National Public Health News
Food Safety Groups Slam USDA Egg Graders at Farms in Recall
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
U.S. Department of Agriculture staff regularly on site at two Iowa egg processors implicated in a national salmonella outbreak were supposed to enforce rules against the presence of disease-spreading rodents and other vermin, federal regulations show. Though USDA says its authority was limited, the agency's egg graders were at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms at least 40 hours a week — including before the outbreak — inspecting the size and quality of eggs inside processing buildings.Beef Recall Heats Up Fight to Tighten Rules
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
For the first time in this country, public health officials have linked ground beef to illnesses from a rare strain of E. coli, adding fuel to an already fierce debate over expanding federal rules meant to keep the toxic bacteria out of the meat supply. Cargill Meat Solutions recalled 8,500 pounds of hamburger on Saturday after investigators determined that it was the likely source of a bacterial strain known as E. coli O26, which had sickened three people in Maine and New York.Quitting Smoking May Require Longer Use of Smoking Cessation Treatments
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Many people who try to quit smoking use a smoking cessation treatment, such as a medication or counseling. Those treatments may take time and some failure before successful quitting is achieved, say the authors of a new study. But doctors may discontinue the cessation treatment too soon.Eggs' 'Grade A' Stamp Isn't What It Seems
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
To some shoppers, the meaning of the "USDA Grade A" shield on egg cartons seems pretty obvious. "It means that the rabbi's blessed this as kosher, right?" said Stephen Potter, an early-morning shopper at a Safeway store in Alexandria, Va.Electronic Cigarettes Attracting ‘Smokers’; But FDA Says Product Should Be Regulated
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Galen Kipe has not smoked a cigarette in more than three months. He could not kick his habit of 17 years with nicotine patches or gum. He finally put away his Marlboro menthols for good by swapping them for electronic cigarettes, which look like the real thing and give him his nicotine fix but do not contain tobacco.Vector-Borne Diseases Growing as Threats to U.S. Public Health: Climate Change, Travel Linked to Illness
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Last fall, an old resident returned to the beaches of Florida, though it certainly was not welcome and officials are determined to see its visit cut short. The unwanted visitor is mosquito-borne dengue, which made headlines this summer after public health officials found that 5 percent of Key West residents showed recent exposure to the virus.First National HIV Strategy Relies on Prevention: Each Year, 56,000 New HIV Infections Reported in United States
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Access to care, eliminating disparities and reducing infection rates are the overarching goals of America’s new National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which calls for a more coordinated response to the nation’s ongoing HIV epidemic. Three decades into the U.S. HIV epidemic, it is the first such strategy of its kind and comes at a time when more Americans than ever are living with the virus and 56,000 new infections are reported every year.STD Campaign Uses Phone App to Reward Checkups
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
You can "check in" to restaurants and bars, so how about health clinics while you get tested for sexually transmitted diseases? Foursquare, the phone application for telling friends and strangers where you are, is offering a special virtual "badge" through September to people who do just that.Egg Farms Violated Safety Rules
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Barns infested with flies, maggots and scurrying rodents, and overflowing manure pits were among the widespread food safety problems that federal inspectors found at a group of Iowa egg farms at the heart of a nationwide recall and salmonella outbreak. Inspection reports released by the Food and Drug Administration on Monday described — often in nose-pinching detail — possible ways that salmonella could have been spread undetected through the vast complexes of two companies.U.S. Grappling With Bedbugs, Misusing Dangerous Pesticides
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
A resurgence of bedbugs across the U.S. has homeowners and apartment dwellers taking desperate measures to eradicate the tenacious bloodsuckers, with some relying on dangerous outdoor pesticides and fly-by-night exterminators. The problem has gotten so bad that the Environmental Protection Agency warned this month against the indoor use of chemicals meant for the outside.Pediatric Group Issues New Flu Shot Guidelines
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
All children and adolescents 6 months of age and older should receive the annual trivalent influenza vaccine this flu season, according to updated recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.Flu Vaccine is Now Available, and Nearly Everyone Should Get It
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Just after the news that “swine flu” is no longer a global threat, it’s time to roll up our sleeves for another shot. Flu vaccination season started early this year, and it’s expected to be bigger than ever. A bumper crop of 160 million doses of seasonal flu vaccine is being produced, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. This is about 40 percent more than last year.Tobacco Signs Still Target City's Poorer Areas
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The signs, wrought in soothing italics, beckon with promises of tobacco “pleasure!” at low, low prices. Across Dorchester, Mattapan, and other city neighborhoods, big signs and little signs, vertical signs and horizontal signs trumpet the availability of cigarettes at corner stores and gas stations. They are plastered on façades and propped against windows, affixed to light poles and gas pumps.Youth Smoking Rates Now Stalled
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Although teen smoking rates dropped in the past decade, they have stalled in recent years, which means increased tobacco prevention efforts are needed, a new U.S. government study shows. Between 2000 and 2009, cigarette smoking rates declined from 28 percent to 17.2 percent among high school students, and from 11 percent to 5.2 percent among middle school students, said researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Figures on Flu Deaths Are Misleading, Usually Too High, CDC Says
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Most reports about seasonal influenza cite an average of about 36,000 deaths in a typical season, but that number is too high and grossly misleading, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. The actual average is a little more than 23,000, the agency reported in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.Tobacco Companies Are Reaching Out to Kids via Youtube, Study Says
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Tobacco advertising is strictly regulated on TV, and portrayals of smoking in movies continue to decline. Where can tobacco companies go to get their brands and products in front of kids? YouTube, of course.The Many Sins of Deregulation
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Who's afraid of a little egg? Of late, anyone who eats them, at least since the announcement of massive recalls of the salmonella-tainted spheroids.EDITORIAL: Food Fit to Eat
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
An outbreak of salmonella poisoning that has sickened hundreds of people who ate bad eggs should prompt the Senate to stop sitting on legislation to give the Food and Drug Administration more clout. But instead of its watered-down version that has been collecting dust, the Senate should adopt a House bill passed a year ago.Food-Safety Experts: Finding an Outbreak's Source Not Easy
