Public Health in the News (4/22/18 – 4/28/18)

By Grace Bellinger, NPHR Blog Editor

Global

• British forestry officials have warned London residents of a species of caterpillars that can cause severe allergic reactions in humans.
• A large study of almost 200,000 children in three African countries found that two doses of antibiotics a year can decrease infant death rates by up to 25 percent.
• Approximately 4,000 Ebola survivors in the West African country of Sierra Leone are living with physical and mental issues.

National

• Federal health officials have identified one of the sources of romaine lettuce responsible for the E. coli outbreak that has made 98 people sick.
• Physicians are speaking out about a hidden epidemic involving the prescription of benzodiazepines in America.

Northwestern

• Northwestern Medicine professor has identified a molecule involved in painful diabetic neuropathy.