Tag: CDC

Rutgers Chancellor Available to Discuss COVID-19 Booster Shots, Why Frontline Workers Need Them

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

Brian L. Strom, chancellor at the Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and executive vice president for Rutgers Health Affairs, is available to discuss the COVID-19 booster shot and why frontline workers need to get them. Strom agrees with the Centers…

The CDC recommended that pregnant people be vaccinated against COVID-19. Learn more from BIDMC’s Dr. Ai-ris Collier, who has led research evaluating the immunogenicity of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

Ai-ris Collier, MD, a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is available for expert comment regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation that pregnant people be vaccinated against COVID-19. Dr. Collier has led research published…

UK HealthCare, Partners Receive Prestigious CDC Grant to Improve Stroke Care, Outcomes in Kentucky

sarah JonasAnnouncement

UK HealthCare, UofL Health, the Kentucky Department for Public Health’s Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program (KHDSP), and other state partners have been awarded the prestigious Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Program Grant by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This $1.8 million grant aims to optimize both stroke prevention among those at high risk as well as improve the care and outcomes for stroke patients throughout Kentucky.

ACI, CDC Launch Redesigned “Healthy Schools, Healthy People” Website

sarah JonasFeature

The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) launched a new website for the Healthy Schools, Healthy People initiative, a joint effort of ACI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to promote hand hygiene and cleaning practices as a means to prevent the spread of infectious disease in schools and reduce illness-related absenteeism.

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center joins national call to get HPV vaccinations back on track

sarah JonasAnnouncement

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has joined 71 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in calling on the nation’s health care providers, parents and young adults to help get HPV vaccinations back on track. HPV causes several types of cancers, and nearly everyone gets infected with HPV by age 50.

American Cleaning Institute Joins National Blue Ribbon Task Force To Stem Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

sarah JonasAnnouncement

The American Cleaning Institute (ACI), the trade association for the cleaning product supply chain, joined the National Blue Ribbon Task Force to Stem COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy. This is a national effort spearheaded by The Creative Coalition in partnership with the Dean of the Yale University School of Public Health that brings together the most significant influencers and leaders in the U.S. in a national campaign aimed at reducing vaccine hesitancy across the most vulnerable communities.

Rutgers Pediatrician Available to Discuss New CDC Guidelines for Reopening Schools

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

Lawrence Kleinman, a pediatrician and professor at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is available to discuss the latest guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention around the country’s safe reopening of schools. “The reopening of…

UCLA seeks volunteers for study of COVID-19’s impact on health to support “longhaul” survivors

sarah JonasFeature

UCLA researchers are seeking participants for an innovative study examining the impact of COVID-19 on survivors who continue battling health issues long after they were infected and thought to have recovered, known informally as “long COVID” and “longhaulers.”

Houston Methodist expert notes COVID-19 precautions lead to historic drop in flu cases

sarah JonasFeature Expert

A silver lining is emerging amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Influenza numbers are way down – 98 percent down, according to the CDC. Locally, during flu season last year, Houston Methodist’s system of eight hospitals saw 250 to 450 flu cases per week. This year the hospital system has seen only 2 to 5 flu cases per week so far. The numbers tell a striking story. Handwashing, masking and social distancing work.

AACI Applauds Approval of COVID-19 Vaccine, Supports Widespread Vaccination Efforts

sarah JonasPolicy

The Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) commends the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its swift action to grant Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Research News Tip Sheet: Story Ideas From Johns Hopkins Medicine

sarah JonasResearch Tip Sheet

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Tuesday.

Menacing Assaults on Science Causing Alarming and Avoidable Deaths in the U.S.

sarah JonasFeature

In early 2016, the U.S. was judged to have been best prepared for the existential threat of a pandemic, but turned out to be the least prepared for the actual threat. In a commentary, researchers say that “pandemic politics” is causing assaults on science, the FDA and CDC. They say that politicization of the FDA and CDC is creating continued losses of trust by the U.S. public and continued harm to their longstanding reputations of respect and admiration worldwide.

Morristown Medical Center’s Dr. Stephen Winters Discusses What Everyone Should Know About Atrial Fibrillation

sarah JonasFeature

September is National Atrial Fibrillation Month, and Stephen L. Winters, MD, director of the Cardiac Rhythm Management Program, Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute, Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center, wants the public to know some surprising facts about this increasingly common heart condition.

CDC Data Shows E-cigarette Makers Continues to Prey on Youth – and FDA Policy Lets Them

sarah JonasPolicy

Today, the CDC released data from the National Youth Tobacco Survey showing that in 2020, 20 percent of high school students and nearly 5 percent of middle school students used e-cigarettes. Most concerning, the data shows that among youth e-cigarette users, 38.9 percent of high school students and 20 percent of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes on 20 or more of the past 30 days; 22.5 percent of high school users and 9.4 percent of middle school users reported daily use.

AACC and CDC Partner to Improve Cardiovascular Disease Testing Around the World

sarah JonasAnnouncement

AACC, a global scientific and medical professional organization dedicated to better health through laboratory medicine, is pleased to announce a new collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC Foundation that aims to expand lipid testing in resource-limited countries. Improving access to this essential testing could help reduce the high worldwide mortality rate from cardiovascular disease by enabling patients to get treated for this condition earlier.