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Government food-safety experts say they are in a tough spot when it comes to publicly fingering a product or company in an outbreak such as the one currently linked to a half-billion eggs distributed across the USA. "The mantra is: You have to be fast and right. You can never be fast enough, and you always have to be right," says Ian Williams, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's outbreak response branch.Medicare Expands Coverage of Tobacco Cessation
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The Obama administration on Wednesday expanded Medicare to cover more seniors hoping to kick their tobacco habits. Under previous rules, Medicare covered tobacco-related counseling only for beneficiaries already suffering from a tobacco-related disease. Under the new policy, Medicare will cover as many as two tobacco-cessation counseling tries each year, including as many as four individual sessions per attempt.Tainted Eggs Renew Calls for Food Safety Overhaul
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The recall of a half-billion eggs after more than a thousand Americans have fallen ill from salmonella has some politicians and consumer advocates pushing for the first major overhaul of food safety laws in more than 70 years. Now, after languishing in Congress, some proposals to toughen the laws are in the spotlight.This Flu Season's Goal Is More Shots, Sooner
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Federal health officials are gearing up to persuade more Americans to get vaccinated against the flu this fall, in the aftermath of last year's pandemic that killed thousands nationwide, sickened millions, and frustrated many before petering out. U.S. officials say they're using lessons learned from the H1N1 swine-flu pandemic, which erupted in April 2009, to speed the production and development of vaccine and to try to reach more people with shots.Egg Crisis Piques Interest in Food-Safety Bill
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The outbreak of salmonella in eggs is energizing efforts to pass a long-stalled food-safety bill that could prevent or mitigate such problems, according to federal officials, congressional supporters and independent experts. The bill, designed to overhaul a fractured food-safety system that hasn't been updated in decades, would expand federal regulators' powers to police food manufacturers.E-Cigarettes Spark New Smoking War
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Victoria Vasconcellos, the petite founder of an Internet retailer in this Chicago suburb, is in the thick of a regulatory battle that could affect millions of American cigarette smokers. Ms. Vasconcellos imports electronic cigarettes from a Chinese manufacturer and sells them on her website, Cignot.com, to 14,000 customers.Only Half of FDA Scientists in Survey Had Full Confidence in Egg Safety
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Only half of the scientists surveyed at the federal agency responsible for monitoring the safety of the nation's egg supply have full confidence that their organization adequately protects consumers from food-borne illness in eggs — and that was before the recent salmonella outbreak. The survey of Food and Drug Administration scientists by the Union of Concerned Scientists has set off alarm bells within the nonpartisan watchdog organization.New York Most Bedbug Infested U.S. City: Survey
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
New York has more unwanted nocturnal guests than other urban areas and has been named the most bedbug infested city in the United States. It surpassed Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati and Chicago, which rounded out the top five cities, according to extermination company Terminix, which compiled the list based on call volume to its offices around the country so far this year.Egg Recall Exposes Flaws in Nation’s Food Safety System
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Federal investigators have descended on Iowa to try to figure out the cause of a salmonella outbreak that may have sickened thousands of people and led to the recall of a half billion eggs. Because most of the tainted eggs have either been used or removed from store shelves, consumers at this point appear to have little to fear from eating eggs as long as they are cooked properly.FDA Says It Lacks the Resources to Prevent Outbreaks
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Farms like the two involved in a massive recall of more than a half-billion eggs are rarely inspected by the federal government, officials say, as the Food and Drug Administration has traditionally reacted to outbreaks instead of working to prevent them. Margaret Hamburg, Food and Drug Administration chief, said yesterday her agency has not had enough authority to help prevent outbreaks like the more than 1,000 cases of salmonella poisoning linked to the eggs from two Iowa farms.New Smokeless Tobacco Products Ignite Debate
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
As states make it tougher to light up in public, tobacco manufacturers are rolling out new smokeless tobacco lines -- some flavored, some spitless, prompting worries from public health officials about potentially unknown risks of these new products and their appeal to underage users. Among the new offerings in Michigan is Snus -- tiny tea-bag-like pouches of tobacco that don't require spitting.How Secondhand Cigarette Smoke Changes Your Genes
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
As if the growing number of smoking bans in restaurants, airplanes and other public places isn't sending a strong enough message, researchers now have the first biological data confirming the health hazards of secondhand smoke. Scientists led by Dr. Ronald Crystal at Weill Cornell Medical College documented changes in genetic activity among nonsmokers triggered by exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke.Baltimore's New Health Commissioner: Technology Can Help Fix Public Health Challenges
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Dr. Oxiris Barbot, a pediatrician who will be Baltimore's health commissioner starting Monday, has an up-close understanding of many of the city's public health challenges. "I think my experience growing up," she says of her childhood in New York City's infamous South Bronx projects, "gave me a broader perspective on how important health is in communities that may not have the same level of resources as other communities."Flu Vaccine Distribution as Important as Supply in Next Pandemic
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
But at least the federal government vows it has learned a lesson from the pandemic. Yesterday, an all-star cast of officials released a plan for kickstarting flu vaccine production when an outbreak occurs. The plan is full of worthy goals and benchmarks. Still, there's an obvious missing link — vaccine distribution.Government to Overhaul Bioterror and Pandemic Flu Plans
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Acknowledging that the development of medical countermeasures against bioterrorism threats and pandemic flu is lagging, federal authorities Thursday announced a $1.9-billion makeover of the system for identifying and manufacturing drugs and vaccines for public health emergencies. The overhaul includes refinements to manufacturing aimed at shaving weeks off the time it takes to produce pandemic flu vaccine, and a series of steps aimed at more quickly spotting promising scientific discoveries and getting them to market.Study Finds Even a Little Cigarette Smoke Harms Airway
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
A drag from a cigarette now and then can't hurt, right? Wrong, according to a new study that finds even low levels of smoke exposure can cause irreparable damage to cells essential to breathing. The damage occurred among "casual" smokers and even after exposure to secondhand smoke.Illnesses Linked to Eggs Will Likely Grow
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
A salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds and led to the recall of hundreds of millions of eggs from one Iowa firm will likely grow, federal health officials said Thursday. That's because illnesses occurring after mid-July may not be reported yet, said Dr. Christopher Braden, an epidemiologist with the federal Centers for Disease Control.'Superbug' Hysteria May Have Subsided; the True Antibiotic Problem Remains
