Highlights • PET and PC-based microplastics were detected in indoor dust from 12 countries. • High concentrations (38–120,000 µg/g) of PET-based MPs were found. • Positive correlations were found between monomers and corresponding MPs in dust. • The daily intake of MPs via indoor dust ingestion in infants was on the order [...]
In one of the most satisfying graphs I’ve ever made, this plot of weekly measles cases – both suspected and confirmed (the minority) – shows that the epidemic of measles that swept across Samoa after arriving in an infected traveller from New Zealand killing over 70 Samoans, has peaked. CDC / Cynthia S. Goldsmith & [...]
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) recorded 10 new Ebola cases today, as reflected on the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Ebola dashboard. The double-digit jump is a disheartening return to numbers last seen in mid-September. The 10 new cases raise the outbreak total to 3,340, including 2,207 deaths. A total of 441 suspected cases [...]
Abstract Background Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to both carbapenems and colistin imposes severe challenges for management. Here we report a cluster of five carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae clinical strains belonging to ST1 and K57 types, four of which were also resistant to colistin, from two hospitals. Methods The five strains were subjected to whole genome sequencing (WGS) using the short-read [...]
NEW YORK (December 11, 2019) — Nearly 1-in-10 patients admitted to a New York hospital with no symptoms of diarrhea were found to be carriers of Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), suggesting infections originate outside the hospital setting more often than thought, according to a study published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the [...]
Abstract General anesthesia has been unequivocally linked to abnormal development of the central nervous system, leading to neurocognitive impairments in laboratory models. In vitro and in vivo studies have consistently shown that exposure to GABA agonists (eg, volatile anesthetics, midazolam, and propofol) or NMDA antagonists (eg, ketamine, isoflurane, and nitrous oxide) produces dose dependent and [...]
There can be endless debate about the best time to set up a Christmas tree, but the symbols of holiday cheer can pose an often-unheeded danger to people with asthma or allergies that means they may want to keep a live tree in the house only about a week. That’s because of something called “Christmas [...]
The California Department of Public Health, in collaboration with local health departments, is reminding the public and health care providers that Valley fever cases typically peak in the fall. Since 2014, there has been a steady increase in the number of Valley fever cases in California. In 2018, more than 7,500 Valley fever cases were [...]
By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, Sept. 5, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Vegetarianism is all the rage these days, but a new study suggests that slicing meat from your diet might raise your risk of stroke slightly. While vegetarians had a 22% lower risk for heart disease, they had a 20% higher risk for stroke, British researchers found. Meanwhile, people who ate fish but no other meats [...]
New data released yesterday by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shows that the amount of medically important antibiotics sold and distributed for use in food-producing animals rose by 9% between 2017 and 2018, after a 3-year decline. Overall, the FDA says, 2018 is the still the second-lowest sales year on record, and sales [...]
