Walking briskly may lower risk of death in some adults: Study
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(NEW YORK) — Walking faster for 30 minutes per day can lower the risk of death in some adults, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Australia and Spain looked at 1approximately 70, 000 adults between ages 40 and 69.
Participants were broken into four categories: under 5,000 steps a day, between 5,000 and 7,000 steps a day, between 7,500 and 10,000 steps a day and above 10,000 steps a day.
The researchers also timed each participant’s peak 30-minute cadence, or the average steps per minute during the most active 30 minutes of the day.
Results showed that the group with under 5,000 steps a day, a level considered as a sedentary lifestyle — but with a peak 30-minute cadence of between 60 to 90 steps per minute — had a lower risk of death than those with a slower peak 30-minute cadence.
Results showed that the group with under 5,000 steps a day — but with a peak 30-minute cadence of 80 steps per minute — had a lower risk of death than those with a slower peak 30-minute cadence.
The death risk was similar to those within the 5,000 to 7,500 steps per day group who walked at a slower pace, but with a peak cadence of 60 steps per minute.
However, the group with 7,500 to 10,000 steps per day had the lowest chance of death regardless of how fast those steps were accumulated, according to the study, published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The authors said their findings provide evidence for stepping up the intensity when walking.
They added that the results “may inform step-based interventions for middle-aged and older adults, particularly individuals with barriers to increasing daily step counts or stepping intensity.”
The study had some limitations; participants only needed to log three days of activity to qualify, for example.
“Our study moves beyond single-metric approaches (e.g., focusing solely on daily step counts) to examine combinations of different step dimensions in relation to mortality risk, informing future step-related public health and clinical guidelines,” the authors wrote.
Dr. Varun Mehta is a fourth-year resident at Mount Sinai Hospital and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.
A sign for the Food And Drug Administration is seen outside of the headquarters on July 20, 2020 in White Oak, Maryland. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — At least 55 people have been sickened in a salmonella and E. coli outbreak linked to alfalfa sprouts in 15 states, health officials said Friday.
At least 4 people have been hospitalized.
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have posted an official outbreak notice on their websites.
Forty-six people were infected with E. coli, seven people were infected with salmonella and two individuals were infected with both salmonella and E. coli, officials said.
Illnesses started on dates ranging from May 31 to Aug. 8, officials said. The true number of people sick is likely higher than the numbers reported.
“The illnesses have been linked to eating alfalfa sprouts produced by Everything Sprouts, a Minnesota grower, and sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands to restaurants and grocery stores,” Minnesota’s Department of Health said in a statement. “Health officials recommend people check for alfalfa sprouts from Calco or Everything Sprouts, not eat them, and throw them away.”
On Aug. 19, the FDA initiated an inspection and sample collection at Everything Sprouts, recommending the company conduct a recall. The FDA is warning consumers and retailers not to eat or serve the contaminated products.
The FDA had warned Everything Sprouts last year of “serious violations” following an inspection the agency had conducted at its facility. Inspectors determined the company had “insanitary conditions whereby [produce] may have become contaminated with filth, or whereby they may have been rendered injurious to heath.”
FDA inspectors said they had found multiple problems, including roof leaks with water dripping onto produce and clean employee smocks. There was also “build-up of black organic matter” on a hose of the overhead irrigation system for produce, inspectors said.
ABC News has reached out to Everything Sprouts for comment.
(NEW YORK) — Louisiana health officials on Thursday urged residents to take precautions following an uptick in severe cases of a type of dangerous flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio vulnificus.
So far this year, the state has reported nine cases, five of them fatal. During the same period in previous years, Louisiana averaged seven cases and one death.
The Louisiana Department of Health said all nine cases reported this year were linked to wounds exposed to seawater and that all of the patients had underlying health conditions.
“Vibrio bacteria occur naturally in warm coastal waters and are found in higher numbers from May to October, when water temperatures are warmer. Infection can occur when an open wound is exposed to brackish or salt water or when a person eats raw or undercooked seafood, particularly oysters,” the Louisiana Department of Health said in a statement.
Vibrio infection can result in gastrointestinal illness, wound infection, or blood poisoning, officials said.
