• Researchers ranked public health institutes across the globe using 11 indicators.

• The ranking was based on quality, productivity, reader accessibility, and international-level collaboration.

• 26 Public Health schools were included in the ranking.

• The top 5 institutes consisted of:

1. The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 

2. Public Health Foundation of India, then

3. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

4. The Swiss School of Public Health

5. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

• This system aims to uphold the true standards of robustness and transparency in ranking the public health institutes that have huge implications on funding and Public Health policies.

• A study demonstrated that the retina in mice carrying the Rd8 mutation of CRB1 is characterized by the presence of bacterial invasion.

• Whereas normal CRB1 expression is enriched in the apical junctional complexes of retinal pigment epithelium and colon enterocytes, CRB1 mutations attenuate its expression in both sites.

• The resulting alterations of the outer blood-retinal barrier and intestinal epithelial barrier in Rd8 mice led to the translocation of intestinal bacteria from the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract to the retina, leading to secondary retinal degeneration.

• Systemic bacterial depletion or reintroduction of normal Crb1 expression into the colon rescued Rd8 mutation-associated retinal degeneration without reversing retinal barrier breach.

• The study suggests that antimicrobial agents have the potential to treat CRB1-associated retinal degeneration. 

• Hence, it paves the way for further research in humans towards a promising treatment of genetic retinal degeneration.

• A recent study by Kim et al investigated smartphone usage and overdependence risks in individuals aged 50 and above in South Korea.

• 2021 nationwide survey data was analyzed for content usage and overdependence risk in the 50s and 60s age groups.

• The following factors were compared:

1. Demographic characteristics

2. Smartphone Overdependence Scale scores

3. Self-awareness

4. Digital literacy

5. Psychosocial factors 

• The 50s group showed higher digital literacy, social relations, life satisfaction, and overdependence scores.

• Lower education was linked to higher overdependence odds in the 50s; whereas employment and e-commerce engagement are linked to lower odds.

• For those in their 60s, lower education and adult content/gambling use were linked to higher overdependence odds.

• The study emphasized the need to address overdependence among middle-aged and older adults, highlighting age-specific risk factors.

• A narrative review by Chaudhary et al shed light on pregnant tobacco users.

• They also highlighted the strategy followed for cessation initiatives, which include:

1. Tobacco use during pregnancy is linked to adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, with 5-8% of Indian pregnant women reported to consume tobacco.

2. Smokeless tobacco forms are more prevalent among Indian pregnant women than smoked tobacco.

3. Tobacco use during pregnancy increases the risk of various complications, including anemia, placental abnormalities, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, and congenital anomalies.

• Challenges in identifying and counseling pregnant tobacco users include the following:

1. Low-risk perception 

2. Lack of targeted screening

3. Inadequate training of healthcare workers

4. Poor utilization of antenatal care services

• Access to tobacco cessation counseling and services is limited, with insufficient IEC material and overburdened healthcare systems contributing to the issue.

• Addressing these challenges requires evidence-based policy framing, in-service training of healthcare staff, increasing the accessibility of tobacco cessation centers, and community-based interventions.

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• Recent research by Erico et al assessed the link between women's parity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk to discern if it's directly from pregnancy or related to child-rearing factors.

• The investigators utilized data from two National Health Surveys in Italy, comprising 20,904 men and 25,246 women, tracking CVD incidence until 2014 through record-linkage with national mortality and hospitalization archives.

• The results noted that CVD incidence significantly increased among men with 3 or more children, and among women with 2 or 3+ children, compared to those without children. 

• However, no significant gender differences were observed.

• Subjects with lower socioeconomic position (SEP) displayed stronger associations with parity and a higher number of children for both genders, with no modifying effect of employment status observed.

• Hence the study concluded that child-rearing may contribute to CVD risk, especially among disadvantaged families, although the simultaneous effect of pregnancy cannot be entirely excluded.

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• The advisory group consisted of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) experts.

• The group voted for a return to trivalent flu vaccines, similar to the WHO recommendation in September 2023.

• They urged manufacturers to drop the Yamagata strain from 2024-25 vaccines since it has not been detected since 2020 in the US.

• They also approved the WHO-recommended Northern Hemisphere strains for the US for the 2024-25 season.

• However, all countries cannot switch to trivalent vaccines since it may still be circulating there or they may not have the means to switch to trivalent vaccines in such a short time.

