Kids born in 2020 worldwide will experience twice the number of wildfires during their lifetimes compared with those born in 1960. In California and other western states, frequent wildfires have…
Tag: Public health
How HIV/AIDS got its name − the words Americans used for the crisis were steeped in science, stigma and religious language
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first used the term “AIDS” on Sept. 24, 1982, more than a year after the first cases appeared in medical records. Those early…
Vaccines tell a success story that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Trump forget – here are some key reminders
Vaccinations have provided significant protection for the public against infectious diseases. However, there was a modest decrease in support in 2023 nationwide for vaccine requirements for children to attend public…
Nutrition Facts labels have a complicated legacy – a historian explains the science and politics of translating food into information
The Nutrition Facts label, that black and white information box found on nearly every packaged food product in the U.S. since 1994, has recently become an icon for consumer transparency.…
FDA authorized the sale of menthol-flavored e-cigarettes – a health policy expert explains how the benefits may outweigh the risks
On June 21, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the marketing of the first electronic cigarette products in flavors other than tobacco in the U.S. Of the four…
EPA has lowered the screening level for lead in soil – here’s what that could mean for households across the US
As spring phases into summer across the U.S., kids are spending more time outdoors. Playing outside is healthy in all kinds of ways, but it also poses some risks. One…
Early COVID-19 research is riddled with poor methods and low-quality results − a problem for science the pandemic worsened but didn’t create
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers flooded journals with studies about the then-novel coronavirus. Many publications streamlined the peer-review process for COVID-19 papers while keeping acceptance rates relatively high. The…
Who is still getting HIV in America? Medication is only half the fight – homing in on disparities can help get care to those who need it most
As the globe marks another World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, it’s crucial to both acknowledge the significant strides made in the global battle against HIV and recognize the persistent…
Pollution from coal power plants contributes to far more deaths than scientists realized, study shows
Air pollution particles from coal-fired power plants are more harmful to human health than many experts realized, and it’s more than twice as likely to contribute to premature deaths as…
Disease risk spreads amid overcrowded shelters, dirty water and breakdown of basic sanitation
After more than a month of being subjected to sustained bombing, the besieged people of the Gaza Strip are now confronted with another threat to life: disease. Overcrowding at shelters,…
