Articles: health.
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Broad-reaching, effective e-cigarette cessation interventions are needed. ⋯ This quitline-delivered intervention was successful at helping young adults quit vaping, with almost half abstinent after 3 months. Higher than anticipated quit rates reduced power to identify significant group differences. Mailed NRT and mHealth did not significantly improve quit rates, in the context of an active control of a 2-call coaching program. Future research is needed to examine the independent effects of coaching calls, NRT, and mHealth in a fully-powered randomized control trial.
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Background: Diagnosing cancer in general practice is complex, given the non-specific nature of many presenting symptoms and the overlap of potential diagnoses. This trial evaluated the effectiveness of a technology, Future Health Today (FHT), which provides clinical decision support, auditing, and quality improvement monitoring, on the appropriate follow-up of patients at risk of undiagnosed cancer. ⋯ The FHT cancer module intervention did not increase the proportion of patients receiving guideline-concordant care. The proportion of patients receiving recommended followed-up was high, suggesting a possible ceiling effect for the intervention.
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About 25% of people who currently smoke cigarettes in the U.S. smoke nondaily, and relatively little is known about their intentions or attempts to quit. Active surveillance is essential to identify services needed to support smoking cessation efforts and reduce the burden of disease. ⋯ Given the substantial number of adults who smoke nondaily in the U.S. and their interest in quitting, developing targeted interventions and communication is an important public health priority.
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Bloodstream infections are associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Early, appropriate antibiotic therapy is important, but the duration of treatment is uncertain. ⋯ Among hospitalized patients with bloodstream infection, antibiotic treatment for 7 days was noninferior to treatment for 14 days. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and others; BALANCE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03005145.).
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A global outbreak of clade IIb Monkeypox virus (MPXV) infections spread rapidly across at least 118 countries resulting in a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) from July 2022 to May 2023. This outbreak affected more than 99 000 persons worldwide and caused more than 33 000 infections and 60 deaths in the US. In 2024, there have been approximately 200 new infections per month in the US. On August 14, 2024, the World Health Organization declared mpox a PHEIC for a second time due to a rapid increase in infections with clade I MPXV in Central Africa. ⋯ Mpox is a viral infection transmitted primarily through close skin to skin contact that typically causes a self-resolving illness but can result in severe illness and death in immunocompromised individuals. First-line therapy is supportive care, although patients with severe mpox infection may be treated with advanced therapeutics. Mpox vaccination is effective and, if available, should be offered to individuals at risk of exposure to mpox.