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Australians urged to vaccinate babies and care givers against whooping cough

The number of cases of the deadly whooping cough in the Hume region in Victoria, including Wodonga, last year increased fivefold from those diagnosed in 2008. A total 67 cases were reported in Albury last year but across the Greater Southern region there were more than 1,000 cases. The outbreak reached its peak in September. In the last three years 1,416 West Australians contracted the disease, three of whom died.

18 Jan 2011

Healthcare Information Xchange of New York completes implementation of InterSystems HealthShare HIE platform

InterSystems Corporation, the global leader in software for connected health care, today announced that the Healthcare Information Xchange of New York (HIXNY) has completed implementation of InterSystems HealthShare™ as its core health information exchange (HIE) platform.

18 Jan 2011

Individuals with intensive educational intervention have better health behaviors: Study

A new study conducted by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health examines this issue, using data from a the well-known Carolina Abecedarian Project, a randomized control study that enrolled 111 infants in the 1970s and continued to follow them through age 21. Researchers found that individuals who had received the intensive education intervention starting in infancy had significantly better health and better health behaviors as young adults.

18 Jan 2011

Hamilton Academy of Medicine launches campaign to increase awareness about smoking cessation

In honour of National Non-Smoking Week, The Hamilton Academy of Medicine is proud to introduce, It's Hamilton's Time to Quit, a campaign designed to increase awareness about local quitting resources and tools to help the community understand the support that is available, and encourage people to seek the assistance they need to stop smoking.

18 Jan 2011

RTS,S offers 46 percent protection against malaria for at least 15 months after vaccination, Study finds

A Phase II trial published Friday in Lancet Infectious Diseases has shown that RTS,S, the "experimental malaria vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline provides African children with long-lasting protection" against malaria, Reuters reports.

18 Jan 2011

Opinions: U.S. HIV funding; Global fund accountability; World food supply

President Barack Obama's Global Health Initiative is "pitting AIDS against other diseases by making investments in new areas of global health contingent on flat funding for efforts to fight the HIV epidemic," HIV/AIDS advocate and Yale College student Gregg Gonsalves writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

18 Jan 2011

Teens living next to busy roadway face high risk of allergies and asthma: Study

An international team of lung experts has new evidence from a study in shantytowns near Lima, Peru, that teens living immediately next to a busy roadway have increased risk of allergies and asthma.

18 Jan 2011

Australian rural healthcare ailing with lack of funds: Report

The latest data shows that Medicare paid out at least $670 million less in rural Australia in 2006-07 for GP and other primary health services than it has done for the cities. A total of at least $2.1 billion every year is short in the public health expenditure for rural regions compared to cities. Also there is a $500 million underspend in rural areas on the PBS, and at least a $1 billion shortfall on dental and allied health.

17 Jan 2011

Study: Health advocacy groups don't always disclose drug company funding

The researchers noted that since these lobbying organizations often urge greater access to new drugs and treatments, these contributions should be made public.

14 Jan 2011

Unintended direct conflict between pharmaceutical marketing and public health

Drugs that pharmaceutical companies market most aggressively to physicians and patients tend to offer less benefit and more harm to most patients - a phenomenon described as the "inverse benefit law" in a paper from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

14 Jan 2011

U.S. Marshals seize Rite-Dent's dental devices

U.S. Marshals, acting under a court order sought by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, on Jan. 5 and 6, seized all dental devices from Rite-Dent Manufacturing Corporation, located in Hialeah, Fla.

14 Jan 2011

World marks Haiti earthquake anniversary

Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary since a massive earthquake struck Haiti, the Miami Herald reports.

14 Jan 2011

Sleep medications increase risk for nighttime falls and potential injury

Adults who take one of the world's most commonly prescribed sleep medications are significantly more at risk for nighttime falls and potential injury, according to a new study by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

14 Jan 2011

Study finds racial disparities in weight-related counseling

When it comes to advising obese patients, blacks receive less weight reduction and exercise counseling from physicians than their white counterparts. This is according to a recent study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who examined the impact of patient and doctor race concordance on weight-related counseling.

14 Jan 2011

American Heart Association urges public to reduce salt intake

The American Heart Association today issued a call to action for the public, health professionals, the food industry and the government to intensify efforts to reduce the amount of sodium Americans consume daily.

14 Jan 2011

CJSM highlights emerging issues in sport medicine

Should electrocardiograms be included in cardiovascular screening of athletes? What's the current status of research into long-term effects of concussions? These and other hot topics are the focus of the January Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, a special issue on "Emerging Issues in Sport Medicine."

14 Jan 2011

Researchers discover molecular mechanism behind coffee's protective effect

Coffee, that morning elixir, may give us an early jump-start to the day, but numerous studies have shown that it also may be protective against type 2 diabetes. Yet no one has really understood why.

14 Jan 2011

The past, present and future of anthrax research

Few strands of bacteria have achieved such a central place in public consciousness as Bacillus anthracis, the bacteria which causes Anthrax. While today it is a feared weapon of bioterrorism Bacillus anthracis has played a significant historical role, especially through the research of the celebrated 19th century scientists Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, in shaping our understanding of infectious diseases and immunology

13 Jan 2011

Addition of caffeine to alcohol does not improve sustained attention or reaction times

Marketing efforts that encourage mixing caffeinated "energy" drinks with alcohol often try to sway young people to believe that caffeine will offset the sedating effects of alcohol and increase alertness and stamina.

13 Jan 2011

Genetic information from Guthrie cards may serve as valuable resource to diagnose infant diseases

Van Andel Research Institute researchers have developed a method that can yield more information from archived newborn blood that has implications for a vast array of research, including population health studies and answering questions about diseases in infants and children.

13 Jan 2011