Urgent care clinics are handing out fistfuls of antibiotics, steroids and opioids for conditions these drugs won’t help, a new study says. “Previous studies had shown that patients continue to receive antibiotics for diagnoses where they may not be indicated, such as for a viral respiratory infection, especially in urgent care settings,” said co-lead researcher…  read on >  read on >

Fewer than one-third of American public schools are screening students for psychological problems, years after the U.S. Surgeon General declared a mental health crisis among the nation’s youth. In 2021, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned that social media, the COVID-19 pandemic, bullying, lack of safety and a number of other factors were driving an…  read on >  read on >

Insomniacs have a much higher risk for depression if they have chronic inflammation, a new sleep lab experiment says. Seniors with insomnia were three times as likely to report symptoms of depression if they’d been dosed with a substance that promotes inflammation, according to results published July 16 in JAMA Psychiatry. “Insomnia not only robs…  read on >  read on >

A new antibody shot that protects babies against RSV infection could be struggling to gain traction, researchers report. Only about a third (35%) of babies eligible for nirsevimab got the injection during the 2023-24 RSV season, researchers reported today in the journal Pediatrics. That was the first season that the monoclonal antibody jab was available…  read on >  read on >

A new study of more than 1.2 million people found no link between aluminum in childhood vaccines and long-term health problems, including autism, asthma or autoimmune diseases. The research, published July 14 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at 50 chronic conditions.  They included 36 autoimmune diseases, nine types of allergies and asthma, and…  read on >  read on >