In the Press

Artificial intelligence reduced by twofold the rate at which precancerous polyps were missed in colorectal cancer screening, reported a team of international researchers led by Mayo Clinic. The study is published in Gastroenterology.

As the scope of highly pathogenic avian flu continues to expand, federal officials over the weekend reported the first outbreaks in Pennsylvania and Utah, bringing the number of affected states to 29. Federal and state officials also reported more outbreaks in already affected states, especially in the hard-hit Midwest.

A nonrandomized controlled trial yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine shows worse outcomes for hospitalized COVID-19 patients with low oxygen levels placed in the prone (chest-down) position while awake, although a commentary cautions about study design shortcomings.

In addition, nine cases of acute hepatitis among children between 1 and 6 years old in the state of Alabama in the United States who also tested positive for adenovirus have been reported. Investigations are ongoing in all countries reporting cases. At present, the exact cause of hepatitis in these children remains unknown. The incident team in the United Kingdom, where most of the cases have occurred to date, consider that an infective cause is most likely based on the clinical and epidemiological features of the cases under investigation.

SHEA study says that hospital floors may provide a path of pathogen transmission, warrants further research

Objective To undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis to establish the effectiveness of handwashing in reducing absence and/or the spread of respiratory tract (RT) and/or gastrointestinal (GI) infection among school-aged children and/or staff in educational settings.

In the twenty-first century, the nature and extent of human interaction in different built environments can have a profound impact on public health. Today, we spend nearly 90 % of our time indoors in a variety of enclosed microenvironments (Buonanno et al. 2014).

Rationale: Over the past year, the American Thoracic Society (ATS), led by its Environmental Health Policy Committee, has reviewed the most current air quality scientific evidence and has revised their recommendations to 8 μg/m3 and 25 μg/m3 for long- and short-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and reaffirmed the recommendation of 60 ppb for ozone to protect the American public from the known adverse health effects of air pollution. The current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, in contrast, expose the American public to pollution levels that are known to result in significant morbidity and mortality.

Having a healthy, happy pregnancy is important, but if you are one of the 3% to 8% of women who have asthma during pregnancy, control of your condition is crucial.

A new report suggests that the virulence of Clostridioides difficile (Cdiff) may be associated with distinct metabolic signals, opening up potential new therapeutic targets to fight the infection.