Public health

Public health

Toronto is seeing rapidly increasing flu activity particularly among children, with flu season coming early this year, Dr. Michelle Murti said in a statement Tuesday. It's being driven by influenza A, she said, which has affected children more severely. This early surge is leading to more pediatric cases requiring hospital care, underscoring the seriousness of the current season, she said, saying influenza A has also been spreading to adults and people in long-term care.

The US Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to Target, Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons after some of the stores failed to remove recalled baby formula linked to a large infant botulism outbreak. The FDA said it communicated with the retailers about the recall repeatedly, even sending several emails requesting plans of action to comply with the recall, but none of the companies responded to the request.

Confirmation bias is when people only believe information that reinforces what they already believe. For example, vaccine opponents may only believe information about vaccines being unsafe, and will reject any contrary information or facts. Confirmation bias is one reason people find it hard to let go of their belief in misinformation. Misinformed people often trust virtual or online sources, such as social media or podcasts. However, misinformation is increasingly coming from state and federal government agencies.

Worryingly, the mutations in the subclade K variant may make this year's flu vaccine less effective. But experts say the shot, which was developed months before the new variant was identified, should still provide some protection against severe disease and death. The mutations may allow it to evade some but not all of the influenza-vaccine-induced protection, Pekosz explained.

I can't remember a time when the NHS was at such risk, he says. Labour has put in more money and staff, productivity and activity has risen a bit, waiting times down a bit, yet waiting lists stay stubbornly high. That's dangerous ammunition for Nigel Farage and the Conservatives, says Hulme, a narrative for people who want to kill the NHS.

Exasperated NHS bosses have urged Wes Streeting and the British Medical Association to agree to independent mediation to end industrial action by resident doctors, who will begin their latest strike on Wednesday. The health secretary and the doctors union have been told to embrace the idea in order to urgently break the deadlock in their increasingly bitter dispute that health service bosses say is making patients collateral damage.

In the age of streaming, television series no longer just entertain: they dictate conversations, shape esthetics, and sometimes even foreshadow headlines. Take Boots (Netflix, 2025), for example. The series follows two young men training at a U.S. Marine Corps recruit center in the 1990s. But what might seem like a nostalgic tale of discipline and military brotherhood becomes with almost imperceptible detail an X-ray of current dilemmas surrounding identity, body, and power.

Without fail, any corporation accused of conspiring against public health will be compared to Big Tobacco. When oil companies downplayed the threat of climate change, they were allegedly following in the footsteps of cigarette manufacturers. The NFL's strategy for disputing the link between football and concussions has similarly been likened to the tobacco industry's actions. The online-gambling industry has supposedly acted like Big Tobacco, as have the tech industry and the plastic industry.

Overall, about one-third of Americans in this age group reported experiencing significant emotional, physical and financial strain. The burden differs by gender: men reported greater financial pressure, while women were more likely to bear the emotional and physical toll of caregiving. The emotional and financial strain of caring for parents and children at the same time is realand growing, Kristen Sieffert, FoA president, said in a statement. Macroeconomic pressures such as inflation have placed increased pressure on sandwich caregivers during their peak earning years.

"It is a huge honor and responsibility to be named co-editor-in-chief for our flagship journal, Implementation Science," Beidas said. "Our journal was founded in 2006 by Martin Eccles and Brian Mittman, two giants in the field. I was just getting started in my professional journey at that time, and publishing in that journal was aspirational for me."

Gonorrhoea is on the rise around the world, with more than 82m infections globally each year and particularly high rates in Africa and countries in the World Health Organization's Western Pacific region, which reaches from Mongolia and China to New Zealand. Cases in England are at a record high, and rates in Europe were three times higher in 2023 than in 2014. Health officials are concerned about an increase in drug-resistant strains of the bacterium, with the WHO designating it a priority pathogen.

