HealthDay (5/23, Preidt) reports that “nearly two-thirds of American adults who use electronic cigarettes want to quit using the devices, a new study” published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research suggests. The “examination of data from a representative sample of [e-cigarette] users found that more than 60% said they want to quit using the devices, and 16% said they planned to quit in the next month.” Over “25% said they’d tried to quit using e-cigarettes in the past year.” The piece adds that study author Rachel Rosen said, “The strategies that people reported using to quit e-cigarettes include many of the strategies we recommend for quitting traditional cigarettes, such as FDA-approved nicotine replacement products or medications, counseling, and social support.”

Study gives insight into how superbugs “outsmart” antibiotics

The Los Angeles Times (5/23, Baumgaertner) reports a new study published Thursday in the journal Science gives insight into how superbugs “repel” modern medicines. Researchers found that a “two-part system allows bacterial cells to stay alive until another bacterium can deliver a lifeline, packaged in a snippet of DNA.” According to the article, “now that scientists understand the mechanics of plasmid transfers, they can try to create new treatments that attack the multidrug efflux pumps that allow resistance to spread.”

Texas legislature passes tobacco 21 legislation

The Dallas Morning News (5/21, Selby) reports that “only Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature is required for Texas to join more than a dozen states in requiring purchasers of cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to be 21 years old.” The state Senate agreed on Tuesday “to House changes and sent Abbott a bill that would raise the legal sales age for such products from 18.” The bill includes “an exception for young members of the armed services.”

Azar blames complacency with public health for decline in vaccination rates

The Washington Examiner (5/21, Morrison) reports that on Tuesday, HHS Secretary Alex Azar “blamed falling vaccination rates...on not just misinformation but also unwarranted satisfaction about the public’s health.” During an address to the World Health Organization’s World Health Assembly in Geneva, Azar said, “Vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving. ... But around the world, complacency among the public, coupled with misunderstanding and misinformation, is causing vaccination rates to decline, with tragic results,” noting that “insurgent groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread misinformation about the Ebola vaccine. Terrorists in Pakistan do the same, preventing children from receiving the polio vaccine.” Azar also indicated that “HHS has ramped up education programs in an effort to dispel conspiracy theories about vaccinations among hesitant parents.”

Cholesterol levels in U.S. children, teens have improved, study suggests

The AP (5/21, Tanner) reports, “Cholesterol levels in children and teens improved in the latest analysis of U.S. health surveys, yet only half of them had readings considered ideal,” researchers concluded after looking at “1999-2016 government surveys of 26,000 kids aged six to 19 who had home interviews, physical exams and lab tests.” The study revealed that approximately one in four teenagers and one in five “younger children had unhealthy levels of at least one of type of blood fat, including cholesterol and triglycerides.” The findings were published in JAMA.