Consumer electronics can help improve patient health
Electronic tools and technology applications for consumers can help improve health care processes such as adherence to medication and clinical outcomes like smoking cessation, according to a report by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
CCP awarded USAID grant for worldwide malaria project
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs has been awarded a five-year grant from the United States Agency for International Development to ensure the distribution and proper use of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets, known as LLINs, in malaria endemic countries.
SPH researchers identify workings of L-form bacteria
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have for the first time identified the genetic mechanisms involved in the formation and survival of L-form bacteria. Their findings are described in a study published Oct. 6 in the journal PLoS ONE.
Racial disparities in diabetes tied to living conditions
The higher incidence of diabetes among African-Americans when compared to whites may have more to do with living conditions than genetics, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study, available online in advance of publication in the October edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that when African-Americans and whites live in similar environments and have similar incomes, their diabetes rates are similar, a finding that contrasts with the fact that diabetes is more prevalent nationally among African-Americans than whites.
New tool may help docs predict COPD death risk
Researchers have developed an index scale to help physicians predict a patient’s risk of dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
Deaths from unintentional injuries increase for many groups
Rate of poisoning mortality triples in white women between ages of 45 and 64
While the total mortality rate from unintentional injury increased in the United States by 11 percent between 1999 and 2005, far larger increases were seen in some subgroups analyzed by age, race, ethnicity and type of injury by researchers at the Johns [...]
Secondhand smoke levels higher in cars than in bars or restaurants
The concentrations of secondhand smoke are significantly higher in cars than concentrations generally measured in bars, restaurants and other public places that allow smoking, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The study is among the first to measure smoking in cars under real-world driving conditions and was [...]
School of Public Health testing H1N1 flu vaccine
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has been selected by CSL Biotherapies of Australia as the lead site to conduct tests for a vaccine against the new H1N1 influenza. The trial will vaccinate 1,300 adults from sites across the United States and is one of the largest H1N1 vaccine trials currently under way.
The [...]
European REACH legislation may require more animals, funds
The European Union’s REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and restriction of CHemical substances) legislation is intended as a comprehensive safety evaluation for commercial chemicals used in consumer products that are traded in Europe at amounts more than one ton per year.
However, implementation of the regulation may require 54 million research animals and 9.5 billion euros ($13.4 [...]
Hepatitis E more widespread in U.S. than previously suspected
Exposure to hepatitis E virus appears to be common in the United States, although disease following exposure is rarely reported, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study found antibodies indicating exposure to HEV in 21 percent of the U.S. population between 1988 and 1994. [...]
Institute for Global Tobacco Control graduates first class
The Institute for Global Tobacco Control has graduated its first class of 11 international students in its Global Tobacco Control Certificate Program, one of the first academic training programs of its kind worldwide.
The IGTC, located at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, launched the program in 2008 to provide international professionals and research [...]
Guided care reduces cost for elders with chronic conditions
The nation’s sickest and most expensive patients need fewer health care resources and cost insurers less when they are closely supported by a nurse-physician primary care team that tracks their health and offers regular support, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The research, published this month in the American Journal of Managed Care, found that in the first eight months of a randomized controlled trial, patients in a primary care enhancement program called Guided Care spent less time in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities and had fewer emergency room visits and home health episodes.
Vaccine blocks transmission of malaria in lab experiments
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute have for the first time produced a malarial protein in the proper conformation and quantity to generate a significant immune response in mice and nonhuman primates for use in a potential transmission-blocking vaccine.
Antibodies induced by Pfs48/45 protein vaccine effectively blocked the sexual development of the malaria-causing [...]
1 in 6 public health workers unlikely to respond in pandemic
Approximately one in six public health workers said they would not report to work during a pandemic flu emergency regardless of its severity, according to a survey led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The findings are a significant improvement over a 2005 study, conducted by the same research team, [...]
Gun sales: Regulation, oversight cut trafficking to criminals
Comprehensive regulation of gun sellers appears to reduce the trafficking of guns to criminals, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Preventing the diversion of guns to criminals is important because 85 percent of guns recovered by police were recovered from criminal suspects who were not [...]
