Public health system

BACKGROUND: The carbendazim residue in tea was a public concern. The large gap in the maximum residue limits (MRLs) for carbendazim in tea made it difficult to conduct pesticide management. Therefore, a systemic evaluation of the residue and health risk of carbendazim from the tea garden to the brewed tea was investigated. RESULTS: The dissipation of carbendazim in tea shoots followed first-order rate kinetics, with a half-life (T1/2 ) of 2.6 days. In green tea manufacturing, the carbendazim decrease of 2...

The association between adherence to Mediterranean diet (MD) and hip fracture incidence is not yet established. In a diverse population of elderly, increased adherence to MD was associated with lower hip fracture incidence. Except preventing major chronic diseases, adhering to MD might have additional benefits in lowering hip fracture risk. INTRODUCTION: Hip fractures constitute a major public health problem among older adults. Latest evidence links adherence to Mediterranean diet (MD) with reduced hip fracture risk, but still more research is needed to elucidate this relationship...

Fundamentally, the prevalence of mineral and vitamin deficiencies is high in developing countries due to the fact that agricultural systems do not produce sufficient foods rich in minerals and vitamins. Biofortification involves breeding staple food crops to increase their micronutrient content, targeting staple foods widely consumed by low-income families globally. In so doing, biofortification contributes to solving the underlying problem of mineral and vitamin deficiencies by increasing the amount of iron, zinc, and provitamin A produced by food systems...

A more effective vaccine to control tuberculosis (TB), a major global public health problem, is urgently needed. Current vaccine candidates focus predominantly on eliciting cell-mediated immunity but other arms of the immune system also contribute to protection against TB. We review here recent studies that enhance our current knowledge of antibody-mediated functions against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. These findings, which contribute to the increasing evidence that antibodies have a protective role against TB, include demonstrations that firstly distinct human antibody Fc glycosylation patterns, found in latent M...

Because clinical mastitis, one of the most common diseases in dairy cows, is routinely treated with antimicrobial substances, it offers a high potential for future reduction of antimicrobial usage. In fact, intramammary antibiotic administration is not advisable in cases of clinical mastitis caused by coliform bacteria, yeasts, or protothecae or in cases with no detectable mastitis pathogen. To avoid unnecessary treatments with antimicrobials for the benefit of animal health and public welfare, the rapid identification of the mastitis-causing pathogens becomes necessary...

OBJECTIVES: Public health accreditation is intended to improve the performance of public health departments, and quality improvement (QI) is an important component of the Public Health Accreditation Board process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the QI maturity and accreditation readiness of local health departments (LHDs) in Nebraska during a 6-year period that included several statewide initiatives to progress readiness, including funding and technical assistance. METHODS: We used a mixed-methods approach that consisted of both online surveys and key informant interviews to assess QI maturity and accreditation readiness...

The prevalence and mortality of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is increasing in Chile, constituting a public health problem. Pulmonary and systemic consequences of COPD affect physical activity, as the disease progresses. There are multiple means for physical activity assessment, from low cost and easily applicable questionnaires to sophisticated laboratory tests. Physical inactivity is a modifiable risk factor for morbidity and mortality in patients with COPD. Physical activity interventions not only contribute to decrease the likelihood of mortality, but also protect from comorbidities, especially cardiovascular ones...

Background Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor in women in the world. In 2005, it was incorporated to the Explicit Guaranties Health System (GES) in Chile. Aim To describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of breast cancer patients and to determine the effect of incorporating these women to GES. Material and Methods Medical records of 5,119 women with breast cancer aged 59 ± 14 years, attended at six public hospitals between 2000 and 2010 were reviewed. Median follow up was 87 months (range 1-182)...

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is considered a major worldwide health burden, with high mortality and associated costs. Health indicators are essential to define strategies to improve the treatment of diseases, and the epidemiology information of sepsis in developing countries is scarce. Thus, the aim of this work is to assess trends in the incidence, lethality, costs, and other indicators of sepsis for Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS-Sistema Único de Saúde) hospitalizations for the period from January 2006 to December 2015...

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with a high prevalence across the world as well as in South Korea. Most cases of diabetes can be adequately managed at physician offices, but many diabetes patients receive outpatient care at hospitals. This study examines the relationship between supplementary private health insurance (SPHI) ownership and the use of hospitals among diabetes outpatients within the universal public health insurance scheme. METHODS: Data from the 2011 Korea Health Panel, a nationally representative sample of Korean individuals, was used...

