Antibiotic-resistant pathogens, or “superbugs,” infect at least 2 million people each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those infected, about 23,000 people die.

Now, in an effort to stir research and development of new antibiotics, the World Health Organization (WHO) has published a list of 12 families of superbugs that pose the greatest risk to human health.

“Antibiotic resistance is growing, and we are fast running out of treatment options,” warned Marie-Paule Kieny, a WHO official, in a February statement announcing the list.

Researchers at the global health organization identified top-priority pathogens by considering deadliness, length of hospital stays for infected patients, antibiotic resistance, the risk of contagion (including between animals and humans), available treatment options, and whether researchers are already developing new antibiotics to treat them.

The WHO experts determined the most urgent need is for new antibiotics able to kill superbugs that are resistant to multiple drugs and cause dangerous illnesses such as pneumonia or blood infections. People usually acquire such pathogens in hospitals and nursing homes or from medical devices.

Researchers also listed as “high” or “medium” priority those pathogens that are growing drug-resistant and that cause more common illnesses, such as gonorrhea or salmonella food poisoning.

Evelina Tacconelli, chair of the WHO committee, said the superbug list is meant to encourage “governments and research groups working in antibiotic development to set the right research priorities that will reduce the burden of antibiotic-resistant infections globally.”

Brain bond

Like mothers, dads experience hormonal changes after the birth of a baby that activate brain areas promoting caregiving and bonding, a phenomenon affirmed by new research from Emory University.In women, the brain releases oxytocin during labor and nursing to facilitate uterine contractions, milk production, and bonding with the infant. Men also produce an increased level of oxytocin after the birth of their child. Previous studies have shown that men treated with oxytocin play longer with their babies and are more responsive to them.

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In the latest study, published Feb. 1 in Hormones and Behavior, researchers administered an oxytocin nasal spray to 30 fathers of toddlers. They then performed brain scans while the men looked at various pictures of their toddlers, of similar-aged toddlers, and of unfamiliar adults. They also performed similar scans without using the oxytocin spray. The results showed that when the men received oxytocin, brain regions involved in attention and empathy showed heightened activity while they viewed pictures of their own children—though not while they viewed pictures of other children or unknown adults.

Fake-sun fallout

In the United States in 2015 there were nearly 263,600 cases of skin cancer caused by tanning devices. Still, 25,000 tanning salons dot the country—and 30 million people use them each year.

The societal cost of these skin cancers is huge: According to a study published Feb. 28 in the Journal of Cancer Policy, the cost of treatment for various skin cancers attributable to tanning devices exceeds $343 million annually in the United States. Adding other costs and lost lifetime productivity, the total estimated economic loss tops $127 billion. “Our calculations are all conservative, so this is the lower end of the estimate,” said Hugh Waters, one of the authors.

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