PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

South African healthcare workers face greater risk for TB, HIV

2014-02-14
(Press-News.org) A large-scale survey of South African healthcare workers has revealed major gaps in workplace protection against tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis, according to a University of British Columbia health researcher.

Presenting findings today at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Dr. Annalee Yassi says issues such as confidentiality, stigma, technological capacity and staff training need to be addressed while improving hospital resources and protocols.

Preliminary results of the 2012 baseline survey of more than 1,000 healthcare workers in three hospitals show that more than 68 per cent of patient care staff had never been screened for TB; nearly 20 per cent were not vaccinated against hepatitis; and 55 per cent did not wear respiratory protection when needed. Despite South Africa's high TB and HIV rates – 18 per cent of its adult population is HIV-positive – and risk of hepatitis transmission, recapping of used needles before disposal and washing and reusing of gloves were common, with more than 20 per cent surveyed reporting needlestick injury or unprotected exposure to bodily fluids.

Yassi, who is helping South Africa implement occupational health guidelines developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), says healthcare workers in developing countries face greater health challenges while serving significantly more patients.

"In addition to massive workloads, healthcare workers in developing countries are more likely to get sick from the workplace," says Yassi, a professor in UBC's School of Population and Public Health, noting that healthcare workers in South Africa are at three times the risk of contracting TB than other South Africans, and more than seven times more likely to be hospitalized for drug-resistant TB. A 2013 WHO estimate showed South Africans were almost 300 times more likely to contract TB than Americans.

"Considerable progress is being made, including better standard operating procedures and screening," says Yassi. "But there's much more we can do to ensure a healthy workplace for the international health care workforce."

INFORMATION: Dr. Annalee Yassi's AAAS presentation, Promoting Health Equity by Addressing the Needs of International Health Workers, is at 10-11:30am CST, Feb. 14, 2014.

Visit news.ubc.ca for more story ideas, media-friendly experts and subscribe to UBC health science media releases. For more UBC research presented at AAAS, visit news.ubc.ca/category/aaas.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Survey: Americans struggle with science; respect scientists

2014-02-14
While most Americans could be a bit more knowledgeable in the ways of science, a majority are interested in hearing about the latest scientific breakthroughs and think highly of scientists. This is according to a survey of more than 2,200 people conducted by the National Science Foundation, one that is conducted every two years and is part of a report – Science and Engineering Indicators – that the National Science Board provides to the president and Congress. A Michigan State University faculty member served as lead author for the chapter in the report that covers ...

New research reinforces danger of drinking alcohol while pregnant

2014-02-14
Women who drink alcohol at moderate or heavy levels in the early stages of their pregnancy might damage the growth and function of their placenta – the organ responsible for supplying everything that a developing infant needs until birth - research at The University of Manchester shows. Placentas studied in a laboratory environment showed that drinking alcohol at moderate (2/3 standard drinks) to high (4-6 standard drinks) rates reduced the cell growth in a woman's placenta. The research, published in the journal PLoS One and funded by the British Medical Association, ...

Passive smoking impairs children's responses to asthma treatment

2014-02-14
Children exposed to cigarette smoke at home have lower levels of an enzyme that helps them respond to asthma treatment, a study has found. Passive smoking is known to worsen asthma symptoms in children and impair their response to inhaled steroid treatment, but how this effect occurs was not known. Researchers at Imperial College London found that children with severe asthma with a parent who smokes at home have lower levels of the enzyme HDAC2 compared with those whose parents don't smoke. HDAC2 is required for steroids to exert their beneficial anti-inflammatory effects ...

Physicists produce a potentially revolutionary material

Physicists produce a potentially revolutionary material
2014-02-14
A new breed of ultra thin super-material has the potential to cause a technological revolution. "Artificial graphene" should lead to faster, smaller and lighter electronic and optical devices of all kinds, including higher performance photovoltaic cells, lasers or LED lighting. For the first time, scientists are able to produce and have analysed artificial graphene from traditional semiconductor materials. Such is the scientific importance of this breakthrough these findings were published recently in one of the world's leading physics journals, Physical Review X. A researcher ...

Penn study: Topiramate reduces heavy drinking in patients seeking to cut down on alcohol consumption

2014-02-14
PHILADELPHIA – Heavy drinking is common in the United States and takes a personal and societal toll, with an annual estimated cost of $223.5 billion due to losses in workplace productivity, health care and criminal justice expenses. Data shows that 23 percent of individuals age 12 or older reported drinking five or more drinks on one occasion in the previous month, and almost seven percent reported doing so on at least five days per month. Despite this, few heavy drinkers seek out treatment—especially those who do not meet the clinical criteria for an alcohol use disorder, ...

