📄 Category

public and global health

432 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.

📄 public and global health

Quantifying optimal AWaRe antibiotic use patterns in hospitals with a new benchmarking tool applied to cross-sectional point prevalence survey data from 10 countries

This study introduces and validates a new benchmarking tool that uses decision-tree models and Global Point Prevalence Survey data to quantify deviations between observed and WHO AWaRe-recommended antibiotic use across 10 countries, revealing widespread overuse of Watch antibiotics and underuse of Access antibiotics with little improvement over time.

Swe, M. M. M., Pauwel, I., Costa, S. F., Porto, A. P. M., Reyes, M. R. D. L., Garcia, J., Soltani, J., Banda, D. C., Rac (…)2026-10-15
📄 public and global health

A Growing Burden, a Persistent Gap: Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome Education and Emergency Department Trends in Michigans Legal Cannabis Market

This study reveals a 57-fold increase in cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) emergency department visits in Kalamazoo, Michigan, following recreational legalization in 2018, while highlighting a critical absence of CHS warnings and educational content on licensed retailer and public health websites, prompting a recommendation to mandate specific CHS warnings in point-of-sale materials.

Lorbeer, E. R., Bronson, N., Burgard, L. A., Engle, M. E., Randhawa, D. S., Sotiroff, P. V., Walker, H. R., Zhu, H., Mas (…)2026-10-14
📄 public and global health

Physicians' Industrial Action: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis Assessing Impact in 11 Kenyan Neonatal Units

This interrupted time series analysis of 11 Kenyan neonatal units reveals that the 2024 physicians' strike caused a severe 51% drop in admissions and a doubling of case fatality among neonates with recorded infections, while inpatient mortality rates for those who reached care remained statistically unchanged.

Paral, M. M., Manyasi, C., Wainaina, J., Okello, G., Mochache, D. R., Mwaniki, H., Muinde, D. M., Okech, F. O., Lawn, J. (…)2026-10-12
📄 public and global health

Large-scale assessment of socioeconomic, demographic and health system structures with US county excess mortality, 2020-2024

This large-scale ecological study of 2,745 US counties reveals that socioeconomic structures and demographics, rather than health system resources, were the primary drivers of excess mortality during the 2020–2021 pandemic years, with these correlations diminishing significantly in subsequent years.

Levitt, M., Marten, B., Oren, G., Ioannidis, J.2026-10-11
📄 public and global health

Longitudinal Associations between the Built Environment, Biological Aging and Cognition

This study utilizing multiple longitudinal cohorts found no consistent evidence that childhood exposure to the built environment is associated with biological aging or cognition during adolescence, suggesting these relationships may develop later in life.

Sanders, F., Baltramonaityte, V., Staginnus, M., Mulder, R. H., Muetzel, R. L., Vrijheid, M., Dunn, E. C., Fisher, H. L. (…)2026-10-11
📄 public and global health

Probabilistic forecasting of prefecture-level influenza in Japan accounting for surveillance data release histories

This study evaluates short-term probabilistic forecasts for prefecture-level influenza in Japan using models that account for surveillance data release histories, finding that while combined models outperform persistence baselines, further prospective validation is required before they can reliably support public-health decision-making due to challenges in real-time lead time, threshold detection, and system changes.

NAKAGAWA, R., Yamamura, N.2026-10-11
📄 public and global health

The spatiotemporal distribution of substandard and falsified antimalarial medicines in Africa, 1996-2019

This study utilizes spatiotemporal modeling of data from 1996 to 2019 to estimate that substandard and falsified antimalarial prevalence in Africa was highest between 1996 and 2003, particularly in West and Central regions, while showing a notable decline in several East African countries and Madagascar after 2003, though findings remain uncertain due to sparse surveillance data.

Adipo, L. B., Mendes, J. A., Do, N. T., Assche, K. V., Moraga, P., Nanyonga, S. M., Stoesser, N., Dolecek, C., Newton, P (…)2026-10-07
📄 public and global health

Household contact management of drug-resistant tuberculosis: a global cost-effectiveness modelling analysis of expanded preventive treatment by age

A global cost-effectiveness modelling analysis suggests that expanding multidrug-resistant tuberculosis preventive treatment to household contacts up to age 45 without infection testing is cost-effective in most countries, though it requires substantial resources and carries a significant risk of adverse events.

Mafirakureva, N., McQuaid, C. F., Harker, M., Garcia-Prats, A., Hesseling, A. C., Seddon, J. A., Dodd, P.2026-10-02
📄 public and global health

Quantifying advances in infectious disease forecast skill across seasons and pathogens

This study introduces a novel skill score metric comparing forecasts against hindcast and baseline benchmarks to demonstrate that ensemble and team forecasts for influenza and COVID-19 have generally improved in skill over the past decade, despite mixed results for COVID-19.

Bay, C., Moghaddas, N. R., Davis, J. T., Borchering, R., Biggerstaff, M., Vespignani, A., Johansson, M. A.2026-10-01