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Perhaps you missed last week's coverage of a new "superbug." If so, here's a recap. ... First came the heads-up notice from British researchers, detailed in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, about an antibiotic-resistant bacterium that appeared to have made its way to the United Kingdom from Asia; this, in turn, led to a few days of hysteria-filled headlines (one standout: "Superbug Panics World").CDC Says Teen Vaccine Rates Rise, But There’s ‘Room for Improvement’
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The CDC says more teenagers got their recommended immunizations last year, but that there’s room for improvement — for example, only 27% of teenage girls received the recommended three doses of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine. That’s still an improvement of 9 percentage points from 2008. About 44% of teen girls had at least one dose of HPV vaccine.Smoking Still Too Common in Movies, CDC Says
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The number of U.S. movies showing people smoking has declined since 2005, but cigarettes still feature in far too many films and could be influencing young people to take up the habit, according to a report released on Thursday. The report's authors recommended that movie ratings also consider whether the film depicts smoking and suggested strong advertisements about the dangers of smoking precede movies that show tobacco use.New U.S. Pandemic Plan Aims to Speed Products
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The U.S. government proposed major changes on Thursday to the way it works with companies to fight new disease threats such as flu, including reform at the Food and Drug Administration and setting up centers to make vaccines quickly. The report from the Health and Human Services Department said the U.S. ability to respond to new outbreaks is far too slow and it lays out a plan for helping academic researchers and biotechnology companies develop promising new drugs and vaccines.Egg Recall Renews Questions on Battling Salmonella
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
A national salmonella outbreak that could have sickened thousands has led to the recall of 380 million eggs and renewed questions about whether it's feasible to keep the microbe — the most common bacterial source of food-borne illness in the nation — out of the henhouse. The answer from experiences in Denmark and Sweden seems to be a qualified yes. It can be done, but at what cost?FDA Mulling Ban on Menthol Cigarettes
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
With their enticing cool and minty flavor, menthol cigarettes have emerged as one of the most controversial products made by the tobacco industry. Kids are particularly drawn to them, with nearly 45 percent of smokers aged 12 to 17 using menthol cigarettes, according to a 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Most black teenaged smokers -- and 82.7 percent of black adult smokers -- favor menthols, the same survey found.Florida Death Toll Rises for Mosquito-Borne Virus
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Four Florida residents have died from a mosquito-borne disease that normally afflicts horses, health officials reported on Tuesday as the swampy state enters peak season for mosquito-borne illnesses. Health officials said last month that two Tampa-area residents had died from eastern equine encephalitis, a viral disease that inflames the brain.Ongoing Salmonella Outbreak Prompts Egg Recall
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
A national outbreak of salmonella in eggs has sickened hundreds of people since May and appears to be ongoing, experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say. The outbreak has been tracked to in-shell eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, which has launched a recall. The Associated Press estimates the total number of eggs recalled at 228 million.The Federal Reserve Wants to Rebuild Main Street
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
We all have a vision of the “Main Street” we would like to live near – tree-lined, friendly and safe. But our “Main Streets” are in disrepair. Across the country, they lack sidewalks, parks, well-stocked grocery stores with fresh food, healthy homes and apartments, and convenient public transportation. And it turns out, these things add up to a lot more than just an unpleasant place to live – they can have a major impact on our health.Editor’s Note: This guest post was authored by James Marks, senior vice president and director of the Health Group at RWJF and David Erickson at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The piece is a follow-up on the July Healthy Communities Conference co-hosted by RWJF and the Federal Reserve which explored new collaborations between the community development, finance and public health sectors.
Vaccination Is Steady, but Pertussis Is Surging
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
For four weeks, my 11-year-old daughter has been coughing. It is not your run-of-the-mill summer cold, but a violent, debilitating cough that takes over her body, usually at night. During these fits, her face turns red, and tears start streaming from her eyes. She coughs so hard she eventually starts to gasp for air, making a horrifying sucking sound that at one point had me reaching for the phone to call 911.BP Spill Health Effects Need to Be Tracked: Experts
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Doctors in the Gulf Coast region need to be alert to both the short and long-term health effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, U.S. health experts said on Monday. Prior oil spills have shown that contact with oil and chemicals can affect the lungs, kidneys, and liver, and the mental strain can boost rates of anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress as many as six years later.Post-Pandemic: Experts Say H1N1 Preparedness Paid Off
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
After the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 flu pandemic over last week, public health and hospital advocates evaluated the lessons they learned from the deadly outbreak to help them manage future public health disasters. In a little more than a year's time, the deadly pandemic—the first the WHO had declared since 1968—spread to more than 200 countries and claimed more than 18,400 lives."The Most Difficult, Challenging Pest Problem of Our Generation." Across America, Bedbugs Are Biting
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The American way of life is facing a new threat, one as profound as climate change or pandemic flu. Bedbugs. OK, that's a bit hysterical. But without DDT and the other now-banned pesticides that kept bedbugs in check for more than 50 years, the United States is as vulnerable as parts of the world where the insects remain a plague.Health Officials Plan for Next Flu Season With H1N1 History
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
This time last year, doctors and public health leaders were anticipating one of the worst flu seasons in decades, as hundreds of thousands of children returned to school with no protection from a new influenza virus that was rapidly spreading around the world. But it's an entirely different story this year. Global health officials declared the swine flu pandemic officially over last week.CDC Lists Top Food Pathogens
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Surveillance data on foodborne disease outbreaks in 2007 revealed that norovirus and salmonella contamination were the leading causes, with poultry, beef, and leafy greens the most common foods involved, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. The analysis also indicated that no cause was ever found for about one-third of outbreaks and a quarter of the victims, according to a report from CDC researchers in the Aug. 13 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.Deadly Whooping Cough, Once Wiped Out, Is Back
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
