Healthcare News

RSS

German officials again claim sprouts as source of E. coli outbreak

"After days of confusion, German authorities finally concluded on Friday that an E. coli infection, which has claimed at least 29 lives, unsettled the nation and thrown European agriculture into disarray, had been caused by contaminated bean sprouts and not, as first was feared, by other produce," the New York Times reports.

13 Jun 2011

Low-cost meningitis vaccine cuts cases in African countries, data show

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger recorded the lowest number of meningitis A cases in an epidemic season this year after the MenAfriVac vaccine was introduced, data from the WHO show, the nonprofit that helped develop the shot, Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), said on Thursday, Reuters reports.

13 Jun 2011

HSS to host international Osteoarthritis Summit on June 17, 18

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most pressing health care challenges of our time, affecting 27 million Americans. In an effort to elucidate the latest information in diagnosis, treatment, research and prevention, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) will host an international Osteoarthritis Summit on June 17 and June 18.

13 Jun 2011

NYU Langone webinar discusses advances in the treatment of RA

Steven Abramson, MD, professor of medicine and director of the rheumatology division at NYU Langone Medical Center, hosted a webinar with colleagues from the medical center for rheumatoid arthritis community bloggers - bringing together, bench, bedside and the blogosphere to discuss advances in the investigation, care, and treatment of RA.

13 Jun 2011

Five guidelines for avoiding ventilators improve pediatric outcomes, reduce costs of care

Guidelines that reduce the use of mechanical ventilation with premature infants in favor of a gentler form of respiratory support can profoundly affect those children's outcomes while reducing the cost of care, according to a team of researchers at Children's Hospital Boston.

13 Jun 2011

Two champions of children's health care to receive CHF award at annual benefit

Children's Health Fund (CHF) will honor two champions of children's health care at its annual benefit June 13. Artists Bette Midler and Paul Simon will perform during the event.

13 Jun 2011

NTP releases 'Report on Carcinogens'

Today, The National Toxicology Program released its Report on Carcinogens, which included the substance styrene. The following statement on the safety of foodservice packaging products made from polystyrene can be attributed to Cal Dooley, CEO of the American Chemistry Council.

13 Jun 2011

Alliance receives $23.2M RWJF grant to extend Healthy Schools Program through 2014

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, announced today it has received a $23.2 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to expand and extend its Healthy Schools Program through 2014.

13 Jun 2011

UNAIDS, PEPFAR announce campaign to eliminate MTCT of HIV by 2015

A team led by UNAIDS and PEPFAR on Thursday at the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS announced a plan to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015 by "ensuring that all women, especially pregnant ones, have access to quality life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services - for themselves and their children," BBC News reports.

13 Jun 2011

Ambulance diversion linked to high risk of mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Among Medicare patients with heart attack in 4 California counties, diversion of ambulance traffic by the nearest emergency department for 12 hours or more was associated with an increased risk of death for up to one year, according to a study in the June 15 issue of JAMA.

13 Jun 2011

Cancer survivors and friends to attend San Diego's Survivor Beach event on June 19

Hundreds of surfers, cancer survivors and friends will gather together, with surfboards in hand, on La Jolla Shores Sunday, June 19 for an annual San Diego tradition: Survivor Beach. Attendees will place surfboards along the edge of the shore, nose-to-tail, from Scripps Pier down La Jolla Shores, with the goal of forming a record-breaking line of several hundred surfboards.

13 Jun 2011

Unique approach improves discharge disposition and older patient's outcomes

The rehospitalization of senior patients within 30 days of discharge from a skilled nursing facility (SNF) has risen dramatically in recent years, at an estimated annual cost of more than $17 billion.

13 Jun 2011

Dominican Republic health workers strike over sanitary conditions in hospital

Medical workers at a hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, went on strike Thursday after a nurse was suspected of contracting cholera, the Associated Press/Kansas City Star reports.

13 Jun 2011

National, continental health center coordination lacking in E. coli outbreak response

During the handling of the E. coli outbreak in Germany, "coordination of the German public health response seems to have been utterly absent," a Lancet editorial states, adding, "But one should also ask: where was the European Centres of Disease Prevention and Control? … From the public's point of view, no visible collaboration seems to have taken place."

13 Jun 2011

S. African government program reduced MTCT HIV transmission rate to 3.5%, study shows

The South African government's program to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV has reduced the rate of virus transmission to about 3.5 percent, "potentially sparing some 67,000 babies from HIV infection," according to research presented on Wednesday by the Medical Research Council at the 5th South African AIDS Conference in Durban, Health-e/allAfrica.com reports.

13 Jun 2011

Huffington Post AIDS commentaries

The Huffington Post has several commentaries about the 30th anniversary of AIDS and other issues surrounding the epidemic.

13 Jun 2011

Governments need to address disability to achieve MDGs, WHO/World Bank report says

More than one billion people worldwide live with a physical or mental disability, with 80 percent of those people living in developing countries, according to the first world report on disability, published by the WHO and World Bank on Thursday, the Guardian reports.

13 Jun 2011

The U.S. and the GAVI Alliance

This fact sheet from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the GAVI Alliance and the role the U.S. government plays in supporting the partnership. Created in 1999, GAVI began operations in January 2000 and by the end of 2010 had received over $5 billion in donor financing and disbursed over $2.8 billion to support immunization programs in 76 low- and middle-income countries.

13 Jun 2011

Pawlenty rips Romney's health plan; other GOP candidates get ready to rumble

In advance of Monday night's GOP presidential contenders' debate, news outlets covered candidates ramping up the rhetoric on health care.

13 Jun 2011

The U.S. commitment to GAVI

In a post on the Center for Global Development's "Global Health Policy" blog, Amanda Glassman, CGD's director of global health policy, discusses the U.S. pledge for the GAVI Alliance and outlines why providing $450 million over three years to GAVI "is both compassionate and cost-effective".

13 Jun 2011