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Decorative fountain in hospital linked to 2010 Wisconsin outbreak of Legionnaires' disease

A 2010 outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Wisconsin has been linked to a decorative fountain in a hospital lobby, according to a study published in the February issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

11 Jan 2012

Children delivered by caesarean section at slightly elevated risk of asthma: MoBa study

A new study supports previous findings that children delivered by caesarean section have an increased risk of developing asthma.

11 Jan 2012

Nicotine patch may help those with mild dementia

The nicotine patch designed to help people quit smoking can also improve memory in older adults with mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, a small clinical trial found.

10 Jan 2012

Questions raised over nicotine replacement therapy: Study

Smokers have been advised a host of choices for nicotine replacement like gums, patches and nasal sprays to help them quit. But a new U.S. study says that these do not help people quit cigarettes over the long term any better than going it alone.

10 Jan 2012

END7 campaign aims to combat seven major NTDs by 2020

Launched today, the END7 campaign is dedicated to eliminating seven major neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a public health threat to poor communities by the end of 2020.

10 Jan 2012

Personalized medicine could offer a valuable tool to help combat the diabetic epidemic

With the trend in healthcare moving toward an era of personalized medicine, there is much anticipation and hope that customized approaches to prevention and treatment based on a person's genetic make-up will result in better health outcomes. Some advances, most notably with prevention and treatment of breast and colon cancer, have been widely heralded, raising questions about the potential for personalized medicine for other common diseases, such as diabetes.

10 Jan 2012

New evidence on heading and risk of brain injury in soccer

Could heading the ball in soccer lead to degenerative brain disease, like that seen in athletes in other sports? That's the question addressed by a review in the January issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.

10 Jan 2012

CMS increases NLA for T-SPOT.TB test's CPT code 86481

Oxford Immunotec, Inc. announces that, following a reconsideration request made by the company, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has increased the national limitation amount (NLA) for the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 86481 which is used for the T-SPOT.TB test.

10 Jan 2012

Calif. discloses hospital infection rates; Kansas City health center gets facelift

The California Department of Public Health has issued an annual report which for the first time allows residents to compare patient infection rates at hospitals across the state. The state released the infection data for 2009 and 2010 on Friday. Hospitals had sued the state to limit surgical infection reporting but the court ruled against the hospitals and required disclosures for 29 different surgical procedures.

10 Jan 2012

CNBG, Aeras reach final agreement to develop new TB vaccines

The global fight against the tuberculosis epidemic receives a boost today as Aeras and the China National Biotec Group (CNBG) announce that they have reached final agreement to jointly develop new tuberculosis (TB) vaccines.

10 Jan 2012

JHM, Healthways partner for innovative weight-loss program

Building on the success of recent Hopkins research showing obese participants were able to lose significant weight and keep it off for two years using telephone coaching and a specially designed website, Johns Hopkins Medicine is collaborating with Healthways to help bring the innovative weight-loss program to many more who could benefit from it.

9 Jan 2012

The sharpness of the brain dulls beyond 45: Study

Researchers from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London in the UK studied more than 7,000 people over a 10-year period and show the brain's capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension starts waning in middle age rather than in the 60s.

9 Jan 2012

Anthrax defenses need to be strengthened say experts

It has been a decade since the anthrax attacks brought home the reality of bioterrorism and the nation has a stockpile of some basic tools to fight back against a few of the threats that worry defense experts the most.

8 Jan 2012

AVMA warns against further restrictions on cephalosporin usage in food animals that are not backed by science

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) announced today that the FDA's order prohibiting certain uses of cephalosporins in food animals appears consistent with the current AVMA position on the limited prohibition on extra-label drug use, but warned against further restrictions not backed by science.

7 Jan 2012

Major tobacco company manipulates data on effects of additives in cigarettes

A new UCSF analysis of tobacco industry documents shows that Philip Morris USA manipulated data on the effects of additives in cigarettes, including menthol, obscuring actual toxicity levels and increasing the risk of heart, cancer and other diseases for smokers.

7 Jan 2012

Smokeless tobacco products in India associated with increased risk of oral cancer

The 2nd International Conference on the Frontiers in Prevention, Diagnosis & Therapy of Cancer was held on 7th Jan. 2012 at Allahabad, India and looked at the relationship of oral cancer with tobacco habits. Various innovations in oral cancer diagnosis, therapy and tobacco usage were discussed by experts from around the world.

7 Jan 2012

Investing in smoking cessation programs can save money for Medicaid

New research by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services indicates that including comprehensive tobacco cessation benefits in Medicaid insurance coverage can result in substantial savings for Medicaid programs.

7 Jan 2012

Smokers conceal smoking status from health care providers

New results from a national survey show that one-in-ten smokers (13%) in the United States did not disclose their smoking status to their health care providers (HCP), who are among the most important resources that a smoker could have in quitting successfully.

7 Jan 2012

APUA applauds FDA for acting to limit antibiotics in food-producing animals

The Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) today praised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for acting to limit certain extra label uses of cephalosporins in major animal species – cattle, swine, chickens and turkeys – where misuse and overuse are cause for great concern. Extra label use occurs when use of a drug does not comply with the approved labeling.

6 Jan 2012

UNC HIV researcher Cohen discusses his work, HPTN 052

PSI's "Healthy Lives" blog features a video from the UNC Medical Center News Office in which Myron Cohen, a professor of medicine, microbiology, immunology and public health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, discusses his research into HIV/AIDS prevention, including his lead role in HPTN 052.

6 Jan 2012