Recent News

By Category: Public Health

Brazil reports 573 deaths from dengue this year

(AFP) At least 573 people have died from dengue in Brazil so far this year, nearly twice the figure reported in 2012, according to official figures released Wednesday. Last year, 292 deaths were recorded and 473 in 2011, according to the health ministry. The highest death toll was in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais Read More »

November 21, 2013
| Filed under North America, South America, International, and Public Health
Share

Dengue fever, spread by mosquitoes, reported on Long Island

(Newsday) The first locally transmitted case of dengue fever reported in New York has been confirmed in Suffolk County, providing evidence that mosquitoes can spread the tropical affliction just about anywhere. “We were all surprised,” said Dr. Scott Campbell, chief of the arthropod disease laboratory in the Suffolk County Health Department. Arthropods include a vast Read More »

November 21, 2013
| Filed under North America and Public Health
Share

Researchers suggest China consider national flu vaccination plan with staggered timing

(Eurekalert) China should tailor its influenza vaccination strategies to account for its three distinct flu regions, according to the first comprehensive study of the country’s flu patterns conducted by a research team of Chinese and American scientists. Flu season in northern China occurs during the same period as in the world’s other northern temperate zones, Read More »

November 20, 2013
| Filed under Asia/Pacific, North America, Public Health, and Research
Share

In pandemic, parents who get reminders more likely to get kids vaccinated

(ScienceDaily) A new University of Michigan study found that the state immunization registry — the public health database that tracks vaccinations- can be an effective tool to encourage influenza vaccinations during a pandemic. U-M researchers collaborated with the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) to evaluate a statewide influenza vaccination reminder campaign conducted using the Read More »

November 19, 2013
| Filed under North America, Policy & Initiatives, and Public Health
Share

Rapid Sequencing Method Can Identify New Viruses Within Hours

(DiscoverMagazine) In 2009, two teenagers in the Democratic Republic of Congo showed up at their village health clinic, vomiting and with blood in their noses and mouths — hemorrhagic symptoms of the notorious Ebola viruses. In three days they were dead. Yet it took three years for researchers to unmask the likely culprit: a brand-new Read More »