Here are 10 articles on some of the most interesting medical research study findings and advancements from the week of June 6.
1. The Zika virus directly infects cells that are destined to form into neurons, according to a new study published in Cell Reports. Read more.
2. Recent research shows even if a hospital has a high patient safety culture score, as determined by employee surveys, it does not mean the hospital has seen improvement in infection rates. Read more.
3. Using publicly available Hospital Compare and Medicare data, the authors of a recent study in The Milbank Quarterly revealed a considerable range of hospital-level performance on quality, expenditure and value measures. Read more.
4. Researchers in Singapore have developed a new material shown to kill 99.7 percent of E. coli bacteria in seconds, while also attacking bacterial cell membranes, which prevents new antibiotic-resistant strains from growing. Read more.
5. Two Brazilian research groups have predicted, separately, that the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro could bring about as few as 15 or 16 Zika infections, despite transmission of the virus in Brazil. Read more.
6. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., and the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester found a novel body-worn hand hygiene system increased handwashing compliance in a recent study. Read more.
7. Ebola transmission through sexual contact can occur up to seven months after the virus has been absent from the blood, which could hinder epidemic control strategies and reignite outbreaks, according to research in Biology Letters. Read more.
8. Three in four patients who presented in an emergency department with symptoms of gonorrhea or chlamydia and treated with antibiotics actually tested negative for the sexually transmitted diseases, according to research out of St. John Hospital & Medical Center in Detroit. Read more.
9. New research shows when hospitals post gross pictures depicting bacteria on healthcare workers' hands at their hand-washing stations, hand hygiene compliance increases. Read more.
10. The State University of New York's University at Buffalo is working to make a vaccine based on disease prevention instead of bacteria eradication. Read more.