Study: HPV Vaccines Lower Cancer Risks In All Socioeconomic Groups

CIDRAP: HPV Vaccine Program Tied To Big Drop In Cervical Cancers Across All Socioeconomic Strata
England's human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program is linked to dramatically lower rates of cervical cancer and precancerous lesions in all socioeconomic groups, reveals a study led by Queen Mary University of London researchers. For the observational study, published yesterday in BMJ, the researchers analyzed the effect of the country's school-based HPV vaccination program on the incidence of cervical cancer and grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN3) in English women aged 20 to 64 years from January 2006 to June 2020. (Van Beusekom, 5/16)

The Wall Street Journal: A ‘Digital Twin’ Of Your Heart Lets Doctors Test Treatments Before Surgery
Patients diagnosed with heart disease, cancer and other ailments face myriad decisions: Which drug will be most effective? Will the side effects outweigh the benefits? Will surgery be enough? Determining the best path forward may be far easier in years to come. Instead of trying a therapy and hoping it works, researchers are creating so-called digital twins to predict how a patient will respond before ever starting treatment. (Armour, 5/16)

The Washington Post: Some Mice Have A Cheating Heart. It’s A Hormonal Thing, Scientists Find
Oldfield mice are monogamous. Fathers groom their young, keep them warm and ensure they don’t wander far from the nest. The deer mouse prefers the swinging lifestyle when it comes to sexual partners. ... Until now. Researchers at Columbia University investigating the two species of mice discovered what appears to be a crucial difference: Oldfield produce an adrenal cell not found in other mice. The cell makes a hormone, which, when injected into virgin deer mice of both sexes, spurred 17 percent to groom their young and keep them close to the nest. (Johnson, 5/16)

Also —

Stat: Data Integrity In Scientific Journals Requires "Effort" By Publishers, Institutions
According to Elisabeth Bik, a scientific watchdog who has discovered thousands of errors in scientific papers, the problem of fraud, errors, or data mishandling in the scientific literature seems to be getting worse. In the last couple of years, Bik’s been seeing an influx of AI-generated papers in the scientific record that are “nonsensical and clearly low quality.” The possibility that AI-generated, fraudulent data could be making its way into more established journals is a constant fear. (Chen, 5/17)

CIDRAP: Report Highlights Role Of Socioeconomic, Sociocultural Factors In Antimicrobial Resistance
A policy brief published yesterday by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies suggests antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policies need to take socioeconomic and sociocultural factors into account. The brief notes that while efforts to understand AMR have focused on the biomedical model, interactions between socioeconomic and sociocultural determinants of health and AMR ... have not been studied extensively. (Dall, 5/16)

CIDRAP: UK Announces Funding To Boost Global Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance 
The British government today put forth a package worth £85 million (roughly $108 million US) to support international efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).The funding ... includes £50 million ($63 million) to help countries and institutions in Africa access essential antibiotics, £25 million ($32 million) to strengthen AMR surveillance in Caribbean countries and territories, and £10 million ($13 million) to help establish an international scientific panel to coordinate action on AMR. (Dall, 5/16)