• 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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• Mandy Cohen, CDC Director has supported the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendation for individuals aged 65 and older to get an additional updated 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine dose.

• Currently, the CDC recommends that everyone aged 65 years and older should receive 2 updated 2023–2024 COVID-19 vaccine doses to be considered up to date.

• Additionally, individuals aged 65 years and older who have not previously received any COVID-19 vaccine doses and choose to get Novavax should get 2 doses of the updated Novavax vaccine, followed by a single additional dose of any of the updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine, to be up to date.

• People who received the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen COVID-19 vaccine are considered up to date when they receive 1 updated COVID-19 vaccine dose.

• This decision aims to address the increased risk of severe COVID-19 in older adults and acknowledges data on vaccine effectiveness.

• The recommendation aligns with previous guidance for immunocompromised individuals to receive extra vaccine doses.

• Dr. Mandy Cohen emphasized that the additional dose for older adults aims to provide added protection against COVID-19, considering the heightened risk in this demographic.

• On the eve of World Hearing Day, with the theme of "Changing mindsets: Let's make ear and hearing care a reality for all," the document was made public.

• The idea of shared duties between qualified non-specialists and specialists forms the basis of the recommendations.

• The strategies are for two focus groups consisting of adults and kids older than five.

• They also contain information on how to use hearing aids, take good care of your ears, and support those who are deaf.

• Less than 20% of the more than 400 million people with hearing loss get their needs for hearing care met, according to the WHO Director for the Department of NCDs.

• To help smokers stop smoking, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced the Tips from Former Smokers (Tips) initiative.

• This year, seven new people will appear in the advertisements, sharing their accounts of how smoking cigarettes and the diseases they cause have ruined their lives.

• The federal government funds Tips, the first nationally recognized tobacco education program that tells the stories of over 45 brave people from diverse backgrounds.

• These have been impacted by the serious long-term health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

• Many stories are shown, with a focus on the detrimental effects of smoking menthol cigarettes.