More than 42 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 59 are infected with genital human papillomavirus, according to the first survey to look at the prevalence of the virus in the adult population. The report, published by the National Center for Health Statistics, found that high-risk strains of the virus — a cause of cervical and vaginal cancers, and cancer of the penis, as well as cancers of the anus and throat in both sexes — infect 25.1 percent of men and 20.4 percent of women. The virus is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact; people who are infected may pass the virus to sexual partners. Researchers also found that 7.3 percent of Americans aged 18 to 69 are infected with oral HPV, and 4 percent are infected with the high-risk strains that can cause cancers of the mouth and pharynx.

Whooping cough vaccine in pregnancy

Pregnant women should be sure to get the tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (Tdap) vaccine during pregnancy, since it is highly effective in protecting newborns against pertussis (whooping cough) in the first two months of life, a new study found. Infants can receive a version of the vaccine when they are 2 months old, but until then they are unprotected against whooping cough. Researchers followed 148,981 babies born to mothers in a large health maintenance organization in California between 2010 and 2015 until they were 1 year old. About a quarter of the mothers were unvaccinated when their babies were born. Of the 103 cases of whooping cough in infants that were reported after one year, 80 were in babies of mothers unvaccinated during pregnancy. The observational study is in Pediatrics.

Trans fats ban linked to fewer heart attacks

Local bans on artery-clogging trans fats in restaurant foods led to fewer heart attacks and strokes in several New York counties, a new study suggests. The study hints at the potential for widespread health benefits from an upcoming nationwide ban, the authors and other experts say. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2015 gave the food industry until next year to eliminate artificial trans fats from American products. New York City enacted a restaurant ban on the fats in 2007 and several counties in the state did the same. Hospital admissions for heart attacks and strokes in those areas declined 6 percent starting three years after the bans, compared with counties without bans. The results translate to 43 fewer heart attacks and strokes per 100,000 people, said lead author Dr. Eric Brandt, a Yale University cardiology fellow. His study was published in JAMA Cardiology.

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