Health Scares: Tracing Their Nature, Growth and Spread

Background

Health scares are highly publicised threats to health that increase public concern and protective behaviours but are later shown to be unfounded. Although health scares have become more common in recent times, they have received very little research attention. This is despite the fact that health scares often have negative outcomes for individuals and community by affecting health behaviours and causing high levels of often unnecessary anxiety.

Method

In this paper we undertook a review and analysis of the major types of health scares as well as the background factors associated with health scares and their spread.

Results

We found most health scares fell into seven main categories; environmental contaminants, food, malicious incidents, medical treatments, public health interventions, radiation from technology and exotic diseases. For most health scares there are important background factors and incident characteristics that affect how they develop. Background factors include conspiracy theories, trust in governmental agencies, anxiety, modern health worries and wariness of chemicals. Incident characteristic include being newly developed, not understood or unseen, man-made rather than natural and whether the incident is out of personal control. We also identified the aspects of traditional and social media that exacerbate the rapid spread of health scares.

Conclusion

More research is needed to identify the characteristics of media stories that intensify the levels of public concern. Guidelines around the media's reporting of health incidents and potential health threats may be necessary in order to reduce levels of public anxiety and the negative public health impact of health scares.

Water fluoridation in Australia: A systematic review

Water fluoridation is considered a safe and effective public health strategy to improve oral health. This review aimed to systematically summarize the available evidence of water fluoridation in Australia, focusing on the history, health impacts, cost effectiveness, challenges, and limitations. A systematic search was conducted on the Ovid Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest Central, Cinahl, and Informit databases to identify literature on water fluoridation in Australia. A grey literature search and backward snowballing were used to capture additional literature. Primary studies, reviews, letters, and opinion papers were included in the quantitative analysis and summarized based on the year of publication and geographical location. The data were extracted from primary studies and summarized under three subheadings: history, community health impacts and the limitations and challenges. Water fluoridation in Australia was first implemented in 1953 in Tasmania. Most states and territories in Australia embraced water fluoridation by 1977 and currently, 89% of the Australian population has access to fluoridated drinking water. Studies report that water fluoridation has reduced dental caries by 26-44% in children, teenagers, and adults, benefiting everyone regardless of age, income, or access to dental care. It has been recognized as a cost-effective intervention to prevent dental caries, especially in rural and low-income areas. Water fluoridation as a public health measure has faced challenges, including political and public opposition, implementation and maintenance costs, access and equity, communication and education, and ethical concerns. Variations in research activities on water fluoridation across Australian states and territories over the last seven decades can be due to several factors, including the time of implementation, funding, and support. Ongoing monitoring and research to review and update optimal fluoride levels in drinking water in Australia is warranted to ensure sustainable benefits on oral health while preventing any adverse impacts.

External control of water fluoridation in a small municipality of northeast of Brazil

Abstract Introduction Fluoridation of public water supply is an important measure in the prevention of dental caries. Objective This study aimed to monitor the fluoride (F) concentrations of a public water supply with water fluoridation program in a small municipality in the Northeast region of Brazil. Material and method It is a quantitative study with a descriptive approach. Three points of the urban area were selected for collecting water samples twice a month for 12 months. The average of F concentrations was calculated considering these three samples of each collection point at the same occasion. F concentrations in the water samples were determined by potentiometry and the results were classified according to the criterion proposed by criterion set down by Collaborating Center of the Brazilian Ministry of Health for Oral Health Surveillance. The samples were classified according to the best risk-benefit adjustment (0.55 – 0.84 mg F /L). Result Less than 10% of the samples were within the ideal range. Conclusion It was observed that water fluoridation in this municipality was interrupted since many water samples showed f-levels below the minimal acceptable values.