California is in the midst of its worst outbreak of whooping cough in a half-century. More than 2,700 cases have been reported so far this year — eight times last year's number at this point. Seven of the victims, all infants, have died. And here's what really worries pediatricians like USC's Harvey Karp: Doctors thought they wiped out whooping cough when they developed vaccines decades ago.Awareness, Vaccine Urged for Deadly Strain of Meningitis
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
No other illness makes a parent's heart skip a beat like meningococcal meningitis. This disease can kill in less than 24 hours and gives little warning that death is near. In Rose Kwett's case, she lost her 15-year-old daughter MaryJo within 13 hours after her first symptoms. "If she would have been vaccinated, she would have survived," Kwett said, a registered nurse at Mercy General Hospital.Typhoid Outbreak Blamed on Fruit
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
A rare US outbreak of typhoid fever has been linked to a frozen fruit product used to make smoothies, health officials reported yesterday. Seven cases have been confirmed — three in California and four in Nevada. Two more California cases are being investigated. Five people were hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Community Heart Disease Risk Programs Work: Study
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Healthy heart programs do work and may cut the risk of heart disease by as much as 1 percent, a review of large community-based programs concludes. The benefits may sound small "but across a population, that's quite a large effect," study co-author Tom Marshall of the University of Birmingham, in England, told Reuters Health.Gene Makes 'Superbugs' Resistant to Drugs
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Some bacteria in south Asia have learned a new way to deactivate the antibiotics that usually kill them, according to a new study, raising concerns about a novel wave of drug-resistant "superbugs" that travelers could spread world-wide. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, found the presence of a new gene called NDM-1 that gives certain kinds of bacteria the ability to produce a chemical that renders many antibiotics useless.CDC Points to Poultry as No. 1 Food Poisoning Culprit
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Cooking chicken on the grill this summer? Be careful. Poultry is still the leading culprit in food poisoning outbreaks, health officials said Thursday. Chicken, turkey and other poultry accounted for 17% of the food-borne illness outbreaks reported to the government. Beef and leafy vegetables were close behind, at 16% and 14%.Food Poisoning Outbreaks Down 8 Pct in 2007: CDC
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States dropped by 8 percent in 2007 and illnesses fell 15 percent compared with the four years prior, but the drops more likely reflect disease patterns than improvements in food safety, U.S. health officials said on Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a total of 1,097 disease outbreaks were reported in 2007.Whipping New York Into Shape
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
For all the Californians who thought they'd cornered the market on healthy living, meet Michael Bloomberg, the 108th mayor of New York. Since he took charge, the city has pioneered a raft of regulations to get its citizens to be healthier — or at least realize they're slowly killing themselves. The 68-year-old billionaire's campaign against death-by-preventable-disease has also spearheaded a national movement.What Do Food Allergy Labels Really Mean?
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
While you might be tempted to ignore those "made in a facility that processes" (something you're allergic to) labels in the supermarket, new research suggests products with these labels are in fact more likely to be contaminated with peanuts, milk or eggs than unlabeled foods. "Our study underscores the need for allergic consumers to avoid advisory-labeled products, which present a small but real risk," the authors write in the study, which is published as a letter to the editor in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.E-Cigarettes: One Battle Lost; War Continues
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
A leading distributor of electronic cigarettes, Weston-based Smoking Everywhere, has agreed to halt sales in Oregon, Attorney General John Kroger announced Monday. The Oregon official said Smoking Everywhere did not seek U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and provides no evidence to support claims that ``e-cigarettes'' are a safe alternative to conventional tobacco products. He also expressed concern that the company geared its marketing toward young people.H1N1 Pandemic Is Officially Over But Far From Gone
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
The World Health Organization on Tuesday declared the H1N1 flu pandemic over, a little more than a year after a spring flood of cases prompted a global effort to curb its wildfire transmission. "The new H1N1 virus has largely run its course," Director-General Margaret Chan said.EDITORIAL: Boston Should Ban Smoking in All Public-Housing Units
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Banning smoking in multifamily housing is the next frontier of the anti-tobacco movement, and Boston’s plan to enact such a restriction in its 64 public housing developments within the next three years would intrude, to some extent, on residents’ personal choices. But while residents deserve to make their own health decisions, their actions shouldn’t burden their neighbors with second-hand smoke and fuel a burgeoning asthma epidemic.Your Health: Air Pollution Affects Brain, Heart, Blood Vessels
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
If you pay attention to air quality reports, you may have noticed this: Even on the extra-hot days frying much of the country this summer, "code red" and "code orange" warnings — indicating high levels of ozone pollution — are becoming less common in many cities. Other measures of air quality also have improved greatly, experts say, 40 years after passage of the federal Clean Air Act.Your Pet's Food Dish Could Serve Up Salmonella
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Dry pet food may be a little-known source of Salmonella bacterial infection among humans, and young children seem to be especially at risk, a new study finds. The authors of the study say they tracked a 2006-2008 Salmonella outbreak that sickened 79 American patients -- about half of them 2 years old or younger -- to household use of dry cat and dog food.Bisphenol A and Its Potential Health Risks
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Concerns about the chemical bisphenol A and its potential health risks have led many consumers to be more careful about the containers they use to carry drinking water and feed their babies. The market has responded with water bottles labeled "BPA-free." And then, in late July, the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization, reported that high amounts of BPA are present in everyday cash register receipts, as much as 3% of the total weight of the receipt.Preventive Care Focus of Health-Care Initiatives
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
Federal health-care reform pins its hopes on shifting the prevailing model of care in the United States that emphasizes treating end-stage disease and often relies on expensive drugs and technology to one that emphasizes preventive care that can help avoid costly treatments. To do that, however, means persuading Americans to go to the doctor before they get sick and buying into the notion that more care is not necessarily better care.One Shot Fends Off 3 Strains of the Flu
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
New flu vaccines that combine seasonal and H1N1 viruses in single doses should help Houston and the nation avoid a repeat of last year's scramble for immunizations. Several drug manufacturers already have shipped seasonal vaccine to U.S. distributors, but it will be weeks before doses are available to the public through hospitals, clinics and doctor's offices.Health Is a Top Concern for African-Americans
By webmail@rwjf.org from RWJF News Digest - Public Health. Published on .
