Public Health News and Research

RSS

A comprehensive review of vaccine approaches for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), caused by the tick-borne severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), is a disease that is endemic to East Asia and has mortality rates reaching 30%.

6 May 2025

Why a major hydroxychloroquine study was retracted over statistical misuse

Researchers reanalyzed a retracted HCQ study that claimed over 16,000 COVID-19 deaths and exposed serious methodological flaws, including inappropriate use of effect sizes and lack of dose-specific analysis. The study calls for urgent reform in peer review and greater transparency in scientific publishing.

6 May 2025

Retail pharmacies excluded from Medicare Part D networks at higher risk of closure

Retail pharmacies excluded from Medicare Part D networks maintained by drug benefits middlemen were much more likely to close over the past decade, according to new research from USC published in Health Affairs.

6 May 2025

HIV testing and outreach falter as Trump funding cuts sweep the South

Storm clouds hung low above a community center in Jackson, where pastor Andre Devine invited people inside for lunch. Hoagies with smoked turkey and ham drew the crowd, but several people lingered for free preventive health care: tests for HIV and other diseases, flu shots, and blood pressure and glucose monitoring.

6 May 2025

Breakthrough in labeling TB glycans could lead to faster diagnosis

Tuberculosis, the world's deadliest infectious disease, is estimated to infect around 10 million people each year, and kills more than 1 million annually. Once established in the lungs, the bacteria's thick cell wall helps it to fight off the host immune system.

5 May 2025

Asthma-related emergency visits increase during wildfire smoke events in Ontario

New research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.241506 found an increase in asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits across Ontario following heavy smoke in early June 2023.

5 May 2025

Early detection of stomach cancer shows major progress

Stomach cancers are increasingly being diagnosed at less advanced, more treatable stages - a shift that marks major progress in detecting one of the deadliest forms of cancer, according to a study to be presented today at Digestive Disease Week 2025.

5 May 2025

Low income linked to higher risk of dying from liver cancer

The risk of dying from the most common form of primary liver cancer is about 30 percent higher for patients with low household income compared to those with middle or high household income, according to a study at the University of Gothenburg.

5 May 2025

Trump team’s $500 million bet on old vaccine technology puzzles scientists

The Trump administration's unprecedented $500 million grant for a broadly protective flu shot has confounded vaccine and pandemic preparedness experts, who said the project was in early stages, relied on old technology, and was just one of more than 200 such efforts.

5 May 2025

Can your diet affect fertility? Gut-linked dietary score reveals surprising risk pattern

A cross-sectional study of over 3,000 U.S. women found a non-linear link between a gut microbiota-based dietary index (DI-GM) and infertility. Risk decreased with healthier diets but unexpectedly rose beyond a certain threshold score.

4 May 2025

Melanoma cases climb amid declining sunscreen use in Canada

Despite decades of public health messaging, Canadians are spending more time in the sun and using less sun protection – raising alarms among researchers as melanoma cases continue to climb.

3 May 2025

Rising antibiotic resistance threatens UTI treatment in Malawi

A growing resistance to antibiotics is complicating the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Malawi, with new research revealing that nearly half of women presenting with symptoms at a major referral hospital had infections resistant to multiple drugs.

3 May 2025

Medicaid enrollment drops linked to disrupted care for young people

Children and young adults with depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, asthma and epilepsy can get great relief from medications to control their symptoms, helping them stay in school or work and prepare for their futures.

3 May 2025

Medicaid rollbacks could deepen health inequities

A new analysis provides evidence that reductions in access to Medicaid could increase deaths and cause financial hardship to people currently covered under an expansion of Medicaid that was implemented under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

2 May 2025

Addressing the urgent health and environmental threat from endocrine disrupting chemicals

Taking place on 14 May 2025, in Copenhagen and online, the event will bring together leading European scientists, policymakers and civil society to address the urgent health and environmental threat from endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).

2 May 2025

New studies link increased heart disease risk to tobacco and cannabis use

New clinical results from multiple studies show coronary heart disease death associated with tobacco use is anticipated to rise up to 40% in the next five years and people with cannabis use disorder are 50% more likely to experience cardiogenic shock, acute myocardial infarction, and arrhythmias.

2 May 2025

Egg white proteins show promise in naturally lowering blood pressure

Hypertension is a major public health concern, affecting millions worldwide and increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.

1 May 2025

Children born with congenital syphilis face higher risk of hospitalization

Children born with syphilis are six times more likely to be admitted to hospital in their first five years of life compared to children not exposed to syphilis from their mother before birth, according to new research.

1 May 2025

HHS and NIH announce the development of next-generation, universal vaccine platform

Colorized transmission electron micrograph of influenza A/H1N1 virus particles. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Institutes for Health (NIH) today announced the development of the next-generation, universal vaccine platform, Generation Gold Standard, using a beta-propiolactone (BPL)-inactivated, whole-virus platform.

1 May 2025

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': 100 days of health policy upheaval

Members of Congress are back in Washington this week, and Republicans are facing hard decisions on how to reduce Medicaid spending, even as new polling shows that would be unpopular among their voters.

1 May 2025