Simply asking ER patients if they want to get a flu shot increases vaccination rates: study
Additionally, new research shows that adding helpful videos and printed materials to support vaccinations can be even more effective. Meanwhile, tuberculosis rates in the United States are expected to reach their highest level in a decade in 2023, and mpox cases are on the rise again.
CIDRAP: Asking patients about flu shots in the emergency room may increase uptake rates
Simply asking patients to get the flu vaccine during an emergency department (ED) visit can double vaccination rates, according to a study published this week in NEJM Evidence. A combination of video and print messages could potentially increase vaccination rates even higher. The study, led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), compared two interventions in 767 non-critically ill adult patients seen in the emergency department who had not yet received an influenza vaccination. . (Susure, 3/28)
About other infectious disease news —
Associated Press: U.S. tuberculosis cases to reach highest level in 10 years in 2023
The number of tuberculosis cases in the United States in 2023 will be the highest in a decade, according to a new government report. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that 40 states are reporting an increase in tuberculosis, and tuberculosis rates are rising in all age groups. More than 9,600 cases were reported, an increase of 16% from 2022 and the highest since 2013. The number of cases fell sharply at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, but has since increased. (Stobbe, 3/28)
CNN: MPOX cases are rising in the US as vaccination rates lag and new threats loom
The number of MPOX cases in the United States is double what it was at this time last year, and experts are stressing the importance of increasing vaccination rates as the risk of infection increases. (McPhillips, 3/28)
Associated Press: Dengue fever spread to the Americas earlier this year
Dengue fever surged in the Americas from Puerto Rico to Brazil earlier this year, with 3.5 million cases of the tropical disease reported so far, health officials said Thursday. This number is three times the number of cases reported at this time last year, said Dr. Gervase Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization's regional office for the Americas. Last year, the region saw a record 4.5 million cases, and PAHO officials said they expected to set a new record this year. (Koto, 3/28)
Axios: This could be the worst year for dengue in the Americas
As Puerto Rico scrambles to contain the spread, dengue cases are surging across North and South America, with 2024 on track to be the worst year ever for the mosquito-borne virus. According to the World Health Organization, the combination of climate change and El Niño is making it worse for the disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito to spread to new areas faster than usual. (Millman, 3/28)
CIDRAP: Fast Facts: Recording the pace of dengue fever in the Americas, calls for stockpiling of Ebola drugs
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) this week called for the establishment of an international stockpile of drugs to treat Ebola. Ten years after the West African outbreak, two treatments are not readily available in the countries where Ebola is endemic. MSF said in a statement: “All Ebola treatments remain under the control of two US pharmaceutical companies, Regeneron and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and are kept in the US stockpile almost exclusively for national security and biodefense purposes. It is kept as such.” (Schnirling, 3/28)
Also –
Washington Post: Drinking more than one alcoholic drink a day increases women's risk of heart disease
Young to middle-aged women who drink one or more alcoholic drinks a day are, on average, more likely to develop coronary heart disease than those who drink less, according to a new study from Kaiser Permanente Northern California. it was high. Women in the study who reported drinking eight or more alcoholic drinks per week were 33 to 51 percent more likely to develop coronary heart disease. (Chesler, 3/28)
Newsweek: Drinking together may make your partner live longer
Your partner's drinking habits may affect how long you live, new research suggests. Scientists have long suspected that couples with similar drinking patterns tend to have better marital outcomes, and have reported higher quality and longer lasting marriages. … To examine these effects, researchers at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research recruited a cohort of 4,656 married or cohabiting heterosexual couples aged 50 and older in the United States. (Dwan, 3/28)
New York Times: Using your hands is good for your brain
The human hand is a wonder of nature. No other creature on Earth, even our closest relatives, the primates, have hands that are exactly like ours and can grasp and manipulate with such precision. But we don't do as much complex hands-on work as we used to. While much of modern life involves simple actions like tapping a screen or pressing a button, some experts believe that the transition from more complex hand activities may change the way we think and feel. I think it may have an impact on people. (Hyde, 3/28)
Associated Press: Key findings from AP police investigation not expected to be fatal
Every day, police in the United States rely on common use-of-force tactics that, unlike guns, are intended to stop people without killing them. But abusing these tactics can be deadly. More than 1,000 people died over the past 10 years as a result of police suppression using non-lethal methods such as physical holds, stun guns and body blows, according to an investigation led by The Associated Press. In hundreds of cases, police officers were not taught or did not follow the force's best safety practices, creating a path to death. (Dunklin, 3/29)
KFF Health News: Doctors travel to South Asia in search of lasting lessons from smallpox eradication
Smallpox was certified eradicated in 1980, but I first learned about the disease's winding and storied history in 1996, when I was interning at the World Health Organization. As a college student in the 1990s, I was fascinated by the scale of what it would take to wipe out human disease from the face of the earth for the first time. Over the years, I have looked to that history many times, looking for inspiration and direction on how we can be more ambitious in confronting modern public health threats. (Gounder, 3/29)