It may take an Oprah-like TV personality to get people to turn away from bad eating and other habits to set the U.S. population on a healthier course. The data for obesity, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and heart disease don’t look good — particularly for African-Americans. The death rate for them is among the highest, with no sign of changes to prevent a premature demise.Survey: More Favor Restaurant Smoking Ban
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Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults say smoking should be banned in restaurants, up 5 percentage points from 2007, a survey indicates. However, the USA Today/Gallup telephone -- land line and cellphone -- poll of 1,020 U.S. adults, says 23 percent say there should be no smoking restrictions in bars.What Caused 2009 H1N1 Pandemic?
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The 2009 H1N1 swine flu virus used a new biochemical trick to hijack host cells, a feat that triggered the recent pandemic, according to an international team of scientists. "We have found why the pandemic H1N1 virus replicated so well in humans," Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a leading influenza expert and a professor of pathobiological sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine, said in a university news release.L.A. County Death Rate Drops 22%
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Los Angeles County's death rate has dropped significantly in recent years, according to a report released this week by the county's Department of Public Health. The drop, 22% countywide from 1998 to 2007, came as fewer county residents died from many chronic illnesses. Still, significant disparities persist among racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups.Americans' Immunity to Mumps Less Than Ideal
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About 90 percent of young to middle-aged Americans have antibodies against the mumps virus -- a level of immunity that is at the low end of what's needed to prevent significant outbreaks of the infection, a government study finds. The findings underscore the importance of having children receive the recommended two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.Will Dengue Fever Spread In U.S.? Too Soon To Tell, Experts Say
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Two more cases of dengue fever were reported by health officials in Florida this week, bringing the total to 46 confirmed cases since last September, but a top government health official said it's too early to say whether the mosquito-borne tropical disease is gaining a foothold in the United States. "We don't know how dengue got to Key West, and whether or not it's endemic," said Harold Margolis, chief of the dengue branch of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in San Juan, P.R.Poorest People at Highest Heart Disease Risk: U.S. Data
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Socioeconomic status plays a more important role than race or ethnicity in cardiovascular disease risk disparities in the United States, a new study has found. Researchers analyzed data from 12,154 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2001-2006) and found that the poorest people have the highest risk of cardiovascular disease, but there are few differences in risk between racial and ethnic groups.Spread of Whooping Cough Raises Concern
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Amidst the largest outbreak of whooping cough in decades, public health officials in California are urging residents, particularly pregnant women and those who come into contact with infants, to make sure they're immunized for the highly contagious disease. With the incidence of whooping cough also higher than last year in Michigan, South Carolina, Ohio and upstate New York, there's growing concern whooping cough will continue to spread, said Jennifer Liang, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Move to Lower Sodium Flavored By Health Concerns
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Fat and sugar can take a breather. There's a new public health enemy in town these days, and it's sitting in your salt shaker. Concern about salt -- more specifically the sodium in salt -- isn't new, but as doctors, nutritionists and public health experts gear up for the release of the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for America this fall, much of the chatter has been about a renewed focus on limiting sodium.The Healthy Skeptic: Electronic Cigarettes
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The FDA hasn't approved electronic cigarettes and has tried to stop the products from entering the country. But the gadgets have developed a devoted fan base. Even in these days of strict indoor clean air laws, you can still legally puff away in movie theaters, restaurants or even on a plane. You just have to use a cigarette that runs on a battery, not tobacco.Ear Aches: Noise Pollution Rattles Nerves, Harms Health
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Nancy Culbertson won't sit in her Fremont, Calif., backyard because of it. It caused Oakland, Calif., physician Louis Hagler's blood pressure to spike and marred his perfect health record. Oakland acupuncturist Julie Laura Rose had enough of it, and packed up to move to Vallejo, Calif. It's noise. Droning, piercing, incessant noise.Targeting Infant Mortality
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Although the infant mortality rate in Maryland showed a promising decline in 2009, there is little cause for celebration in Baltimore City. In contrast to much of the rest of the state, its infant mortality rate (deaths in children less than 1 year old per 1,000 live births) increased from 12.2 in 2008 to 13.5 in 2009. While the mortality rate among white infants in Baltimore dropped slightly, the mortality rate in black children rose to a shocking rate of 15.8 per 1,000 live births, a rate higher than that of many third world countries.Restaurants Call Health Web Site Unfair
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The new requirement that New York City’s 24,000 restaurants prominently display letter grades for cleanliness has provoked dire predictions that would-be customers will flee when they see a big green B or dreaded yellow C in the window. But while health department officials have only begun the yearlong process of assigning the grades, a potentially more powerful — and, restaurateurs say, misleading — tool is already in use: a health department Web site that has made a wealth of older inspection data easily accessible.OPINION: An Ounce of Prevention
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In the Spring of 2001, several leading public health associations launched an ambitious effort to raise the profile of their field. Creating the Public Health Brand Identity Coalition–which I think we can all agree is not the sexiest name for an initiative to promote a sharper professional image–the group commissioned a poll about attitudes toward the phrase public health. Almost 80 percent of Americans, according to the survey, did not think that public health had touched their lives in any way.New Types of Smokeless Tobacco Present Growing Risks for Youth: Survey: Products Mistaken for Candy
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The decline in the U.S. smoking rate is arguably one of the biggest achievements in the nation’s public health history. But as public health makes inroads, the tobacco industry is pushing back, offering new ways to deliver nicotine and hook lifelong customers.Tight Economy Putting the Squeeze on Local Health Departments
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Local health departments continue to fight an uphill battle to provide critical health services in the face of persistently tight economic times. A recent analysis of job losses released in May found that from January 2008 to December 2009, local health departments lost 23,000 jobs to layoffs and attrition, which was roughly 15 percent of the entire local health department work force.Caterers Dish up More Cases of Food Poisoning
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More than a year after tainted taco meat sickened guests at a North Dakota wedding reception, the newlyweds are still touchy about the topic, says one party-goer who was sidelined for a week with food poisoning. “They won’t talk about it,” said Doug Ness, 30, a Bismarck, N.D., chiropractor who suffered eight days of chills, fever and diarrhea. “They don’t want their wedding to be remembered that way.”Drug-Resistant Strain of E. Coli Emerges in U.S.
