Epidemiology News and Research

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Early initiation of HIV therapy would save money, lives of South Africans

If the South African government followed a recent recommendation by the World Health Organization to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected residents earlier in the progress of the disease, the policy shift would start saving the country money after 16 years and would extend thousands of lives for dozens of years, according to a new study.

27 Jul 2011

Four-year study to test effectiveness of WHO Safe Childbirth program

Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has been awarded a $14.1 million, four-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to test the effectiveness of an innovative checklist-based childbirth safety program in reducing deaths and improving outcomes of mothers and infants in 120 hospitals in India.

27 Jul 2011

Conference to discuss autism research and awareness in Bangladesh, South East Asia

Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh, the Centre for Neurodevelopment & Autism in Children, and the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University hosted the first regional conference titled "Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities in Bangladesh and South East Asia."

26 Jul 2011

Fluoride supplements neither safe or effective

Sodium fluoride supplements "have not been found by FDA to be safe or effective," according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's website, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation, Inc..

25 Jul 2011

Radiofrequency identification device for studying spread of infection

Participants in a congress were asked to wear a tag for two days in order to study their movements and interactions within a population. The data, collected by a French-Italian team including researchers from CNRS, Inserm, the Université Claude Bernard Lyon1 and the CHU de Lyon, makes it possible to envisage the simulation of the spread of infection risks within a population, or even the optimization of the response to the expansion of an epidemic.

25 Jul 2011

Cholera hits Haiti again

Cholera the bacterial disease that rapidly leads to diarrhea and dehydration and kills millions worldwide ravaged Haiti last fall and has spread quickly to all regions of the Caribbean country. With the rainy season now in progress, clinics across the country are again bustling with seriously ill patients.

24 Jul 2011

Access to kidney transplantation for minorities improves on elimination of allocation policy

A new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation reveals that since the elimination of the kidney allocation priority for matching for HLA-B on May 7, 2003, access to kidney transplantation for minorities has been improved. Improvement is a result of a policy that reduced the requirements for tissue matching.

22 Jul 2011

Blue-collar workers with arthritis in much worse health than all other workers

While more Americans are working past age 65 by choice, a growing segment of the population must continue to work well into their sixties out of financial necessity. Research conducted by the Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine looked at aging, social class and labor force participation rates to illustrate the challenges that lower income workers face in the global marketplace.

22 Jul 2011

Contaminated nasal spray associated with rare bacterial outbreak

Infection control researchers investigating a rare bacterial outbreak of Burholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) identified contaminated nasal spray as the root cause of the infections, leading to a national recall of the product.

22 Jul 2011

Hepatitis B immunization for health care students may fall short of current recommendations

A study in the August issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), suggests that documentation of hepatitis B vaccination for health care students may fall short of current recommendations.

22 Jul 2011

Majority of people in the U.S., Europe express desire to seek early diagnosis of AD

Results of an international survey reveal that over 85% of respondents in the five countries surveyed say that if they were exhibiting confusion and memory loss, they would want to see a doctor to determine if the cause of the symptoms was Alzheimer's disease. Over 94% would want the same if a family member were exhibiting the symptoms.

21 Jul 2011

French scientists publish paper on guidelines for drinking and relation of alcohol to cancer

A group of French scientists have published a paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on guidelines for drinking and the relation of alcohol to cancer.

21 Jul 2011

Taller people at increased risk of cancers

Taller people are at increased risk of a wide range of cancers, new research shows today.

21 Jul 2011

Stopping Aspirin may raise heart attack death risk by 60%: Study

The study results revealed that patients with a history of heart disease who stopped taking a low-dose daily aspirin had a 60% increased risk of having a heart attack over the three-year follow-up, compared with patients who continued the daily aspirin, says study researcher Luis A. Garcia Rodriguez, director of the Spanish Center for Pharmacoepidemiologic Research (CEIFE) in Madrid. The study is published in the British Medical Journal.

20 Jul 2011

Australia sees early rise in flu cases

Australia is gripped with a fourfold increase in the number of people suffering flu. This rise is even before the usual peak season in August and September. Already nearly 8,000 cases have been reported compared with about 2,000 at the same time last year. The increase has disproportionately affected Queensland, NSW and South Australia. In January and February more than 1,700 people were recorded with flu, compared with fewer than 300 the year before.

20 Jul 2011

Simple lifestyle changes could prevent half of all Alzheimer's disease cases

Over half of all Alzheimer's disease cases could potentially be prevented through lifestyle changes and treatment or prevention of chronic medical conditions, according to a study led by Deborah Barnes, PhD, a mental health researcher at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

19 Jul 2011

Coal seam gas and cancer risk: Report

An Australian Senate committee has been looking into the impact of coal seam gas (CSG) mining on the Murray-Darling Basin that has moved to Dalby on Queensland's western Darling Downs today. The Senate Standing Committee on Rural Affairs and Transport is touring southern Queensland examining the environmental consequences of CSG mining on the Murray-Darling River system.

19 Jul 2011

Quitting cannabis use in your 20s cuts progression to other drugs

Quitting cannabis use in your 20s significantly reduces your chance of progressing to other illicit drug use, according to research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

18 Jul 2011

Peak of Australian flu season is imminent so take the necessary precautions now: Experts

The Influenza Specialist Group (ISG) is today warning that high rates of influenza outbreaks have been confirmed in QLD, SA and NSW, but there is still time for most Australians, especially those in at-risk groups, to protect themselves and those around them.

18 Jul 2011

Traumatic brain injury in older veterans increases risk of dementia

Older veterans who experienced traumatic brain injury showed a more than two-fold increase in the risk of developing dementia, according to new research presented today at the Alzheimer's Association® International Conference 2011 (AAIC 2011) in Paris.

18 Jul 2011