Research Articles

March 28, 2011  Roughly 350 cases of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP, were reported in Los Angeles County between June and December of 2010, according to a study from the L.A. County Department of Public Health to be presented April 3 in Dallas at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. CRKP joins other superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, in a league of bacteria that outwits typical antibiotics. CRKP joins other superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, in a league of bacteria that outwits typical antibiotics.CRKP joins other superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, in a league of bacteria that outwits typical antibiotics. http://www.cdc.gov/mrsa/ CRKP is not new to California, or the rest of the country for that matter. The CDC has been tracking it across 35 states since 2009. It is young, however, compared to MRSA, according to Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director of the CDC's health care-associated, infection-prevention programs.

May 3, 2012  While not intended for the general public, the machine could expand the use of DNA sequencing from specialized centers to smaller university and industrial labs, and into hospitals and doctors’ offices, helping make DNA sequencing a standard part of medical practice.

April 26, 2012  ...The latest survey data show that approximately seven million Americans currently abuse psychotherapeutic drugs. In 2010, 2.4 million Americans aged 12 or older used psychotherapeutics non-medically for the first time, which equates to nearly 6,600 new users per day. The largest share of these new users started with pain relievers (approximately 2.0 million or 5,500 new users per day)

January 1, 2011  We are inspired by the example set by millions of Americans who give generously (and often at great personal sacrifice) to make the world a better place. Each person who chooses to pledge will make this statement publicly, along with a letter explaining their decision to pledge. At an annual event, those who take the pledge will come together to share ideas and learn from each other.

February 9, 2013  Cancer is a major public health problem in the United States and many other parts of the world. One in 4 deaths in the United States is due to cancer. In this article, we provide the expected numbers of new cancer cases and deaths in 2013 nationally and by state, as well as an overview of current cancer statistics using data through 2009,including incidence,mortality, and survival rates and trends. We also estimate the total number of deaths averted as a result of the decline in cancer death rates since the early 1990s, and provide the actual reported numbers of deaths in 2009 by age for the 10 leading causes of death and the 5 leading cancer types.

January 9, 2014  ...One mother says that her son’s autism is directly linked to polluted water from the mines near her house. Those on the farms and in the townships and informal settlements that line Main Reef Road report lung and eye infections, kidney failure, birth defects and cancer. Some farmers and game park owners say that their animals have spontaneously miscarried. All blame contaminated water and air.

August 2, 2012  Personal genomic tests are now widely available and sold directly to consumers, but population-based data are limited on awareness, use and impact of these tests. In collaboration with 4 state public health genomics programs, we have recently reported on consumer awareness and use of personal genomic tests using the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System External Web Site Icon.

September 23, 2014  For many years, the Zaire species of Ebola virus (ZEBOV), a highly contagious and lethal human infectious disease, has been associated with periodic outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever in human populations with mortality rates reaching 90%.

January 22, 2013  Genetics of Tobacco Tobacco, Tobacco once a historically significant crop in Georgia, is a relatively minor agricultural commodity in the twenty-first century. Grown in thirty-five Georgia counties in 2007, tobacco generated a farm gate value (the value of the product when it leaves the farm) of around $65 million, ranking it twenty-seventh in the state's top commodities for that year. (Cotton was ranked second, with a farm gate value of more than $600 million, and peanuts were seventh, with $382 million.)

June 26, 2013  Genetics: the blueprint of health and disease Why do some people become addicted, while others do not?