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A new, virulent and drug-resistant strain of E. coli bacteria is infecting people in the United States and posing a significant public health threat, doctors reported on Friday. The new strain is called ST131 and caused many of the E. coli infections resistant to antibiotics in the fluoroquinolone and cephalosporin classes, the researchers said.H1N1 Protection in Coming Season's Flu Vaccines: FDA
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The flu vaccines approved for the 2010-11 season protect against three strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 pandemic swine flu strain, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday. Because the 2009 H1N1 virus emerged after production had started on last year's seasonal flu vaccine, two separate vaccines were needed last season to protect against seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 virus.Bedbugs Biting All Over U.S.
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The bedbugs are biting, and not just in New York City. The largest-ever survey on bedbug infestations suggests that the creepy, blood-sucking creatures are being found and fought all over the United States -- in single-family homes, apartment buildings and condos, hotels and motels, retail establishments, and even schools and churches.Swine Flu Pandemic Hit Children the Hardest
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The H1N1 flu strain that sparked the first influenza pandemic in four decades has caused the majority of flu cases so far in the 2009-2010 season, the CDC says. CDC spokesman Tom Skinner tells WebMD that the so-called swine flu bug has affected the very young more than elderly people in the current influenza season, which “is not normally the case.”Flu Vaccine Changes as Panic Ebbs
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H1N1 flu, which nearly caused a national panic last year before collapsing by year's end, remains very low across the U.S., with no indication it will worsen as the fall flu season nears, federal health officials said Tuesday. The country will do away with last year's crisis handling of flu, they said, in two ways.FDA Cites Its Food Safety Web Site
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More than 100 reports of potentially hazardous food products were filed with the U.S. government's food safety Web site in its first seven months of operation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The Reportable Food Registry requires manufacturers, processors, packers and distributors to immediately report safety problems with food, animal feed and pet food that are likely to cause serious health problems.Disputed Chemical Bisphenol-A Found in Paper Receipts
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As lawmakers and health experts wrestle over whether a controversial chemical, bisphenol-A, should be banned from food and beverage containers, a new analysis by an environmental group suggests Americans are being exposed to BPA through another, surprising route: paper receipts. The Environmental Working Group found BPA on 40 percent of the receipts it collected from supermarkets, automated teller machines, gas stations and chain stores.Restaurant Grading Begins in New York
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By the end of Wednesday, several restaurant windows in New York are quite likely to display a new attraction alongside the usual menus and reviews: a brilliantly colored placard bearing a letter grade. But much less visible is the months-long effort by city health officials to prepare for this day — the debut of their controversial new system to rate the cleanliness of the city’s more than 24,000 restaurants with an A, B or C.Tobacco Funds Shrink as Obesity Fight Intensifies
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When the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation decided in 1991 to take on Joe Camel, it became the nation’s largest private funding source for fighting smoking. The foundation spent $700 million to help knock the cartoon character out of advertisements, finance research and advocacy for higher cigarette taxes and smoke-free air laws and, ultimately, to aid in reducing the nation’s smoking rate almost by half.Editor’s Note: James Marks, senior vice president and director of the Health Group at RWJF, and Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, were quoted in this article.
California Whooping Cough Outbreak Largest in Decades
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In the midst of what could be the largest whooping cough outbreak in more than 50 years — and the death of six infants under 3 months of age — California health officials are recommending booster shots for nearly everyone in the state, especially health care workers, parents and anyone who may come in contact with babies. Nearly 1,500 Californians this year have been diagnosed with whooping cough — five times the normal level for this time of year, state health officials say. Doctors are investigating another 700 possible cases.Healthiest State for Kids? New Hampshire, Study Says
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New Hampshire again ranks No. 1 nationally in an annual survey on children's well-being. But the numbers also indicate a growing problem in the state: poverty. The Annie E. Casey Foundation released its report Tuesday on how the 50 states fared in 10 categories of children's health. Survey organizers said the numbers do not reflect the current economic downturn. The data were collected from 2000 to 2008, before most U.S. families were hit by the recession.As Smoking Drops, States Are Suffering
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Americans are smoking less and less. That's good news for public health, but it creates an ironically nasty side effect for many state budgets. They have grown dependent on an annual stream of money from tobacco companies, and that money is itself dependent on the number of people who consume cigarettes.Despite Recalls, Tainted Food Sometimes on Shelves
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Until three years ago, Kenneth Maxwell enjoyed Banquet chicken and turkey pot pies so much he ate them three or four times a week. They were easy to prepare, and Maxwell could eat one for lunch and quickly return to work as an electrician. When cases of salmonella poisoning led the pies' manufacturer, ConAgra Foods, to issue a product recall in the fall of 2007, Maxwell did not hear about it and continued to eat them.OPINION: Still a Public Health Crisis
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The state's reported progress in reducing infant mortality is to be cheered, but the fact that infant mortality increased slightly for African-Americans in 2009, and that a smaller percentage of black women received prenatal care that year, should be deeply troubling to public health officials. Persistent racial and class disparities in access to health care are the principal reasons Maryland's infant mortality rate — the number of infant deaths per thousand live births — has remained disturbingly high over the years.In Calif., Doctors Struggle to Provide Whooping Cough Vaccine
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Whooping cough has reached epidemic proportions in California. In fact, the director of the California Department of Public Health has declared that the whooping cough outbreak could the worst in 50 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the best way to avoid contracting whooping cough, or pertussis, is to get vaccinated.OPINION: Health Literacy Is Key to Good Outcomes
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While attending my daughter's graduation from The George Washington University several years ago, I heard the great Julian Bond, chairman emeritus of the NAACP, speak of two men standing on a river's edge. Suddenly, one man spots an infant floating in the middle of the current. Both dive into the breach and rescue the infant. Standing on the bank, they suddenly spot another child, and the process is repeated.OP-ED: Unsafe at Any Meal
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Every day, about 200,000 Americans are sickened by contaminated food. Every year, about 325,000 are hospitalized by a food-borne illness. And the number who are killed annually by something they ate is roughly the same as the number of Americans who’ve been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2003.OPINION: Friendly Fire in Prevention?