• Acute otitis media is one of the most common ear conditions in children for which antibiotics are prescribed.

• Its diagnosis is mostly clinical but diagnostic accuracy is low overall leading to inappropriate antibiotic usage.

• A new AI tool using a deep residual-recurrent neural network algorithm has been developed at the University of Pittsburgh, US.

• The tool has a sensitivity of 93.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 92.6% to 95.0%) and a specificity of 93.3% (95% CI, 92.5% to 94.1%).

• This could help in use by trained paramedical staff, documentation for records, and discussion with parents.

• Improved diagnosis can help reduce inappropriate use of antimicrobials for this common condition.

• The drawbacks of the study include the following:

1. The selection of the training and testing data 

2. The gold standard used for comparison was the opinion of the expert otoscopists, rather than myringotomy and tympanocentesis (since they are invasive procedures).

• There were almost 48,000 suicides in 2021 in the US and suicide was among the 10 leading causes of death there.

• A suicide cluster is defined as a group of suicides or suicide attempts occurring closer together in time, space, or both than would normally be expected in a community.

• Although they are responsible for only a small proportion of suicides, they can have a significant negative effect on a community as these pose unique challenges and are often widely sensationalized.

• Hence suicide clusters are rare but impactful.

• Two types of suicide clusters have been reported- the point cluster (localized) and mass (dispersed) clusters are identified.

• Three reports in this supplement focus on the following:

1. Up-to-date research findings on suicide clusters, findings of subject matter, and public health experts who work in suicide cluster identification

2. Potential methods and data sources that can be monitored for suicide clusters to analyze and confirm them

3. Guidance for local leaders and public health experts to develop response plans for suicide clusters.

• A study published in Paediatrics showed that antidepressant use has steeply risen among youth in the USA post-COVID, especially among females.

• The study compared data post-March 2020 with that from 2016-2019.

• The increase was by 130% in female adolescents 12-17 years old and about 60% in female young adults 18-25 years old.

• This increase parallels the rise in rates of anxiety and depression during the pandemic.

• Interestingly, before the pandemic, prescriptions for male teenagers were rising by 8.7% per month, but there was a decrease in prescriptions during and after the pandemic.

• The researchers hypothesized that this difference could be due to how social norms condition girls to internalize anxiety and depression and boys to externalize antisocial behavior and substance abuse when emotionally distressed.

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• The "India Ageing Report 2023" by UNFPA and IIPS sheds light on critical issues facing senior citizens in India.

• Challenges include digital adoption, mental health stigma, and increased caregiving burden due to the aging population.

• Despite efforts by corporations and NGOs, poverty, lack of social security, and health disparities persist.

• The Government addressed these issues through constitutional provisions, laws like the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, policies such as the National Policy on Older Persons, and various schemes like Atal Vayo Abhyuday Yojana.

• Collaboration with NGOs, training centers, and private sector CSR initiatives will further strengthen elder care efforts.

• In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Minister of Women and Child Development, Mrs. Smriti Irani provided information about the “Track Child Portal”  to track missing and found children across various states and union territories.

• This portal involves collaboration with multiple stakeholders and is integrated with the CCTNS of the Ministry of Home Affairs for efficient tracing of missing children.

• Additionally, the ministry has launched the GHAR portal to monitor and facilitate the restoration and repatriation of children under the Juvenile Justice Act, of 2015.

• The portal streamlines the process by enabling digital tracking, transfer of cases, and ensuring proper rehabilitation of children.

• As of february, over 5,000 children have been registered on the GHAR Portal for repatriation.

• Awareness programs and training sessions have also been conducted to enhance stakeholder engagement and data updation on the portal.

• In a study conducted among children with COVID-19 using electronic surveys, data regarding COVID-19 symptoms, vaccination status, masking habits, and vaccination status was collected.

• The Social Vulnerability Index is determined based on 15 social factors including poverty, lack of vehicle access, crowded housing, etc.

• The findings of the study are as follows:

1. Masking adherence decreased over time during the study period. 

2. Older children, those in urban counties, and children with low and medium Social Vulnerability Index showed higher levels of masking adherence compared to their respective counterparts.

3. Children with high SVI exhibited lower levels of masking adherence despite being at higher risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions.

4. This study underscored the need to consider social factors while designing public health strategies.

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