More than four million U.S. children under age 19 lacked health insurance in 2024. The uninsured rate peaked at 6.1 percentthe highest level in the past decade, according to a recent analysis by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, a health policy research organization. That marks a nearly 20 percent increase in the number of uninsured children nationwide since 2022.

Pregnant people who get a COVID vaccine are dramatically less likely to experience severe symptoms of the disease or to give birth prematurely, according to a comprehensive new study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Those who got the shot during pregnancy, rather than before they were pregnant, showed even lower odds of health complications. The findings add to a growing body of evidence that COVID vaccines are safe and beneficial across different populations.

As long as this dangerous material remains available and is purchased and used in California, it's inevitable that people will continue to be exposed and die,

A runny nose alone doesn't scare me. A lot of kids are going to have runny watery noses in the winter season. It can be from the cold weather, or it can be from allergies in the fall. A sniffle is not going to do much damage, especially with good hand hygiene.

After his tragic death Sunday, the world remembers Rob Reiner as a cinematic force - and he was one, as an unforgettable presence on the ambitious 1970s sitcom "All in the Family" and later as the director of beloved films. I came to know him differently: as a restless thinker who transformed his own life story into bold public policy, reshaping how California understands and invests in its youngest children.

Research has shown that synthetic fabrics, particularly from fast fashion retailers, are often treated with a range of hazardous chemicals - including dyes containing heavy metals such as lead, antimicrobial agents, and anti wrinkle treatments - that can cause allergic reactions such as skin irritation or respiratory issues in some people. If you have had an allergic reaction, or more serious health effects, that you suspect have been caused by your clothes we want to hear from you.

This week's five-day doctor strike in England will go ahead after British Medical Association members voted to continue with a planned walkout despite a new offer from the government. The strike by resident doctors, the new name for junior doctors, is due to start at 07:00 on Wednesday with ministers warning patients will be put at risk because of the huge pressures on hospitals which are battling a wave of flu.

Life expectancy in the United States varies dramatically from one community to another.

I am very privileged to be appointed to this role at a time of great opportunity and challenge for healthcare in Ireland. I look forward to leading the organisation and the reform programme already underway by supporting our staff to deliver quality healthcare services efficiently to meet the healthcare needs of the people of Ireland.

Smoking is one of the clearest public-health failures of our time. More than 500,000 Americans still die each year from smoking-related illnesses, and globally the picture is even more alarming. In the United States, anti-smoking campaigns have reduced the number of new cigarette users, but the effectiveness of these measures may be fading. Indeed, the headline of a widely-shared news story notes "Celebrities Are Making Smoking Cigarettes Cool Again". Yikes.

Level of virus now circulating is 'unprecedented', says CHI clinical director An unprecedented surge in flu cases has plunged Children's Health Ireland (CHI) into crisis mode, with record numbers of children requiring admission to hospital. The paediatric hospital group held two crisis meetings on Friday to create bed space for the influx of sick children, as doctors warn that the worst of the flu crisis is yet to come.

The Rural Health Transformation Fund is a carveout that will provide $50bn over a period of five years to states who meet certain application criteria, including consumer-facing, technology-driven solutions for the prevention and management of chronic diseases, and providing training and technical assistance for the development and adoption of technology-enabled solutions that improve care delivery in rural hospitals, including remote monitoring, robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technologies.

Elimination from the GI tract is important to make sure your system remains fresh and relatively empty,

King Charles III said Friday that early diagnosis and treatment will allow doctors to reduce his cancer treatment in the new year as he encouraged others to take advantage of screening programs that can detect the disease early when it is easiest to treat. "Early diagnosis quite simply saves lives," the king said. "I know, too, what a difference it has made in my own case, enabling me to continue leading a full and active life even while undergoing treatment," he added.

Storylines about abortion and conversations about it showed up on television 65 times this year, on prestigious dramas like The Pitt and Call the Midwife, on reality shows such as W.A.G.s to Riches and Love is Blind and on lowbrow animated comedies like Family Guy and South Park. That's about the same as last year. In 2024, TV shows featured 66 such plotlines.