Foodborne disease causes an estimated 48 million illnesses and 3,000 deaths annually (Scallan E, et al., Emerg Infect Dis 17:7-15, 2011), with U.S. economic costs estimated at $152 billion to $1.4 trillion annually (Roberts T, Am J Agric Econ 89:1183-1188, 2007; Scharff RL, http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/0001/01/01/healthrelated-costs-from-foodborne-illness-in-the-united-states, 2010). An increasing number of these illnesses are associated with fresh fruits and vegetables. An analysis of outbreaks from 1990 to 2003 found that 12% of outbreaks and 20% of outbreak-related illnesses were associated with produce (Klein S, Smith DeWaal CS, Center for Science in the Public Interest, https://cspinet...

OBJECTIVES: Using an expert- and data-driven methodology, we have constructed the first clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for adult Still's disease (ASD) after complete systematic review (SR) of the literature based upon the Medical Information Network Distribution Service (Minds) procedure. METHODS: The CPG committee for ASD organized by the Research Team for Autoimmune Diseases, the Research Program for Intractable Disease of the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has developed CPG for ASD 2017, according to the procedure proposed by Minds...

Over the past few decades, public housing initiatives have focused on the decentralization of poverty by replacing high-density public housing (HDPH) models with lower-density, mixed-income models. This action has resulted in the displacement of families who had lived in these developments for generations. In past studies, public housing residents have been shown to have stronger social ties than those living in other types of assisted housing. Research on the dismemberment of US public housing has demonstrated a "root shock" or disruption in the support infrastructure in these resource-limited communities...

Employment among persons with severe mental illness has been challenging. Supported employment programs have had some success; however, much remains to be understood about client motivations for employment. A labor force participation study was mailed to persons receiving services in a Midwestern state's publicly funded behavioral health system, and a random sample of participants resulted in 964 valid surveys. Analysis showed significant differences between Medicaid coverage program and labor force status, with some programs likely to have higher percentages of employed persons...

In an aging society, the sustainability of the public medical system is the most important factor. I surveyed leading cases in Japan, as well as corresponding cases overseas. I also conducted interviews in Britain, North America, and Europe, and these indicated the current trends and issues. The UK has a universal insurance system and, facing a declining birthrate and an aging population, they have adopted a policy of immigration, which has various problems. However, the GP system is highly regarded by the OECD...

OBJECTIVE: To identify barriers to and enablers of advance care planning (ACP) perceived by physicians and other health professionals in primary care. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, self-administered survey. SETTING: Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. PARTICIPANTS: Family physicians (n = 117) and other health professionals (n = 64) in primary care. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Perceived barriers relating to the clinician, characteristics of patients, and system factors, rated on a 7-point scale from 0 (not at all) to 6 (an extreme amount), and enablers reported using an open-ended question...

OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare well-child care (WCC) in Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK), focusing on the role of nurses and their interactions with other primary care providers in order to derive relevant lessons for Canada's interprofessional primary care teams. DATA SOURCES: Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL were searched broadly using the search terms well child care, nursing role, and delivery of care and other synonymous terms. In addition, Google Scholar was used to search for gray literature, and reference mining revealed a few other relevant articles...

BACKGROUND: Medication adherence is an important but highly complex set of behaviors, which for life-threatening and infectious diseases such as HIV carry critical consequences for individual and public health. There is growing evidence that mobile phone text messaging interventions (mHealth) connecting providers with patients positively impact medication adherence, particularly two-way engagement platforms that require bidirectional communication versus one-way in which responses are not mandatory...

BACKGROUND: Life expectancy considerably increased in most developed countries during the twentieth century. However, the increase in longevity is neither uniform nor random across individuals belonging to various socioeconomic groups. From an economic policy perspective, the difference in mortality by socioeconomic conditions challenges the fairness of the social security systems. We focus on the case of Italy and aim at measuring differences in longevity at older ages by individuals belonging to different socioeconomic groups, also in order to assess the effective fairness of the Italian public pension system, which is based on a notional defined contribution (NDC) benefit computation formula, whose rules do not take into account individual heterogeneity in expected longevity...

BACKGROUND: Data on outbreaks of infectious gastroenteritis in care homes have been collected using an internet-based surveillance system in North West England since 2012. We analysed the burden and characteristics of care home outbreaks to inform future public health decision-making. METHODS: We described characteristics of care homes and summary measures of the outbreaks such as attack rate, duration and pathogen identified. The primary analysis outcome was duration of closure following an outbreak...