What is already known about this topic?Universal masking is recommended to slow the spread of COVID-19. Cloth masks and medical procedure masks substantially reduce exposure from infected wearers (source control) and reduce exposure of uninfected wearers (wearer exposure). What is added by this report?CDC conducted experiments to assess two ways of improving the fit of medical [...]

Obesity and excess body fat may have contributed to more deaths in England and Scotland than smoking since 2014, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. Between 2003 and 2017 the percentage of deaths attributable to smoking are calculated to have decreased from 23.1% to 19.4% while deaths attributable to obesity and [...]

A drug that suppresses appetite has led to some people losing more than a fifth of their body weight, a major international trial shows. A weekly injection of the drug, semaglutide, was given alongside advice on diet and fitness. The study, conducted on almost 2,000 people, showed an average 15kg weight loss during the 15-month [...]

It’s clear that following a plant-based diet is associated with a lower risk of heart disease. But do all plant-based diets have the same effect? And do you really have to cut out all meat for your heart’s sake? “For heart health protection, your diet needs to focus on the quality of plant foods, and it’s [...]

A study has provided more detail on a multi-year outbreak of Listeria linked to meat products from one company in Germany. The United States was one of 20 countries that received the meat. The aim of the work was to verify and describe a cluster of listeriosis patients and identify factors leading to the outbreak. The [...]

The coronavirus pandemic is altering every aspect of how we live, especially what we want from our homes. Beyond design and space, housing cleanliness is now paramount. New technology that claims not just to clean, but sanitize our living spaces, is in high demand. “Everybody has the spotlight on these germ problems right now. A lot of [...]

Background Evidence is accumulating that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) increases the risk for hospitalization and mechanical ventilation in pregnant patients and for preterm delivery. However, the impact on maternal mortality and whether morbidity is differentially affected by disease severity at delivery and trimester of infection is unknown. Objectives To describe disease severity and outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infections in [...]

Question  Are health care workers (HCWs) at risk of worse outcomes associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) compared with the general population? Findings  This propensity-matched multicenter cohort study included 122 HCWs hospitalized with COVID-19 matched to 366 non-HCWs hospitalized with COVID-19. The odds of the primary outcome—mechanical ventilation or death—were not significantly different for HCWs compared [...]

Aim We aimed to characterise a large population of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with moderate-to-severe hypoxaemic acute respiratory failure (ARF) receiving continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) outside the intensive care unit (ICU), and to ascertain whether the duration of CPAP application increased the risk of mortality for patients requiring intubation.     Juanmonino Read more… [...]

Did you know that if you avoid salt entirely, you may also be at risk for health problems?  The healthiest salt options will be explored here so that you can make informed decisions. The discussion of salt should be an easy one.  It’s bad for you, right? Headlines about salt are quite conflicting.  Two headlines [...]