New Mexico Health Department Warns Against Raw Milk After Infant’s Death
The child died of listeria, allegedly after its mother drank unpasteurized milk while pregnant. In unrelated news, two infants developed severe neurologic symptoms after infection with Paenibacillus dendritiformis, an emerging infectious-disease threat.
CBS News:
New Mexico Warns Against Drinking Raw Milk After Newborn Dies From Listeria
An infant in New Mexico died of listeria, prompting the state's health department to warn residents against consuming raw milk and other raw dairy products. The New Mexico Department of Health said in a news release that officials believe the newborn contracted listeria as a result of unpasteurized milk their mother drank during pregnancy, though an exact cause cannot be pinpointed. Listeria can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, preterm birth or fatal infections in newborns, even if the mother was only mildly ill. (Breen, 2/3)
CIDRAP:
Public Health Alerts: Paenibacillus Dendritiformis As A Cause Of Destructive Meningitis In Infants
A Public Health Alerts report today details two US infants with severe neurologic symptoms after infection with Paenibacillus dendritiformis, raising awareness of an emerging infectious disease threat. The first case involved a 2-month-old girl born extremely prematurely, at 26 weeks’ gestation a year ago in Pennsylvania. The second case was reported in Minnesota in a 37-day-old boy born at 33 weeks’ gestation who had been doing well following a 22-day stay in the neonatal intensive care unit and 15 days at home. (Wappes, 2/3)
More news on infant and maternal health —
The New York Times:
Research Finds Interaction With Father, Not Mother, Affects Child Health
For much of the 20th century and beyond, social scientists attributed a range of chronic mental health problems to dysfunction between infants and their mothers, who were categorized as overbearing, rejecting, domineering or ambivalent. But a team of researchers from Pennsylvania State University has found that at times the early parenting behavior of fathers may have a greater impact on children’s health. (Barry, 2/3)
MedPage Today:
Maternal Diabetes Tied To Epilepsy Risk In Kids
Children born to mothers with any diabetes subtype had an increased risk of epilepsy, a retrospective Canadian study showed. Compared with unexposed children, epilepsy risk was higher over 10.2 years of follow-up for kids exposed to one of three types of maternal diabetes during gestation, reported Bénédicte Driollet, PhD, of McGill University in Montreal, and colleagues. (Monaco, 2/3)
The Texas Tribune:
Texas Jails Have More Than 400 Pregnant Inmates Monthly. The State Is Studying What Happens To Them
In May 2018, Ruby McPeters was eight months pregnant when she was booked into Hood County jail on a probation violation. Just a month later, the 33-year-old North Texas woman was dead.According to her custodial death report, McPeters was sent back to jail after delivering her baby by C-section at a local hospital. But the jail had to again transport her to the hospital a few days later, after she developed an infection from the procedure. That led to sepsis, according to the report, which was sent to the Texas attorney general’s office nearly five years late because the sheriff thought the investigating agency had submitted it. (Nguyen, 2/3)
In other public health news —
Newsweek:
Scientists Warn Against Breathing In Secondhand Vape ‘Smoke’
Breathing in lingering, secondhand e-cigarette vapors has the potential to damage lung tissues. This is the warning of a new study by researchers from the University of California Riverside, who found that aged vape aerosols contain fine particles bearing metals and highly reactive compounds that can combine to produce harmful radical particles. (Randall, 2/3)
MedPage Today:
Almost 40% Of Cancers Worldwide Linked To Modifiable Risk Factors
Modifiable risk factors account for almost 40% of the worldwide cancer burden, according to an international study group. Based on data from 2022, their report showed that an estimated 37.8% of the 18.7 million cancers were attributable to 30 modifiable factors, 29.7% for women and 45.4% for men. Rates of cancers associated with modifiable risk factors varied by geography, ranging as high as 38.2% in women and 57.2% in men. (Bankhead, 2/3)
Stat:
Pfizer Moves Forward With Its Hopes For A Monthly Obesity Drug
Pfizer took its next steps Tuesday in its attempted resurrection in the obesity market. The pharma firm said that an experimental weight loss drug, recently picked up through the company’s contested acquisition of the biotech Metsera, hit its marks in a mid-stage study, demonstrating the potential to be a once-a-month treatment. (Joseph, 2/3)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Zach Dyer reads this week’s news: An expensive new gene therapy that can potentially cure people with sickle cell disease will be covered by Medicaid, but only when it works for patients. Plus, community health centers are preparing to help care for millions more uninsured people. (Cook, 2/3)
