Public Health in the News (4/7/19 – 4/20/19)

By Grace Bellinger, NPHR Editor-in-Chief

Global

• Madagascar is facing a measles outbreak which has killed more than 1,200 people.
• The World Health Organization announced that measles cases worldwide increased by 300% during the first three months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.
• Mondelez Global has recalled certain packages of Chewy Chips Ahoy cookies.

National

• New York City has declared the measles outbreak a public health emergency, making vaccinations a requirement in a neighborhood of Brooklyn.
• Scientists have restored cellular activity to brains of slaughtered pigs, raising questions about brain death.

Northwestern

• Northwestern Medicine scientists find that reduced blood capillaries in the back of the eye may be a noninvasive way to diagnose early cognitive impairment.
• Northwestern Medicine study finds that stimulating the hippocampus with transcranial magnetic stimulation improves memory in older adults with age-related memory loss.