ATS Statement on Latest COVID-19 Policy Actions: Convalescent Plasma and Testing of Asymptomatic Patients

sarah JonasPolicy

The American Thoracic Society is alarmed by two federal agency policy actions that may significantly impact our nation’s COVID-19 response. This week, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the use of convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 disease. This action was taken despite a lack of adequate evidence demonstrating a clear benefit for most patients. As pulmonary and critical care clinicians and researchers who treat individuals with COVID-19, we are concerned that an EUA for convalescent plasma has the potential to put patients at risk.

COVID-19: How South Korea Prevailed While the U.S. Failed

sarah JonasResearch Results

In a commentary, researchers demonstrate the stark differences in public health strategies from two democratic republics: South Korea and the United States, which have led to alarming differences in cases and deaths from COVID-19. After adjusting for the 6.5 fold differences in populations, the U.S. has suffered 47 times more cases and 79 times more deaths than South Korea.

Back to School?

sarah JonasFeature Expert

Dr. Terry Adirim provides answers to some of the most frequently asked questions regarding COVID-19 and return to school for school-age children. Adirim is a physician executive with senior leadership and executive experience in academic medicine and the federal government. Her expertise includes pandemic planning and response, health care quality improvement and patient safety, and health policy and management.

New York State Department of Health Announces Study on Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children

sarah JonasResearch Results

The New York State Department of Health today announced that the Department has led a study on multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) associated with COVID-19, which was published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Department collaborated with the University at Albany School of Public Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to complete the study.

Dangerous Tick-Borne Bacterium Extremely Rare in New Jersey

sarah JonasResearch Results

There’s some good news in New Jersey about a potentially deadly tick-borne bacterium. Rutgers researchers examined more than 3,000 ticks in the Garden State and found only one carrying Rickettsia rickettsii, the bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. But cases of tick-borne spotted fevers have increased east of the Mississippi River, and more research is needed to understand why, according to a study in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss How to Handle Groceries at Home

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

New Brunswick, N.J. (March 31, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick Professor Donald W. Schaffner is available for interviews on how to handle groceries safely at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. “If you are concerned about the outside of food packages being contaminated, I suggest…

How can we be more sure social media posts about coronavirus are accurate?

sarah JonasFeature

As COVID-19 has increasingly isolated us from each other, we’re relying more and more on social media for a sense of connection and as a source of information about the virus and it’s spread. But how can we be more confident that what we’re seeing is accurate?

Heat Stress May Affect More Than 1.2 Billion People Annually by 2100

sarah JonasResearch Results

Heat stress from extreme heat and humidity will annually affect areas now home to 1.2 billion people by 2100, assuming current greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Rutgers study. That’s more than four times the number of people affected today, and more than 12 times the number who would have been affected without industrial era global warming.

Public health, nursing expert: Coronavirus: Health care workers must protect themselves even if employers won’t

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

Faculty Q&AAs the coronavirus spreads throughout the country, an increasing number of American health care workers helping to treat patients are contracting the infection.Christopher Friese.Christopher Friese, the Elizabeth Tone Hosmer Professor of Nursing at the School of Nursing and professor of health management and policy at the School of Public Health, leads a research team focused on health care delivery in high-risk settings.

Expert in #expandedaccess to experimental drugs and diversity in clinical trials to speak at D.C. conf., and is available for interviews

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

An international expert in expanded access to experimental drugs, Marjorie A. Speers, Ph.D., will speak at the third annual Expanded Access Summit Jan. 27-29 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Speers, a former CDC official, is the executive…

FY 2020 Spending Bill Funds Critical Initiatives While Neglecting Urgent Priorities

sarah JonasPolicy

The spending bill passed today is a welcome step forward. Allocations in the bill will strengthen public health and research efforts during the year ahead and will provide critical support for important goals. At the same time, the legislation in its final form also brings inadequate responses to current and urgent challenges with the potential for long-term and costly consequences.

House Drug Pricing Bill Serves Patients, Public Health

sarah JonasPolicy

H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act passed by the House of Representatives today introduces critically needed and significant steps to reduce costs and improve access to life-saving therapies for conditions including HIV and hepatitis C. Importantly, the legislation also brings essential resources to combat antibiotic resistance, find and develop new infection fighting drugs and bring them to market. The balanced approach of this legislation will serve patients and public health.

Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report Shows Impacts of Federal Investments, Continued Gaps

sarah JonasResearch Results

The Antibiotic Resistance Threats Report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control today shows that while recent federal investments to combat antibiotic resistance have had meaningful impacts, the continued spread of infections that are not effectively treated by existing medicines pose deadly threats to patients and public health. As physicians and scientists on the front lines of a growing public health crisis, the Infectious Diseases Society of America urges federal policy makers to respond to the report’s warning with investments and commitment to turning the tide of antibiotic resistance.

UCI professor named to CDC committee on sexually transmitted infections

sarah JonasAnnouncement

Sean Young, PhD, professor at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine and Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, has been appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine ad hoc committee to address the alarming increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

ATS Expert Resources: New CDC Clinical Guide on Vaping Lung Injury

sarah JonasExpert Pitch

Today, the CDC is expected to release new recommendations for evaluation and treatment of patients with suspected vaping-associated lung injury (VALI). The document — “Interim Guidance for Health Care Providers Evaluating and Caring for Patients with Suspected E-cigarette Use, or Vaping, Associated Lung Injury — United States, October 2019” — was written in concert with national experts identified from professional medical societies, including the ATS.