Forecasting mosquitoes’ global spread

IMAGE: These maps show the predicted global ranges of Aedes aegypti (above) and Aedes albopictus (below) in 2050 assuming a ‘medium’ climate scenario in which greenhouse gas emissions peak in 2080… view more  Credit: Moritz Kraemer for Nature Microbiology; DOI: 10.1038/s41564-019-0376-y. Outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses like yellow fever, dengue, Zika and chikungunya are rising around the…

Bundle payment model analysis of emerging breast cancer screening

Bundled payments have been touted as mechanisms to optimize quality and costs. A prior feasibility study evaluating bundled payments for screening mammography episodes predated widespread adoption of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). A new study, published online in the Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), explores an episodic bundled payment model for breast cancer…

Should patients be considered consumers?

There is broad support for building health care systems that are patient centered, seen as a means of improving health outcomes and as morally worthy in itself. But the concept of patient-centered care has increasingly merged with the concept of patients as consumers, which “is conceptually confused and potentially harmful,” write Michael K. Gusmano, a…

HIV prevention study finds universal ‘test and treat’ approach can reduce new infections

IMAGE: A PopART study health worker draws blood from the finger of a study participant for an in-home HIV test. view more  Credit: Kim Cloete New HIV infections declined by 30 percent in southern African communities where health workers conducted house-to-house voluntary HIV testing, referred people who tested positive to begin HIV treatment according to local…

New study highlights the influence social media has on children’s food intake

New University of Liverpool research, published in Pediatrics, highlights the negative influence that social media has on children’s food intake. Current research shows celebrity endorsement and television advertising of unhealthy foods increases children’s intake of these foods. However, children are increasingly exposed to marketing through digital avenues, such as on social media, and the impact…