Articles related to PUBLIC HEALTH

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is taking issue with the US Senate’s recently passed legislation that will make daylight saving time (DST) permanent starting in 2023. AASM cautions that this permanent change would lead to health risks that include adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, and motor vehicle crashes. The group advocates for establishing permanent standard time instead.

Published in its entirety in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and available here from Guideline Central, the AGS Beers Criteria® also includes a host of resources— from mobile apps to a pocket reference card. The five lists included describe particular medications with evidence suggesting they should be avoided, used in caution, or dosed differently.

The British Medical Journal reports that people who survive COVID-19 are at increased risk of an array of mental health disorders, including anxiety, depression, and opioid use disorder, cognitive decline, sleep disorders, and more. The authors recommend close monitoring of patients following infection and up-prioritizing managing their mental health disorders.

This Annals of Internal Medicine study reports an 82% decreased risk for reinfection for those previously infected and then vaccinated, versus those previously infected but who remained unvaccinated. Reinfection in both groups was relatively rare.

The 2022 Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule for people over the age of 19 has been released by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The 2022 schedule has also been approved by the CDC and the American College of Physicians (ACP).

Congress is looking into allegations that several nurse staffing agencies have been engaging in price gouging during the pandemic by charging hospitals extremely high fees for the services their nurses provide. The allegations have stirred the nursing community, which is growing concerned about possible implications, particularly whether the political scrutiny will result in state-level restrictions placed on the amounts that staffing agencies can charge for nursing services.