Epilepsy Burns, A Global Tally of Stillbirths, and Medical Illustrations
November 8, 2024
Editors' Note
On Tuesday, the United States reelected Donald Trump to become the country's forty-seventh president. What Trump's second term means for global health remains to be determined. CFR Senior Fellow David P. Fidler's analysis of Project 2025 could hold some clues. Other hints come from announcements made at the Republican National Convention and presidential debates earlier this year.
Breaking away from U.S. election coverage, a group of authors from ReSurge International unpacks the complex intersection of epilepsy management and burn injuries in low- or middle-income countries where many households rely on open fires for cooking, heat, and as light sources.
Next, researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation highlight their new study, which estimates stillbirths down to 20 weeks' gestation—an earlier cutoff point than what is typically used in global assessments. They found approximately 3 million stillbirths occurred globally in 2021 after that gestation point, averaging about 8,328 stillbirths per day or one every 10 seconds.
Hopping over to Latin America, physician Rômullo José Costa Ataídes outlines how deforestation and climate change are contributing to the region's recent Oropouche—or "Sloth Fever"—outbreak.
Arun Cacodcar, a high school senior and member of the Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council, then describes the dangers targeted advertisements pose to youth mental health and urges lawmakers to raise the cutoff age for internet data collection.
Wrapping up the issue, journalist Lance Roller II interviews medical illustrators about their career paths and the importance of representation in textbooks.
Until next week!—Nsikan Akpan, Managing Editor, and Caroline Kantis, Associate Editor
Three illustrators discuss how including more images of people of color can help providers recognize how diseases manifest across various body types and skin tones
