme disease, based on a distinctive gene “signature” they discovered in white blood cells of patients infected with the tick-borne bacteria.

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Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have created a map of the world’s chemical landscape, a catalogue of 10,000 chemicals for which there is available safety data that they say can predict the toxicity of many of the 90,000 or more other substances in consumer products for which there is no such information.

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Study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology shows fecal incontinence risk from anal intercourse is heightened for both women and men, with men almost three times as likely to experience incontinence.

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Ilona Jaspers, PhD, from the UNC School of Medicine, recently completed research showing how the chemicals in e-cigarettes can change immune responses in our airways. She will present her findings at the AAAS annual meeting February 11-16.

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Some of the first experiments studying Zika virus in monkeys will be conducted by a broad UW–Madison team that includes the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center and experts in infectious disease, pregnancy and neurology.

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A new journal is challenging established methods in biomedical research publications. Pathogens and Immunity streamlines the current research publication process – a well-recognized source of frustration for biomedical researchers – from one day to five minutes.

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University of Warwick research indicates that a fall in one to one nursing care of very sick and premature new-borns is linked to a higher death rate in neonatal intensive care.

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Reducing incarceration can reduce the number of sexual partners men and women have.

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Chinese teenage boys who are born in more recent years are less likely to start smoking than those in previous generations.

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Following the success of its recent brand relaunch, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) will kick off its 2016 advertising campaign with a television commercial debuting during the Seattle area broadcast of the Super Bowl on Sunday, Feb. 7, on CBS affiliate KIRO-TV. Three additional TV ads will air in the weeks after, and all will run through June. The campaign is designed to convey the strength of SCCA’s three alliance partners—Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children’s and UW Medicine—and how “Better Together” translates into better outcomes for patients in the treatment of cancer.

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Vaccinations, long recognized as an excellent investment that saves lives and prevents illness, could have significant economic value that far exceeds their original cost, a new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found.

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For the first time, investigators in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have determined how antiretroviral therapy (ART) affects the way HIV disseminates and establishes infection in the female reproductive tract. These observations have significant implications for future HIV prevention, vaccine and cure studies.

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The most dangerous times of year for children with asthma are soon after their schools reopen after a break, and a new study finds that cold viruses are largely to blame.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) today announced the winners of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) Think-and-Do Challenge.

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The World Health Organization’s (WHO) recent announcement of a public health emergency of international concern has many individuals searching for information on the Zika virus. Larry Kociolek, MD, Infectious Diseases at Lurie Children’s explains the virus, addresses the concern for risk in pregnant women and how you can prevent contracting the illness.

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Mayo Clinic researchers, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and health officials from Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, have discovered a new bacterial species that causes Lyme disease in people. The new species has been provisionally named Borrelia mayonii. Prior to this finding, the only species believed to cause Lyme disease in North America was Borrelia burgdorferi.

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Columbia University Medical Center and Mailman School of Public Health experts offer insight into the arrival of the Zika virus in South America and the Caribbean.

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Consumers have a lot of questions about where their food comes from, how it’s made and what’s in it. To help consumers find this information, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is excited to announce the launch of “IFT Food Facts.” IFT Food Facts is an online resource that has videos and fact sheets with tips related to the science of food that consumers can use at home, at the store and on the go. IFT’s member experts answer common questions about food safety, nutrition, and food chemistry, as well as address common myths and misperceptions about food science and technology.

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The University of Georgia announced Wednesday that it has entered into a collaborative research agreement with GeoVax Labs Inc. to develop and test a vaccine to prevent the emerging and virulent Zika virus infection.

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Exposure to specific antibiotics is linked to the development of certain strains of antibiotic-resistant C. difficile, one of the fastest growing bacteria superbugs, according to a new study published by Stuart Johnson, MD, of Loyola University Health System (LUHS), Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (SSOM) and the Hines VA Medical Hospital.

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If you hadn’t heard of the Zika virus, chances are that has changed with recent reports of outbreaks of the mosquito-borne illness in Latin America, and possible cases in the United States.

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Preliminary findings published in The Lancet, one of the world’s most prestigious journals

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As it spreads throughout South and Central America and beyond, Zika presents a unique challenge to health officials and to the public. University of Maryland School of Medicine infectious disease specialists can offer insight into the virus, its potential hazards, and the possibility that it may spread to the U.S.

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Baylor University Biology Professor Richard Duhrkopf, Ph.D., says, "Given what is happening in the Caribbean and South America, the threat of Zika virus is real for the U.S."