Bus and tram passengers warned to keep their germs to themselves
2011-01-19
(Press-News.org) You are six times more likely to end up at the doctors with an acute respiratory infection (ARI) if you have recently used a bus or tram — but those who use buses or trams daily might well be somewhat protected compared with more occasional users.
These are the findings of a study carried out by experts at The University of Nottingham into the relationship between public transport and the risk of catching an ARI. Their findings have been published in the online Journal BMC Infectious Diseases.
Jonathan Van Tam, Professor of Health Protection in the School of Community Health Science and Director of the Health Protection Research Group said: "This is a small exploratory study whose findings require confirmation by a larger study. However, the findings justify the need to practice good respiratory and hand hygiene when using public transport during periods when winter viruses are circulating and where possible to avoid situations where you might spread your germs to others when you have a respiratory illness."
The relationship between public transport use and acquisition of ARI is not well understood but potentially important during epidemics and pandemics.
The research, funded by the Health Protection Agency, showed that recent bus or tram use within five days of symptom onset was associated with an almost six-fold increased risk of going to the doctors for ARI.
The case-control study, by University of Nottingham medical student Joy Troko, was carried out during the 2008/2009 influenza season. The study ran during a local flu outbreak between December 2 2008 (week 49) and January 15 2009 (week two) which peaked in week 51.
One hundred and thirty eight patients (72 cases of ARI and 66 control patients) from a Nottingham GP practice were asked to fill in a questionnaire on bus or tram usages in the five days preceding the onset of their illness or the five days before consultation.
Professor Van Tam said: "We found a statistically significant association between ARI and bus or tram use in the five days before symptom onset. The risk appeared greatest among occasional bus or tram users. These data are very plausible when we think about the greater likelihood of developing protective antibodies to common respiratory viruses if repeatedly exposed. The findings have differing implications for the control of seasonal acute respiratory infections and for pandemic influenza. In the latter case we don't have an opportunity to build up any immunity beforehand because it's, by definition, a new virus."
###
The study can be found at http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/11/16
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-01-19
Recently published in an article of the Astronomy & Astrophysics journal, a group of researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC) at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona has discovered, for the first time, a delta Scuti pulsating star that hosts a hot giant transiting planet. The study was carried out by the PhD student, Enrique Herrero, the researcher Dr. Juan Carlos Morales, the exoplanet expert, Dr. Ignasi Ribas, and the amateur astronomer, Mr. Ramón Naves.
WASP-33 (also known as HD15082) is hotter, more massive than the Sun (1.5 Msun) and is located at ...
2011-01-19
People feel closer to businesses and nonprofits that solicit their advice, but soliciting expectations can distance potential customers, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"Marketers and nonprofits alike regularly solicit input from customers or donors for myriad reasons, most notably to measure consumers' preferences, expectations, and satisfaction," write authors Wendy Liu (USCD) and David Gal (Northwestern University). Interactive media such as Facebook and Twitter are providing even greater opportunities for interaction with customers.
The ...
2011-01-19
A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research explores why people reject things that can make them safer.
"People rely on airbags, smoke detectors, and vaccines to make them safe," write authors Andrew D. Gershoff (University of Texas at Austin) and Johnathan J. Koehler (Northwestern University School of Law). "Unfortunately, vaccines do sometimes cause disease and airbags sometimes injure or kill. But just because these devices aren't perfect doesn't mean consumers should reject them outright."
The authors found that people feel betrayed when they learn about the ...
2011-01-19
A Letter to the Editor entitled "What should we advise about alcohol consumption?" was recently published by Maurizio Ponz de Leon in Intern Emerg Med.1 Dr. de Leon argues that the message of health benefits of moderate drinking "seems to me hazardous and extremely dangerous to diffuse in the general population." His reasons included (1) many people may be unable to distinguish between low–moderate and high consumption of wine, beer or spirits, and alcohol metabolism may differ remarkably from one subject to another; (2) alcohol remains a frequent cause of car crash, ...
2011-01-19
After a rough day at the office, you might opt for a convenient, pretty restaurant over one with a top-notch menu, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"If you've had a tough day at work, how will that affect the decisions you make, like where to eat, what to do, and what to buy?" ask authors Echo Wen Wan (University of Hong Kong) and Nidhi Agrawal (Northwestern University). Their research revealed that people who are tired from a demanding task will tend to pass up the most desirable choices and go for options that seem to have attractive low-level ...
2011-01-19
CORVALLIS, Ore. – While monogamy is often touted as a way to protect against disease, young couples who say they have discussed monogamy can't seem to agree on what they decided. And a significant percentage of those couples who at least agreed that they would be monogamous weren't.
A new study of 434 young heterosexual couples ages 18-25 found that, in 40 percent of couples, only one partner says the couple agreed to be sexually exclusive. The other partner said there was no agreement.
Public health researchers Jocelyn Warren and Marie Harvey of Oregon State University ...
2011-01-19
CORVALLIS, Ore. – A new analysis of the Northern Hemisphere's "albedo feedback" over a 30-year period concludes that the region's loss of reflectivity due to snow and sea ice decline is more than double what state-of-the-art climate models estimate.
The findings are important, researchers say, because they suggest that Arctic warming amplified by the loss of reflectivity could be even more significant than previously thought.
The study was published online this week in Nature Geoscience. It was funded primarily by the National Science Foundation, with data also culled ...
2011-01-19
New technology providing the first view of DNA damage throughout the entire human genome developed by Cardiff University scientists could offer a valuable new insight into the development and treatment of conditions like cancer.
Professor Ray Waters, Dr Simon Reed and Dr Yumin Teng from Cardiff University's Department of Genetics, Haematology and Pathology have developed a unique way of measuring DNA damage frequency using tiny microarrays.
Using the new method Cardiff scientists can, for the first time, examine all 28,000 human genes where previous techniques have ...
2011-01-19
Soy protein's ability to lower total and LDL (low-density lipoprotein or "the bad") cholesterol has been extensively studied, but the mechanism whereby soy protein lowers cholesterol remains unresolved. A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology last month shows that soy protein lowers total cholesterol and non-HDL (non-high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol significantly more than milk protein in patients with moderately high cholesterol levels.
"Non-HDL cholesterol has been shown to be a somewhat stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease and mortality ...
2011-01-19
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Researchers have identified how the hormones progesterone and estrogen interact to increase cell growth in normal mammary cells and mammary cancers, a novel finding that may explain why postmenopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy with estrogen plus progestin are at increased risk of breast cancer.
The discovery that both estrogen and progesterone must be present for the increased production of the protein amphiregulin, which binds to mammary cells and promotes cell growth, could lead to new treatment methods for the disease, said Sandra ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Bus and tram passengers warned to keep their germs to themselves
