Bloomberg—How big is the coronavirus outbreak? A lot bigger than we were initially told, it turns out. On Thursday, confirmed cases of Covid-19 in China’s Hubei Province—the epidemic’s epicenter—jumped by almost 15,000. It’s not that there was a sudden wave of new infections. Rather, the increase reflects a change in how China counts patients; it… Read More: Concerns rise that the system for diagnosing epidemics is failing »
Massive cuts to alcohol rehab services mean a “national epidemic” of alcohol-related problems is not being tackled, King’s College London researchers say. And people with drink problems in England are less than half as likely to receive the right help as those in Scotland and Wales. More than £100m has been cut since services in… Read More: England failing to tackle alcohol ‘epidemic’, say researchers »
Dive Brief: With the dust still settling on the midterm elections, Leapfrog’s fall 2018 Hospital Safety Grades show in-hospital errors, accidents, injuries and medical errors plague hospitals in both red and blue states. Of more than 2,600 hospitals assessed, 32% earned an A grade, 24% a B, 37% a C, 6% a D and just under 1% an… Read More: Leapfrog says 10 states have failing hospitals, calls for more… »
Another such review examined how the number of prenatal visits affected infant mortality. Seven studies involved more than 60,000 women in countries of varying income. There was no difference in high-income countries in the number of deaths of those who had more or fewer visits (although the number of deaths over all was low). In… Read More: The New Health Care: The U.S. Is Failing in Infant… »