“Some species, including Vibrio vulnificus, can cause severe and life-threatening infections. People with severe infections may require intensive care or limb amputation,” health officials added. “About one in five people with Vibrio vulnificus infection dies, sometimes within a day or two of becoming ill.”
Authorities said that people should seek medical care “immediately if a wound exposed to brackish or salt water becomes red, swollen, painful, warm, or discolored,” and that the health care provider should be told about water exposure.
Computer graphic image of a virus as seen like through a microscope. (Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images)
The U.S. State Department is monitoring a reportedly fatal case of “pneumonia of an unknown etiology” linked to a plague research laboratory in Russia.
“We are aware of reports of a fatal case of suspected pneumonic plague in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. We are monitoring the situation closely with the CDC and our other interagency partners,” a spokesperson from the State Department said.
“Many details have not been confirmed. We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly,” the spokesperson added.
Where the case of plague has been detected
Health authorities in Russia’s Irkutsk region launched anti-epidemic measures after an employee of a plague institute was diagnosed with “pneumonia of an unknown etiology,” the country’s sanitary watchdog agency, Rospotrebnadzor, confirmed on Sunday.
The lab involved is the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Shelekhov, in southern Siberia, Russia.
The statement comes after some Russian media and public figures reported a death potentially due to the plague and linked to a lab worker. Russian officials did not provide further details on the worker.
The Russian agency’s statement said that “no accidents have been detected at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute while working with pathogenic microorganisms.”
Their statement added that “the sanitary and epidemiological situation” in the Irkutsk Region, the cities of Irkutsk and Shelekhov, is “stable.”
How Russian authorities are responding
Regional governor Igor Kobzev said in a statement on Friday that people who had contact with a resident who contracted a “particularly dangerous infection” were placed under medical observation.
Responding to the growing speculation, the governor on Monday said that “no microorganisms associated with the woman’s professional activities were found in her biomaterials” and that no other lab workers have sought medical help in recent days.
Officials said none of the identified contacts were showing symptoms so far and their laboratory tests were negative, according to Kobzev.
Before Rospotrebnadzor reported that the employee’s illness was due to pneumonia with an unknown cause, Alexei Tsydenov, the head of Buryatia, a region neighboring Irkutsk Oblast, suggested that a woman may have died of the plague.
Citing Buryatia’s health officials, Tsydenov wrote in a post on his Telegram channel on Friday that “the woman who died – possibly from the plague – in the Irkutsk Region had not visited Buryatia,” assuring Buryatia residents that “there are no plague outbreaks in the republic.”
Amid the investigation, some protective measures have been announced in the region. A mask mandate has been implemented at the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant in Shelekhov, according to the plant’s director, Artem Fominykh.
“Better safe than sorry,” Fominykh wrote in a post on his Telegram channel on Saturday, asking the employees to “follow the precautions.” He added that some conflicting information about the situation is circulating in Shelekhov, and urged the plant employees to seek medical attention immediately if they experience any symptoms.
US response
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement on Sunday that it is “monitoring the situation closely” with the State Department.
“The safety and security of U.S. citizens is our highest priority,” the CDC said.
“Many details have not been confirmed. We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.
“Plague is a known disease and is treatable with common antibiotics, especially when treatment starts early. Cases occur naturally in many parts of the world,” the statement added.
What to know about plague and its transmission
Plague is a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, according to the CDC.
Humans can contract the disease after being bitten by an infected rodent flea, coming into contact with contaminated fluid or tissue from an infected animal or by inhaling infected droplets in the air.
There are three types of plague: bubonic, pneumonic and septicemic. Symptoms often include fever, chills, and weakness.
Pneumonic is the most serious form and the only one that can potentially spread between people. It occurs when bacteria spread to the lungs of a patient with untreated bubonic or septicemic plague, or when a person inhales infectious droplets, according to the CDC.
Bubonic plague is infamously responsible for the deaths of millions of people in Europe during the 1300s. While the disease still exists, modern medicine and public health efforts have made it less threatening.
Plague can be treated with a course of antibiotics. The earlier antibiotics are received, the higher are the chances of a full recovery.
The U.S. averages about seven cases of plague each year, mostly on the West Coast in states such as Arizona and New Mexico, according to the CDC. It’s been more than a century since the U.S. has seen a documented case of person-to-person spread of plague, per the CDC.
