273 papers
Public and global health examines how we protect communities from disease, manage outbreaks, and improve well-being across the world. This vital field connects diverse research on everything from infectious disease control and vaccination strategies to the social factors that shape our collective health. Because these studies often impact policy and daily life, understanding them quickly is more important than ever.
At Gist.Science, we track every new preprint published in this category on medRxiv to ensure you never miss a breakthrough. We process each submission to provide both plain-language explanations for general readers and detailed technical summaries for experts, making complex findings accessible to everyone.
Below are the latest papers in public and global health, freshly summarized from the most recent medRxiv releases.
Using secondary data from Kinshasa, this study applies the Integrated Behavioral Model to find that attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, and autonomy significantly predict Kangaroo Mother Care intentions among first-time mothers aged 15–24, with age-specific variations highlighting the need for tailored, empowering interventions.
This study demonstrates that integrating SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing with traditional contact tracing in Düsseldorf significantly improved the resolution of transmission dynamics and identified undetected infection contexts, particularly in non-household settings like schools and nightlife, by characterizing nearly half of all cases and recommending a minimum 15% sequencing rate for effective future implementation.
This paper evaluates a one-week competency-based training program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, demonstrating that the intensive workshop significantly improved participants' self-assessed knowledge and confidence in applying implementation research to address global health inequities, despite showing no statistically significant change in objective knowledge scores.
This retrospective study at the Mono-Couffo Regional Hospital Center in Benin (2020–2021) found a high cesarean section rate of 46.26% dominated by emergency procedures, with unfavorable maternal and fetal outcomes significantly linked to factors such as multiple pregnancies, urinary tract infections, and inadequate prenatal care, underscoring the critical need to strengthen prenatal services for at-risk patients.
This cross-sectional survey of 300 residents in Derna City, Libya, reveals a substantial prevalence of family history for breast (30.0%), colorectal (23.3%), and ovarian (13.3%) cancers, highlighting the urgent need for enhanced genetic counseling, screening, and targeted prevention strategies in the region.
An analysis of 2021 data from 72 countries reveals that while alcohol laws showed no significant impact, adopting improved speeding laws and vehicle safety standards could potentially reduce road deaths by approximately 23% and 55%, respectively.
Based on the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study, this paper reveals that while age-standardized rates for hemorrhagic strokes have declined in China since 1990, ischemic stroke incidence has risen and population aging has become a dominant driver of the overall stroke burden, necessitating targeted public health policies.
In a study of generally healthy infants in Dhaka, Bangladesh, neonatal fecal abundance of *Bifidobacterium longum* subspecies *infantis* was found to be unrelated to growth outcomes, diarrhea risk, or hospitalizations up to six months of age, suggesting that promoting early colonization of this bacterium may not improve growth in populations experiencing postnatal faltering.
This study of the Chasing Covid Cohort reveals that fewer than half of U.S. adults perceived COVID-19 vaccines as safe or effective during pregnancy, with positive perceptions significantly linked to having a regular healthcare provider and trusting public health institutions.
A nationwide cohort study of over 1.5 million adults in Denmark found no statistically significant increased risk of 30 adverse events within 28 days following vaccination with LP.8.1-containing COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.