A research review of common travel vaccines published in the Journal of Travel Medicine has found high-quality evidence that the flu vaccine and the Tdap vaccine are safe for both pregnant women and their babies, as well as moderate- or low-quality evidence suggesting there are no safety issues with vaccines against meningococcus, yellow fever, rubella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rabies and polio. "For other vaccines, such as MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), typhoid, polio, Japanese encephalitis, and tick- borne encephalitis vaccines, no safety data during pregnancy are available," Dr. Roni Nasser and colleagues wrote.

A study in Science Translational Medicine showed that infants with HIV who received antiretroviral therapy within an average of seven hours after birth had reduced levels of HIV-infected cells compared with those whose ART was started at a median of four months post-birth. Levels of HIV-infected cells among infants treated immediately were also lower than levels among adults treated with ART for a median of 16 years.

A study in the Journal of Pediatrics that looked at trends in births in baby-friendly hospitals and sudden unexpected infant deaths in the first six days after birth between 2004 and 2016 has determined that the implementation of hospital-based breastfeeding initiatives, including skin-to-skin care, is associated with decreased rates of infant deaths. "We now recognize that evidence-based maternity care practices to support breastfeeding are associated with a decreased risk of neonatal death," said study co-author Lori Feldman-Winter.

A retrospective study presented at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting based on data from 2,683 screening mammograms found that an artificial intelligence system had a sensitivity ranging from 76.1% to 99.3% for screen-detected cancers at recall rates between 4% and 50%, and researchers were able to set their own recall rate. Meanwhile, the ACR released a guide that includes a list of AI software approved by the FDA to help radiologists choose which type of software to use when conducting breast cancer screening exams.

An analysis of federal data and medical literature from 1959 to 2017 found US life expectancy increased from 69.9 to 78.9 over almost six decades, but it has been dropping since 2014 as mortality rises among middle-aged Americans, particularly in economically depressed areas. The increase in mortality was attributed to drug overdoses, suicides, alcohol abuse and diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, according to the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The House of Representatives approved a bill that proposes measures to protect nurses and social workers from workplace assaults. The bill would give the Occupational Safety and Health Administration one year to create an interim standard on employers regarding workplace violence.

A new report by the consultancy group Vital Transformation suggests that implementation of the proposed Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 sponsored by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to reduce the cost of drugs in the US may result in a decrease in the number of new medicines developed for patients in the next 10 years.

The number of births among US women ages 15 to 44 dropped by 2% from 2017 to 2018, marking the fourth straight year of declines, with teen birth rates down by 7% and the general fertility rate at its lowest level on record, according to a report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.

The World Health Organization said measles cases continue to increase worldwide, particularly in Africa, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East, with 440,263 confirmed cases for the year as of Nov. 5, compared with about 350,000 last year. The Democratic Republic of Congo is among the hardest hit countries, with over 250,000 suspected cases this year, including 5,110 fatalities.