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It's worth noting that prevention and public health were prominent in the national debate on health reform. And it is a big step that prevention and especially prevention of illness that occurs outside the medical care system got dedicated funding in the new Affordable Care Act -- seemingly a lot of it -- $15 billion over 10 years. While $15 billion certainly is nothing to sneeze at, do the math.Editor’s Note: James Marks is senior vice president and director of the Health Group at RWJF.
Dangerous Fungus Now Endemic in Pacific Northwest: CDC
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Cryptococcus gattii -- an airborne fungus that can cause life-threatening illness -- is an emerging infection in the Pacific Northwest, U.S. health officials said Thursday. While C. gattii infections are rare -- only 60 cases have been reported since 2004 -- they can be severe and even fatal, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report in the July 23 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.W.Va. Child Most Apt to Live with Smoker
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Seven-point-six percent of U.S. children live with someone who smokes tobacco at home but the number varies greatly among states, researchers found. Gopal K. Singh and Michael D. Kogan of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Mohammad Siahpush of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, used data from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health and state-level data on home smoking from the 2006–2007 Current Population Survey -- Tobacco Use Supplement.Florida's Minorities See Unusual Melanoma Patterns
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Melanoma trends among minority groups in Florida, the Sunshine State, are different than national trends, a new study finds. Researchers evaluated data on more than 36,000 melanoma patients in the Florida Cancer Data System and over 73,000 patients in the national Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) databases between 1992 and 2004.Reports of Sick Travelers Climb; H1N1 Pandemic May Have Spurred More to Inform Authorities of Suspected Illnesses
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Federal health officers logged more than 3,000 cases of potentially infectious diseases among travelers in the past year, including airline passengers with tuberculosis, whooping cough, measles, mumps and typhoid fever, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data obtained by USA TODAY. The reported cases, a fraction of illnesses carried by travelers, show the importance of up-to-date vaccinations and getting medical advice before going abroad, says Nina Marano, chief of the CDC's quarantine branch.Delay of Food Safety Bill Stirs Tensions Between House and Senate Democrats
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Frustration over a food safety bill that is stalled in the Senate has prompted infighting among some prominent Democrats. Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) sent a sharply worded letter Friday to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), accusing her of holding up Senate action on a landmark food safety bill that easily passed the House on a bipartisan vote last July.California Declares Whooping Cough Epidemic
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California public health officials on Monday strongly urged elderly adults, children and pregnant women to get vaccinated against whooping cough, citing an epidemic in the state that is on track to be the worst in 50 years. Nearly 1,500 cases of whooping cough have been reported statewide this year, nearly five times the number of cases last year, according to Dr. Gil Chavez, the state's epidemiologist.Poverty and HIV Are Strongly Linked, CDC Survey Finds
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Heterosexuals living below the poverty line in U.S. cities are five times as likely as the nation's general population to be HIV-positive, regardless of their race or ethnicity, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Their neighbors in the impoverished communities who live above the poverty line are 2.5 times as likely to be infected, according to the first comprehensive study of groups that aren't involved in risky behaviors.Not Starting Means Never Having to Quit
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My husband’s fate was sealed at age 11, when he smoked his first cigarette. As he put it, “I got hooked that very day.” Although he tried repeatedly to quit, he rarely abstained from nicotine longer than a tortured week or two. Finally, with the help of a hypnotist and nicotine gum, at age 61 he quit for good. But 50 years of smoking took its toll. Emphysema limited his stamina for a decade, and lung cancer killed him 15 years after he smoked his last cigarette.Democrats Quarrel Over Food Safety Legislation
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) should stop her “obstruction” and allow a food safety bill to reach the Senate floor, Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) said Monday. Feinstein quickly shot back at Dingell in a letter obtained by The Hill. She said she was not blocking the bill, and he should have approached her personally before attacking her in a public release.Ban Point-of-Sale Tobacco Ads in Retail Outlets, Researchers Urge
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Point-of-sale tobacco advertising is a major cause of teen smoking in the United States and should be banned, Stanford University Medical School researchers say. These types of tobacco ads in places such as convenience stores, gas stations and small groceries are highly effective in terms of their impact on teens and greatly increase the chances that they'll start smoking, according to Lisa Henriksen, a senior research scientist at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, and colleagues.Lifesaving Drugs May Be Killing Health Workers
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Sue Crump braced as the chemo drugs dripped into her body. She knew treatment would be rough. She had seen its signature countless times in the ravaged bodies and hopeful faces of cancer patients in hospitals where she had spent 23 years mixing chemo as a pharmacist. At the same time, though, she wondered whether those same drugs — experienced as a form of "secondhand chemo" while she mixed the drugs as a pharmacist at Swedish Medical Center and elsewhere — may have caused her cancer to begin with.Prevention Is Most Cost-Effective Health Strategy, Says CDC Director
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The American health care system gets an "F" when it comes to acting on a handful of prevention methods that have the potential to save the most lives. That failing grade came from Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a Wednesday speech to members of the National Association of County and City Health Officials gathered here for their annual conference at Cook Convention Center.FDA Considers Ban on Menthol Cigarette Sales
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Menthol cigarettes are no more harmful than regular cigarettes, tobacco industry representatives argued Thursday as a federal advisory panel opened a two-day meeting to consider whether to ban the sale of those cigarettes. Menthol cigarettes, which account for one-quarter of the cigarettes sold in the United States, have been under scrutiny by public health officials and public health watchdog groups.Health Lobbyists Focus on a Once-Obscure Group
