Public Health News and Research

RSS

Experts highlight urgent need to regulate bariatric and metabolic surgery medical tourism

Medical tourism for bariatric and weight reduction surgery needs urgent regulation to protect recipients' health, especially as the data show that tourist numbers are increasing despite the advent of weight loss drugs, say experts in a commentary published online in BMJ Global Health.

16 Jul 2025

FINRISK population-based study investigates factors associated with prevalence of antibiotic resistance

A population-based study led by the University of Turku, Finland, investigated factors associated with the prevalence of antibiotic resistance.

16 Jul 2025

Fred Hutch leads national study on multi-cancer detection blood tests

Fred Hutch Cancer Center is leading the newly launched Vanguard Study, a national study of a new type of blood test that screens for several different cancers called multi-cancer detection (MCD) tests.

16 Jul 2025

Routine vaccines may be the key to fighting antibiotic resistance

A study reveals that rising vaccine coverage in children is linked to reduced antibiotic prescriptions, suggesting a shift in the fight against drug resistance.

16 Jul 2025

Virtual eye clinics in shopping centers cut waiting times for routine appointments

Innovative virtual eye clinics in shopping centres could significantly reduce waiting times for routine eye appointments, UCL-led research suggests in a first-of-its-kind study.

15 Jul 2025

TB bacteria can play dead to outlast the immune response, study reveals

A vaccine protects more than 100 million infants each year from severe tuberculosis (TB), including the fatal brain swelling it can cause in babies and toddlers.

15 Jul 2025

U.S. could safely end routine adult tetanus and diphtheria shots, review suggests

The United States could safely drop tetanus and diphtheria booster shots for adults and save an estimated $1 billion a year, according to a new review led by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University.

15 Jul 2025

Senegal becomes ninth African country to eliminate trachoma

The World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Senegal as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. Senegal becomes the ninth country in WHO's African Region to have achieved this feat.

15 Jul 2025

WEE1 identified as a key driver of immune resistance in cancer

Immune checkpoints are regulatory proteins that prevent the immune system from attacking healthy tissues.

15 Jul 2025

How to find the right medical rehab services

Rehabilitation therapy can be a godsend after hospitalization for a stroke, a fall, an accident, a joint replacement, a severe burn, or a spinal cord injury, among other conditions.

15 Jul 2025

Infectious disease outbreaks erode trust in political institutions

The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn the attention to the far-reaching social implications of emerging infectious diseases, bringing to mind similarly impactful events like the Black Plague in early modern Europe or the Spanish Flu after World War I.

15 Jul 2025

Study validates stem cell models for neurological diseases

In a comprehensive Genomic Press perspective (peer-reviewed review) article, an international team of neuroscientists has outlined crucial validity standards that could transform how researchers use stem cell technology to study devastating brain disorders.

15 Jul 2025

Study: Millions worldwide still lack access to essential surgical care

Progress towards universal access to safe, affordable surgical care is dangerously off track as at least 160 million patients each year are unable to receive surgery - with Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs) bearing the brunt of the crisis, a new study reveals.

15 Jul 2025

Visual food cues may lead to overeating even without hunger

Watching others eat tasty foods may lead to overeating, even in the absence of hunger, according to a new mouse study being presented Monday at ENDO 2025, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

14 Jul 2025

Genetic secrets of Spanish flu revealed through century-old sample

Researchers from the universities of Basel and Zurich have used a historical specimen from UZH's Medical Collection to decode the genome of the virus responsible for the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic in Switzerland.

14 Jul 2025

Many Americans turn to AI for health answers despite accuracy warnings

Traditionally, individuals asked health questions of their primary health care provider. Confidence in that provider as a source of trustworthy health information has been consistently high in recent years and was at 90% in April, according to survey data from the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania.

14 Jul 2025

Nicotine pouches pose growing danger to young children

A new study reveals that ingestions of nicotine pouches by young children have surged in recent years. Researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center analyzed calls to U.S. poison centers and found an alarming 763% increase in the rate of reported nicotine pouch ingestions among children younger than 6 years old from 2020 to 2023.

14 Jul 2025

New WHO guidelines recommend injectable lenacapavir for HIV prevention

The World Health Organization (WHO) released today new guidelines recommending the use of injectable lenacapavir (LEN) twice a year as an additional pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) option for HIV prevention, in a landmark policy action that could help reshape the global HIV response.

14 Jul 2025

Canadian obesity trends accelerated after the start of COVID-19 pandemic

Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect obesity rates in Canada? A new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241421 found obesity rates based on body mass index (BMI) increased faster in the 4 years after the start of the pandemic than in the previous 11 years, especially in younger adults.

14 Jul 2025

Vested interests. Influence muscle. At RFK Jr.’s HHS, It’s not pharma. It’s wellness.

On his way to an Ultimate Fighting Championship event, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stopped by the home of podcaster Gary Brecka.

14 Jul 2025