“Neonatal tetanus, a silent but preventable killer, claims the lives of newborns within their first days of life, particularly in settings with unsafe delivery practices and poor umbilical cord care. Through successful vaccination campaigns, both South Sudan and Sudan have achieved Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination (MNTE), a significant public health milestone.”

From Forbes.

“For adults aged 50 years or older, an investigational messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccine (mRNA-1010) is superior to standard-dose licensed vaccines for preventing influenza-like illness, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine…

Overall, 20,350 participants received mRNA-1010 and 20,353 received the standard-dose comparator. The researchers found that 2.0% and 2.8% of the recipients of mRNA-1010 and the standard-dose comparator, respectively, had RT-PCR-confirmed, protocol-defined influenza-like illness, corresponding to a relative vaccine efficacy of 26.6% and meeting the criteria for noninferiority, superiority, and higher-level superiority. Solicited adverse reactions occurred more often with mRNA-1010 than the standard-dose comparator; they were mainly mild-to-moderate and transient. Overall, 2.2% and 1.9% of recipients of mRNA-1010 and the standard-dose comparator, respectively, had serious adverse events.”

From Medical Xpress.

“Suicide deaths among young adults and youth declined after a federal agency simplified the phone number for a national crisis hotline and increased resources, a new study says…

Patel, a clinical fellow in surgery at Harvard Medical School and surgical resident at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said that when researchers first examined figures for all age groups, the lifeline’s potential impact appeared to be slight.

But when they broke down the data, they saw a significant decline among those age 15 to 34 — encompassing the high-risk teenage years — that had been masked by results in other groups.

The researchers noted a decline from both observed suicide deaths in 2022 and from predictions based on a long-term upward trend. In 2010, about 11 suicides per 100,000 were reported in that age group. By 2022, that had risen to nearly 18 per 100,000. Three years after the 988 number went online, however, that had fallen to approximately 15 per 100,000, according to the study…

In addition to the nationwide figures, state-by-state data also shows an association with the establishment of the 988 number.

The 10 states with the largest increases in calls after its establishment — 146.2 percent more — also saw a larger decline in suicide deaths, about 18.2 percent. The 10 states with the lowest call volume increase — about 23.6 percent — saw a lower, 10.6 percent decline.”

From Harvard Gazette.

“If you walk into an emergency room (ER) in 10 years, you’ll encounter a new type of caregiver: an artificial intelligence (AI) system designed to get you a diagnosis faster and help your care team make more informed decisions. While you sit in the waiting room, you’ll be hooked up to a blood pressure cuff that’s constantly and autonomously monitored. All the while, an AI agent will be listening in while you and your doctor talk about your symptoms, ready to flag any mistakes your physician makes or suggest next steps.

This vision of AI-assisted emergency health care may soon be reality. In a new study, researchers show that a type of AI known as a large language model (LLM) often outperformed physicians at diagnosing complex and potentially life-threatening conditions, including decreased blood flow to the heart, even in the fast-moving stages of real ER care when information is limited, they report today in Science. In early ER cases, the model identified the correct or a very close diagnosis in about 67% of cases, compared with roughly 50% to 55% for physicians. And the technology is only getting better.”

From Science.