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For years, an obscure federal task force sifted through medical literature on colonoscopies, prostate-cancer screening and fluoride treatments, ferreting out the best evidence for doctors to use in caring for their patients. But now its recommendations have financial implications, raising the stakes for patients, doctors and others in the health-care industry. Under the new health-care overhaul law, health insurers will be required to pay fully for services that get an A or B recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a volunteer group made up of primary care and public health experts.White House to Unveil List of Free Preventative Services
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The Obama administration on Wednesday will unveil new rules specifying which preventive health services will be free to consumers under the new health law. Cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies, as well as obesity prevention services, immunizations, blood pressure screenings and tobacco cessation services are among those that will be available to consumers without a copayment or other direct costs for consumers on new health plans after Sept. 23.Hydrocarbons in Cereal Stoke New Debate Over Food Safety
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When Kellogg Co. pulled about 28 million cereal boxes from store shelves last month, the company said only that an "off-flavor and smell" coming from the packaging could cause nausea and diarrhea. But the culprit behind the recall is a class of chemicals now making news in the Gulf of Mexico: hydrocarbons, a byproduct of oil.Suit Over NYC Tobacco Signs Creates Ripples
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Graphic anti-smoking posters of diseased lungs, brains and teeth — required where cigarettes are sold in New York City — have triggered a legal fight. Now, Massachusetts is holding off on a similar mandate. New York, known for a tough stance on tobacco, in December became the first U.S. city to require stores to post 4-square-foot warnings showing the physical effects of smoking near tobacco displays or smaller ones at each register. Non-compliance could result in fines up to $2,000.San Francisco Cellphone Radiation Law Raises Health Issue
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People already grapple with complicated information when they buy mobile devices. But San Francisco consumers soon will face one more consideration — cellphone radiation — as the result of a precedent-setting law that delights public health advocates and enrages the wireless industry. The city recently passed the nation's first local ordinance that requires retailers to post radiation-emission data.Administration's New HIV/AIDS Policy Focuses on Lowering Infection Rate
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The White House will unveil the first formal national HIV/AIDS strategy on Tuesday, a plan that aims to reduce the number of new cases by 25 percent in the next five years, officials said. Noting that the number of new infections in the United States has been static -- and that the number of people living with HIV is growing -- the new policy would direct more resources toward African Americans and gay and bisexual men.Advocates Run Ads Urging Senate to Pass Food Safety Bill
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A year after House Democrats and Republicans overwhelmingly approved legislation to improve food safety, public health advocates are growing frustrated that the Senate has yet to take up the bill. A coalition of food safety groups tried to turn up the pressure last week on Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), running newspaper ads in the lawmakers' two states featuring constituents who fell seriously ill from food poisoning.Fed’s Kathleen Sebelius Lauds Boston Urban Farm Initiative
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Boston should be proud to be on the cutting edge of the national urban-gardening movement, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said yesterday at The Food Project’s Urban Farm in Roxbury. The Obama administration official was in town to see firsthand how the city is using $12.5 million in federal grants it recently received as part of a sweeping preventative-health initiative.Whether a Child Lights Up, or Chows Down
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If you had to choose one public health problem to attack, which would it be: teenage smoking or childhood obesity? To answer that question, you might want to pose another. Who will have the harder road in life, or indeed the longer one: the teenage puffer or the chubby child? Pitting smoking against obesity is tricky because it can mean comparing apples and bonbons, but there is some suggestion that a kind of weird zero-sum game is actually going on.U.S. Report on Kids' Health Brings Mixed Results
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In an annual report gauging the health and well-being of America's children, a group of 22 federal agencies reports progress in some areas, preterm births and teen pregnancies in particular, but bad news in other areas, like the number of teens living in poverty. "This report is a status update on how our nation's children are faring, and it represents large segments of the population," Dr. Alan E. Guttmacher, acting director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said during a press conference.Goal for High School Smoking Is Unmet
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The nation has failed to reach its 2010 health goal of reducing high school smoking to 16 percent, federal officials said Thursday in a report calling for a resurgence of antismoking advertising to counter the tobacco industry’s $12 billion marketing campaign. “People are getting the image that it’s cool to use nicotine as a drug,” Terry F. Pechacek of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an interview. “We need to bring back our voice, our antismoking mass media campaign.”Camp Teaches Black and Latino Children to Make Healthy Choices
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Camp director Shelley Johnson outlined the dietary minefield that is the vending machine, doing her part to make sure the 30 black and Latino boys before her wouldn't end up on the wrong side of the statistics. The numbers say the youngsters she was addressing as they sat at tables at Lincoln University have a disproportionate chance of developing hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.EPA Moves to Cut Power Plant Emissions to Fight Air Pollution
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The Environmental Protection Agency moved Tuesday to dramatically curb power plant emissions across the central US and East Coast, a step the federal agency says will significantly reduce health and pollution impacts across that 31-state region. Responding to a 2008 court ruling, the EPA proposed sharp cuts in emissions from some 900 coal-, natural gas-, and oil-burning power plants – a 52 percent reduction in nitrous oxide (NOX) and 71 percent cut in sulfur dioxide (SOX) by 2014.Phila. Using Stimulus Funds to Fight Obesity, Smoking
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In the bleak cityscape of Philadelphia's poorer neighborhoods, the corner store is both convenience and curse, stocking milk and cheese, as well as junk food and cigarettes. Thanks to federal stimulus money recently pumped into the city, such stores may also start carrying healthier foods, like fresh produce.