Rice's carbon nanotube fibers outperform copper

2014-02-14
On a pound-per-pound basis, carbon nanotube-based fibers invented at Rice University have greater capacity to carry electrical current than copper cables of the same mass, according to new research. While individual nanotubes are capable of transmitting nearly 1,000 times more current than copper, the same tubes coalesced into a fiber using other technologies fail long before reaching that capacity. But a series of tests at Rice showed the wet-spun carbon nanotube fiber still handily beat copper, carrying up to four times as much current as a copper wire of the same ...

Tinnitus study signals advance in understanding link between loud sounds exposure and hearing loss

2014-02-14
A research team investigating tinnitus, from the University of Leicester, has revealed new insights into the link between the exposure to loud sounds and hearing loss. Their study, published this week in Neuroscience, helps to understand how damage to myelin – a protection sheet around cells - alters the transmission of auditory signals occurring during hearing loss. The three-year study was derived from a PhD studentship funded by Action on Hearing Loss. It was led by Dr Martine Hamann, Lecturer in Neurosciences at the University's Department of Cell Physiology and ...

Pregnancy study leads to fewer high birth weight babies

2014-02-14
The world's biggest study offering healthy eating and exercise advice to pregnant women who are overweight or obese has shown a significant reduction in the number of babies born over 4kg (8.8 pounds) in weight. The LIMIT Study, led by researchers from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Institute and the Women's and Children's Hospital, involved more than 2200 pregnant women from 2008-2011. In the first major results from the LIMIT Study, published this week in the British Medical Journal, the researchers say that providing advice and assistance to adopt a healthy ...

A strategy that narrows academic achievement gap by 63 percent

2014-02-14
Americans don't like to talk about social class. But new research from Northwestern and Stanford universities suggests that, at least in college and university settings, they should do just that. An upcoming article in "Psychological Science" describes a novel one-hour intervention that closed by 63 percent the persistent academic achievement gap between first-generation college students and continuing-generation students. (Continuing-generation students are defined as those with at least one parent with a four-year college degree.) The key to the one-time intervention's ...

BU researcher to present at AAAS 2014 annual meeting in Chicago

2014-02-14
BOSTON – Dr. Raquell Holmes, an assistant research professor at Boston University's Center for Computational Science, will be a featured presenter at the 2014 annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago, February 15, 2014. Dr. Holmes will participate in a panel session titled, "Improvisation for Scientists: Making a Human Connection" on February 16, 2014 at 9:15 am. Efforts to "communicate science" have been a rallying cry from governmental agencies, elected officials and citizens in need of accurate and accessible information ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Genetic causes of cerebral palsy uncovered through whole-genome sequencing

Modesty and boastfulness – perception depends on usual performance

Do sweeteners increase your appetite? New evidence from randomised controlled trial says no 

Women with obesity do not need to gain weight during pregnancy, new study suggests

Individuals with multiple sclerosis face substantially greater risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19, despite high rates of vaccination

Study shows obesity in childhood associated with a more than doubling of risk of developing multiple sclerosis in early adulthood

Rice Emerging Scholars Program receives $2.5M NSF grant to boost STEM education

Virtual rehabilitation provides benefits for stroke recovery

Generative AI develops potential new drugs for antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Biofuels could help island nations survive a global catastrophe, study suggests

NJIT research team discovering how fluids behave in nanopores with NSF grant

New study shows association of historical housing discrimination and shortfalls in colon cancer treatment

Social media use may help to empower plastic surgery patients

Q&A: How to train AI when you don't have enough data

Wayne State University researchers uncover potential treatment targets for Zika virus-related eye abnormalities

Discovering Van Gogh in the wild: scientists unveil a new gecko species

Small birds spice up the already diverse diet of spotted hyenas in Namibia

Imaging detects transient “hypoxic pockets” in the mouse brain

Dissolved organic matter could be used to track and improve the health of freshwaters

Indoor air quality standards in public buildings would boost health and economy, say international experts

Positive associations between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

New imaging method illuminates oxygen's journey in the brain

Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley

New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, and predict their effects

Bidirectional link between premenstrual disorders and perinatal depression

Cell division quality control ‘stopwatch’ uncovered

Vaccine protects cattle from bovine tuberculosis, may eliminate disease

Andrew Siemion to receive the SETI Institute’s 2024 Drake Award

New study shows how the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus enters our cells

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy proves effective for locally advanced penile squamous cell carcinoma

[Press-News.org] South African healthcare workers face greater risk for TB, HIV