Historically, in the absence of relevant independent scientific research, probiotics have become widely accepted and are being widely recommended and prescribed by healthcare providers and self-prescribed by patients and consumers. In antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), probiotics appear harmless while providing certain benefits. Probiotic use in particular situations and conditions should be considered for a global health proposal.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) combined with the lack of novel antibiotics poses an eminent threat to human survival and to the practicality of medical procedures that depend on antibiotics.

In the most basic terms, AMR will result in more untreatable illnesses and diseases subsequently accelerating mortality rates for those particular conditions. AMR will increase the cost of patient care and tax the already overburdened healthcare system, and will negatively impact individuals, families, and employers and the economy and society worldwide.

How AMR affects treatment and outcome in certain bacterial infections can be described in narrative form, such as: Elevated AMR increases disease and death. However, this brief narrative reveals little about other cofactors or how adjusting one cofactor may affect another cofactor, several cofactors or all cofactors. Thus, it is more practical to develop a mathematical model that depicts such cofactors and their correlations to more readily recognize and more aptly access the effects of AMR on human mortality.

Objective: To determine the feasibility of an intervention to prevent re-traumatization with young males of color who are victims of violence in an emergency room setting.

Method: Subjects were selected from a single emergency room after being stabbed, shot or beat up and then referred to peer intervention specialist and injury prevention coordinator who see the patient while in the emergency department and provide intense services during hospitalization and for six months to a year in the community afterwards. Participants were monitored for repeat ER visits, retaliation, repeat injury and re-arrests.

Results: Out of 29 participants there were zero repeat ER visits, re-injury, retaliation and reduction in PTSD symptomology with only two arrests for NON-violent offenses.

Conclusion: Preliminary results are positive. Additional work with a larger sample and control group is needed. The project has possibilities in the context of residency training and providing an excellent training experience.

Background: Although public health surveillance system data are widely used to describe the epidemiology of communicable disease, occurrence of sexually transmitted infections may be misrepresented by under reporting. Reporting of cases of notifiable sexually transmitted infections is important in the planning and evaluation of disease prevention and control programs, in the assurance of appropriate medical therapy, and in the detection of common-source outbreaks.

This study was carried out to examine the relationship between case-reporting of notifiable sexually transmitted infections in the Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System and the medical diagnosis recorded in Health Management Information System, of Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley.

Methods: Data on reported cases of notifiable sexually transmitted infections, in the geographical area covered by Arco Ribeirinho Health Centre Assembly, from January 2015 to December 2017, were obtained from the Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System at Arnaldo Sampaio Public Health. Data regard medical diagnosis in the same geographical area and time period were achieved in Health Management Information System, of Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley.

Results: From 2015 to 2017, 167 cases of sexually transmitted infections were notified in Arco Ribeirinho Health Centre Assembly. Twenty-eight percent of cases were syphilis, 25.7% of cases were gonorrhea, 18.5% of cases were VIH and 27.7% of cases were notified with at least one other STI. Most of reported cases were observed in Alto Seixalinho (27.5%), Baixa da Banheira (19.1%), and Montijo-Afonsoeiro (16.1%) counties.

Of 487 STIs medical diagnosis, 92 were reported to the National System Epidemiological Surveillance, corresponding to 65.7% of underreporting. The majority of these under-reported cases were for VHB and VHC (92.2%) and VIH (80.9%).

Conclusion: This study underlines the need to increase the percentage of STIs notified to the Health Authority.

Background: Studies relating cigarette smoking and body weight yield conflicting results. Weight-lowering effects in women and men have been associated with smoking, however, no effects on weight have been proven. This study examined the association between cigarette smoking and relative weight in adolescent males and females as they age into young adults.

Methods: Data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-a nationally representative survey conducted annually-was used for this analysis. The sample consists of 4,225 males and females observed annually from 1997 at age 12 to 17 through 2011 at age 27 to 31. Hierarchical Generalized Models (HGM) assesses the impact of smoking on the likelihood of having higher BMI controlling for demographic, household and environmental impacts. The second estimation considers the possibility that smoking is endogeneous and utilizes a multinomial instrument (IV) for smoking level.

Results: HGM models reveal a negative association between cigarette smoking and BMI for both males and females. Individuals who smoke more have lower BMI compared to infrequent or non-smokers. General health rating, region of residence and income were used instrument for smoking in a linear two-stage IV specification. The instrument is highly correlated with BMI and results mirror the HGM. Finally, models run on early, middle and advanced adolescents show that the relationship diminishes over time. The relationship between BMI and smoking decreases as female’s age, but increases for males.

Conclusion: Empirical models confirm an association cigarette consumption and BMI in both males and females. This negative relationship varies with age. It is important to identify health risks-obesity-and modifiable risk factors-smoking-that contribute to health disparities among adolescents. However, the increase in one risky behavior leading to the decrease in the prevalence of the other complicates the issue. The higher prevalence of frequent cigarette uses among both adolescents and young adults of lower BMI suggest that smoking could be used curb or suppress appetite.

This brief note reviews the major risk and preventative factors discovered so far. The purpose of the note is to bring the awareness of active health aging, prevention strategies and potential treatments.