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Topsoil is key harbinger of lead exposure risks for children, Tulane study finds

Tracking lead levels in soil over time is critical for cities to determine lead contamination risks for their youngest and most vulnerable residents, according to a new Tulane University study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

14 Oct 2019

Overdose prevention should also focus on alcohol use, study suggests

For several years, the national spotlight has shone on the need to prevent and rapidly treat opioid overdoses. But a new study suggests a need for more focus on the risk of alcohol overdoses among people who use opioids of all kinds, as well as cocaine, marijuana and certain prescription drugs.

14 Oct 2019

Phototherapy strategy highly effective for treating carbon monoxide poisoning in rats

Carbon monoxide (CO)--which is produced by cars and trucks, as well as fires and explosions--is a toxic, colorless, and odorless gas, and there are more than 50,000 admissions to US emergency rooms due to CO poisoning each year, with many cases involving damaged airways and lungs.

10 Oct 2019

Study highlights role of drugs in alcohol poisoning and blackout events

Only one in five non-fatal alcohol overdoses results from use of alcohol alone, according to a study of patients in a large addiction treatment facility, with most alcohol overdoses involving concomitant use of other drugs.

9 Oct 2019

Researchers discover most virulent representatives of listeriosis pathogen

The bacterium Listeria monocytogenes can cause listeriosis, a life-threatening infection in animals and humans. Contaminated food is a frequent source of infection. Elderly people, people with a weakened immune system and pregnant women are particularly at risk with a mortality rate of up to 30 per cent.

9 Oct 2019

New study can help increase access, time to medication for opioid use disorder

A new study found that one in three young adults receive medication for opioid use disorder within 12 months of a non-fatal opioid overdose. The study, led by researchers at Boston Medical Center's Grayken Center for Addiction, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, shows which medications - buprenorphine, methadone or naltrexone - are being taken, and how long after the overdose they receive the treatment.

8 Oct 2019

Prescription-only changes reduce codeine misuse in Australia

The move to prescription-only codeine in Australia has seen a 50 percent reduction in the monthly rate of codeine-related poisoning calls and halved codeine sales, finds new research led by the University of Sydney.

3 Oct 2019

Skin-lightening cream put a woman into a coma. It could happen again.

She had been buying face cream through a friend of a friend for 12 years. This time, it was Pond's "Rejuveness," a version of the company's anti-wrinkle cream that is made and sold in Mexico.

1 Oct 2019

Study: Whole genome sequencing can improve surveillance, control of gastroenteritis

A new study into one of the UK's leading causes of gastroenteritis has shown how whole genome sequencing can improve its surveillance and control of the disease.

25 Sep 2019

African bacterium resists almost all drugs

It looks like it’s time to pay the piper. The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strain of Salmonella typhimurium, called ST313 sublineage II.1, has cropped up in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This fails to respond to any of the antibiotics that are commonly used in the DRC, except for ciprofloxacin. And to make things worse, one sample has been isolated that shows incomplete response even to this last drug.

22 Sep 2019

Salmonella responsible for bloodstream infections in sub-Saharan Africa exhibits extensive drug resistance

The first extensively drug-resistant strains of Salmonella Typhimurium, a pathogen which is responsible for millions of bloodstream infections per year in sub-Saharan Africa, have been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

19 Sep 2019

New book shows how marginalized urban communities address environmental health disparities

A new book details the insights learned from communities that came together to overcome long-standing and seemingly insurmountable environmental public health challenges.

18 Sep 2019

Antibiotic resistance in dolphins mirrors disturbing trend in humans

Antibiotic resistance in bottlenose dolphins shows that up to 88% of pathogenic organisms in this species is resistant to one or more antibiotics. This finding offers very useful insights into the identical phenomenon in humans. This species is termed a sentinel species, which means it reflects environmental risks to humans in advance of their occurrence in humans.

16 Sep 2019

New device to measure ethanol's deadly twin

Methanol is sometimes referred to as ethanol's deadly twin. While the latter is the intoxicating ingredient in wine, beer and schnapps, the former is a chemical that becomes highly toxic when metabolized by the human body.

16 Sep 2019

Genetic engineering could open possibilities for patients with Parkinson’s disease

People with Parkinson’s disease experience loss of dopamine-producing brain cells, leading to tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability, the primary symptoms of the disease.

11 Sep 2019

It’s safe to feed raw food to pets, finds new study

A large multinational study shows that pet owners don’t think feeding raw food increases the risk of infection to household members. Raw food includes all uncooked meat and other parts of a dead animal. In fact, an infection in humans could be traced to raw pet food in just 0.24% of all surveyed households.

9 Sep 2019

WHO: One person dies every 40 seconds from suicide

The number of countries with national suicide prevention strategies has increased in the five years since the publication of WHO's first global report on suicide, said the World Health Organization in the lead-up to World Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September.