Sharp Corporation, using technology*2 developed by Dr. Melvin First, Professor Emeritus of the Harvard School of Public Health and a leading US authority on public health*3, has verified in a test chamber (volume of 40 m3) the effectiveness of Plasmacluster Ion Technology, a proprietary air purification system that eliminates harmful airborne substances by releasing positive and negative ions into the air, in eliminating a serratia bacteria*4 (airborne pathogenic bacterium).

Decreasing the number of nurses on duty in an intensive care unit (ICU) increases the risk of serious infection, according to a report published in the open access journal Critical Care.

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) shows that patients who go to hospitals ranked higher according to specific quality measures have a lower chance of dying than patients treated at lower-ranked hospitals.

Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are increasingly being prescribed inhaled corticosteroids to control exacerbations of the disease, but a new study finds that the anti-inflammatory drugs increase the chances that these patients will be hospitalized for pneumonia.

A recent report by the NGO Save the Children paints a mixed picture of global efforts to protect the lives of mothers and children under five. And, while some African countries have made impressive gains in recent years, others ranked near the bottom of the 140-country survey. From Washington, VOA reporter William Eagle has the story.

In Africa, experts say the deaths of thousands of infants each year from low body temperature, or hypothermia, pneumonia and other illnesses that can strike a child within days of delivery. One way that’s gaining in popularity in the southern African country of Malawi is keeping a child close to the chest of the mother and other adults. From Washington, reporter William Eagle has the story.

New Study Shows Hib Vaccine Protects Children From Significant Burden of Life-Threatening Pneumonia and Meningitis

- Study Shows Hib Vaccine Could Prevent About 1/3 of Life-Threatening Cases of Bacterial Pneumonia, the Leading Infectious Cause of Death in Asian Children

Does air pollution have a bigger effect on the immune system of females than males? It did among mice exposed to ozone - a major component in air pollution that is known to negatively affect lung function - and then infected with pneumonia, as significantly more females died from the infection than males.

Stroke is a leading cause of hospital admission among older adults. Yet more hospital readmissions after stroke are for pneumonia or for heart disease than for another stroke, according to a study published in the June 2007 issue of the journal Stroke. This finding may alter the standard medical management of post-stroke patients.

A new study suggests patients hospitalized with pneumonia may be at serious risk of new or worsening heart problems. The study is published in the July 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

Hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who received treatment regimens against atypical disease-causing pathogens reached clinical stability quicker, had fewer days of hospitalization, and had lower mortality rates as a result of their disease, according to a large new study.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that an enzyme produced by lung-infecting bacteria further shuts down a protein that is defective in cystic fibrosis patients.