Archive for February 2016

Flu Vaccine Nearly 60 Percent Effective 2015-2016 Season

Flu Vaccine Nearly 60 Percent Effective 2015-2016 Season

Flu Vaccine Nearly 60 Percent Effective 2015-2016 Season

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today reported preliminary overall influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 59 percent this season. These data were presented at a meeting of the agency’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) in Atlanta. This finding is comparable to past estimates for seasons when most circulating flu viruses and vaccine viruses have been similar.

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CDC Says Cigarette Smoking At An All-Time Low Among American Adults

CDC Says Cigarette Smoking At An All-Time Low Among American Adults

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control said Tuesday that “cigarette smoking is at an all-time low” as “only 15.3% of American adults now light up — down from 16.8% in 2014 and 24.7% in 1997.” According to experts, “Americans are butting out because of the high cost of cigarettes and thanks to fewer legal places to smoke.” Also people are more aware of the danger associated with smoking like COPD, lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, heart attacks, strokes and so many other diseases.

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A Third of U.S. Adults Not Getting Enough Sleep

A Third of U.S. Adults Not Getting Enough Sleep

One third of U.S. adults — or an estimated 84 million — aren’t getting the recommended 7 or more hours of sleep each day, according to an MMWR article.

Using data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, CDC researchers examined the sleep habits of nearly 450,000 adults. Among the other findings:

  • Adults aged 65 and older were the most likely to report getting enough sleep (74%), while those aged 25–44 were the least likely (62%).

  • When examined by race, sufficient sleep was most common among whites (67%) and least common among blacks and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders (54%).

  • People in South Dakota slept the most, while those in Hawaii slept the least.

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Smokers not eligible for CT screening under NLST guidelines may have same rate of cancers as those who are eligible

Smokers not eligible for CT screening under NLST guidelines may have same rate of cancers as those who are eligible

Long-term smokers who are at high risk for lung cancer but don’t qualify for CT screening under the strict guidelines of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) nevertheless have the same rate of cancers as those who do qualify.

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Whooping cough vaccine less effective over time for middle school children

Whooping cough vaccine less effective over time for middle school children

A new study was published in the journal Pediatrics indicates “the protection offered by middle-school whooping cough vaccines fades with each passing year, leaving teens vulnerable to infection as they age.

The study, found that “the shot protects 69% of 11- and 12-year-old in the first year after vaccination, but within four years, just 9% of these children have sufficient protection from the infection.”

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Florida Declares Health Emergency Over Zika Cases

Florida Declares Health Emergency Over Zika Cases

Florida declared a health emergency after at least nine cases of Zika virus were reported in four counties, bringing the total to 50 cases across 13 US states.

Florida’s emergency declaration “will allow more spraying for mosquitoes that can spread the disease.

It’s very unlikely we will have a big outbreak on the scale of something say in Brazil.

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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Risk of Stroke

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Risk of Stroke

Within the prospective population-based Rotterdam Study, 13,115 participants were followed without history of stroke for occurrence of stroke.

Higher risk of both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in subjects with COPD and revealed the importance of smoking as a shared risk factor.

This was published in the AJRCCM journal

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