When you practice infection control consistently and confidently, it can help stop the spread of disease in healthcare settings and save lives. This is why you and all frontline healthcare providers can publicly pledge to take training through the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s Project Firstline program. Project Firstline is a training and education collaborative that provides all healthcare workers, no matter their role or educational background, with access to the infection control information they need to protect themselves, their patients, and their coworkers from infectious disease threats. Project Firstline offers training and educational resources on various infection control topics, including risk recognition and infection control basics related to ...
Despite overall declines in ad spending and TV ad exposure since 2017, high-calorie, low-nutrient products, including candy, sugary drinks, snacks, and fast food, continue to be disproportionately advertised to Black and Latino consumers. US food companies are responsible for this ethnically targeted marketing, which worsens disparities in diet-related diseases, including heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, to discuss the implications of ethnically targeted food and beverage marketing and how to hold companies accountable. WHAT: #SaludTues Tweetchat: Food Marketing Companies Add More to Black and Latinos’ Plates
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT), Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
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Two reservoirs where germs can live and thrive in the human body are your blood and gastrointestinal (GI) system. When germs spread from these reservoirs in or outside your body, it can cause harm and make you or others sick.
What is the Gastrointestinal System?
The gastrointestinal system or “the gut” usually refers to the lower intestine, rectum, and anus. It is part of the digestive system. The upper GI tract, which includes the mouth, esophagus, and stomach, is also part of the digestive system. It has different types of bacteria and fungi that we usually think about separately from the gut. The intestines are filled with bacteria and some yeasts that are an important part of a healthy immune system. Most gut bacteria don’t cause problems in healthy people, but ...
The US has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries, and 84% of those pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These shocking statistics can be difficult to digest, especially since the US spends more on healthcare per capita than other industrialized nations. What is causing these preventable deaths? And how are Latinas impacted? Let’s unpack the report’s findings and implications.
What is a Preventable Pregnancy-Related Death?
A pregnancy-related death is a fatality that occurs during pregnancy, delivery, and up to a year postpartum due to a pregnancy complication, a chain of events initiated by pregnancy, or the aggravation of an unrelated condition caused by the ...
HPV-associated throat cancer is on the rise in men. With the typical patient being 50 to 60 years old, Black and Latino men are dying from the disease at higher rates than their white counterparts, regardless of the stage of diagnosis or the type of treatment they receive. These staggering statistics come from a 2022 study published in the Annals of Cancer Epidemiology. Here’s what you need to know about HPV-associated throat cancer, and what you can do to help prevent it.
What Causes HPV-Associated Throat Cancer?
HPV is short for human papillomavirus and is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. There are many types of HPVs, some of which can cause cancer later in life, according to ...
Did you know that germs are everywhere? The world is covered in germs! Everything has germs – every surface, material, and object, including your body. You read that right – your body is covered in germs, including viruses, bacteria, and some funguses. However, we’re often not aware of the germs around us and on our bodies because they’re too small to see and don’t usually cause harm to healthy people. In fact, many of those germs are good for us – they protect us and can keep other germs that could harm us from growing.
Reservoirs: A Natural Habitat for Germs
Whether germs are healthy or harmful to us, it’s important to know where they live and thrive – places called “reservoirs.” There are many reservoirs in the human body, such as our skin; ...
Clinical trials can help researchers learn to better treat asthma – but they need diverse volunteers. Black and Latino children who have severe asthma, are prone to asthma attacks, and live in low-income urban neighborhoods are underrepresented in asthma treatment clinical trials, even though they are more likely than whites to face health inequities that can exacerbate asthma symptoms. Fortunately, a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial with mostly Black and Latino children found that a monoclonal antibody – mepolizumab – can decrease asthma attacks by 27%. Antibodies are made naturally in the body to fight infection. A monoclonal antibody is made in the laboratory and administered to patients to treat a variety of diseases and infections, ...
What’s the deal with COVID-19? Is the pandemic really over? Or should we brace for another wave of the coronavirus as winter approaches? While the number of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations from the virus are currently trending downward, there are still more than 100,00 new cases being reported by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) on some days. There are also days where more than 700 people have died from the virus. So, it’s still “COVID” out there, even though the “weather” has generally improved since the initial outbreak, which took a heavy toll on Latinos. There’s no crystal ball that can tell us the future, but public health leaders and data provide some insight as to just how “COVID” it will be this winter.
Yes, There Could Be ...
15-year-old Anna Valdez fidgeted in her chair as her eyes scanned the stethoscope, cotton balls, and other medical supplies on the far wall of the exam room. Anna had traveled by bus to the hospital by herself, hoping to get some medical attention. But the uninsured California teenager did not receive the initial response she was anticipating from the resident physician. After a discussion with the nurse though, he was more responsive to her concerns and began outlining Anna’s course of treatment. “In that moment, I thought, ‘Wow, that is really impactful.’ I experienced a lot of bias and inequalities because I was poor, so I was really impressed that a nurse could have that kind of impact.” At 16 years old, Anna found out she was pregnant. She dropped out of ...
