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Researchers carry out Listeria screening in Vienna’s public lavatories

Listeria monocytogenes is a so-called environmental bacterium. It is highly adaptable and resistant. Previous studies carried out at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna have shown that L. monocytogenes is more prevalent in rural areas than in cities. But the situation in urban lavatories had so far not been investigated.

4 Mar 2015

Children likelier to drink sugar-sweetened beverages post parents' divorce

Children of recently separated or divorced families are likelier to drink sugar-sweetened beverages than children in families where the parents are married, putting them at higher risk for obesity later in life, according to a new study from San Francisco State University.

4 Mar 2015

NHS savings plan led to cuts in some ‘ineffective’ treatments

The drive to reduce NHS spending led to a drop in some treatments considered ‘low-value’, according to new research.

4 Mar 2015

Kansas State researchers preparing for next potential influenza strain

As seasonal influenza cases decrease across the United States, Kansas State University researchers are preparing for the next potential virulent strain of flu.

4 Mar 2015

Raising sale age for tobacco products to 21 may prevent adolescents from taking up smoking

Raising the minimum age to buy cigarettes to 21 would save lives by preventing adolescents from ever taking up smoking, a new report suggests.

4 Mar 2015

Common antidepressant medications not helpful for people with mood, anxiety disorders

Studies indicate that the majority of people with mood and anxiety disorders who receive the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressant medications, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRI's, are not helped by these medications. SSRIs are designed to increase serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that is key to maintenance of mood.

4 Mar 2015

Screening tool can help identify nations' vulnerability to Ebola

Public health experts can identify nations that are vulnerable to the occurrence and impact of future outbreaks of Ebola or other emergencies by using a screening tool that evaluates a nation's strengths across a wide range of measures such as political strength and health care capabilities, according to a new analysis from the RAND Corporation.

4 Mar 2015

Researchers find no significant change in smokers' habits after smoking ban

Smokers have become accustomed to stepping outside at bars and restaurants. But has the change in rules governing enclosed public places inspired enough of them to smoke less behind their own closed doors or maybe even quit altogether?

4 Mar 2015

Study associates heart function with development of Alzheimer's disease

A healthier heart could prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to new research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

3 Mar 2015

New poll reveals U.S. public's perceptions of causes of health problems

A new NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health poll finds that more than six in ten people living in the U.S. (62%) are concerned about their future health. Nearly four in ten (39%) said that they had one or more negative childhood experiences that they believe had a harmful impact on their adult health.

3 Mar 2015

Loss of funding for THC program could disrupt training of medical residents in underserved areas

The shortage of primary care doctors could worsen if funding for the Teaching Health Centers, a program to train medical residents in underserved areas, is eliminated. Loss of funding - which has already been drastically reduced - could disrupt the training of 550 current medical residents and cut off the pipeline of future primary care residents, says a new report conducted by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University.

3 Mar 2015

Health systems in developing world need to be strengthened to stop Ebola-style outbreak

Health systems throughout the developing world need to be strengthened to prevent another Ebola-style outbreak, or worse, warns Save the Children in its new report "A Wake Up Call: Lessons from Ebola for the World's Health Systems."

3 Mar 2015

Chrono Therapeutics gets support to develop SmartStop device for smoking cessation

Chrono Therapeutics, a pioneer in digital drug products, today announced an investment by Rock Health, the leading seed fund in digital health, to support the advancement of Chrono's SmartStop programmable transdermal drug delivery system and real-time behavioral support program for smoking cessation.

3 Mar 2015

Some health plans violate federal law requiring equal benefits for mental health care

One-quarter of the health plans being sold on health insurance exchanges set up through the Affordable Care Act offer benefits that appear to violate a federal law requiring equal benefits for general medical and mental health care, according to new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

3 Mar 2015

Survey: Only 53% of primary care physicians use state's prescription drug monitoring programs

In a new survey, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that physicians report relatively high awareness of state databases that track drug prescriptions but more than one-fifth indicated they were not aware of their state's program at all.

3 Mar 2015

Dengue fever circulating in urban areas of West Africa

Misdiagnosis of febrile illnesses as malaria is a continuing problem in Africa. A new study shows that in Ghana, dengue fever is circulating in urban areas and going undiagnosed. The authors of the study hope to use the findings to launch a widespread initiative to better understand acute undifferentiated febrile illnesses in West Africa.

3 Mar 2015