Smokers who make the decision to quit will experience immediate health benefits, including a rapid reduction in their risk of atrial fibrillation (A-Fib), according to new research published in JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology. The study, conducted by Dr. Gregory Marcus, a cardiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, offers compelling evidence for smokers to quit, showing that it’s never too late to avoid the damaging effects of smoking on heart health.

Dr. Marcus, the senior author of the study, emphasized that A-Fib can be prevented even in individuals who have smoked for years. "The findings provide a compelling new reason to show current smokers that it’s not too late to quit, and that having smoked in the past doesn’t mean you’re ‘destined’ to develop A-Fib," Marcus explained. "Even for the current and longtime smoker, A-Fib can still be avoided."

What is Atrial Fibrillation (A-Fib)?

"There’s strong evidence that smoking increases the risk of A-Fib," Marcus said. "But the benefits of quitting smoking have been less certain." With this in mind, his team sought to determine whether quitting could significantly lower a person’s risk of developing A-Fib, or if the risk would remain the same.

The research team analyzed data from over 146,700 current and former smokers, tracking their smoking habits and health over a 12-year period using data from the UK Biobank database. The results were promising: former smokers had a 13% lower risk of developing A-Fib compared to current smokers, while those who quit during the study saw an 18% reduction in their risk.

"This is likely a testament to the potency of reducing atrial fibrillation risk pretty shortly after quitting," Marcus said in a statement from the American College of Cardiology.

The findings highlight the importance of quitting smoking, not only for general health but specifically for reducing the risk of serious heart conditions like A-Fib.

Tips for Quitting Smoking

Quitting smoking is one of the most effective ways to lower the risk of A-Fib and improve overall heart health. While it can be challenging, the benefits of quitting are clear and immediate. Here are some tips to help you quit smoking successfully:

1. Choose a specific date to quit smoking and stick to it. Prepare yourself mentally and physically for this change.

2. Reach out to family, friends, or a support group to help keep you accountable. Sharing your goals with others can provide encouragement.

3. Options like nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges can help ease withdrawal symptoms and reduce cravings.

4. Identify situations that make you want to smoke, such as stress or social gatherings, and find healthy ways to cope with them.

5. Regular exercise can help distract you from cravings and improve your mood during the quitting process.

6. Drinking water can help flush nicotine out of your system faster, reducing cravings.

7. Activities like yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises can help manage stress, a common trigger for smoking.

Quitting smoking offers immediate and significant benefits, particularly in reducing the risk of atrial fibrillation. The latest research provides smokers with more motivation to quit, showing that it's never too late to take control of their heart health.

Shigellosis, an intestinal infection caused by Shigella bacteria, is becoming harder to treat as drug-resistant strains spread in the US and UK.

Although the infection can spread through contaminated food and water, sexually transmitted Shigella has become an established part of transmission in some communities, particularly among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM).

An estimated 450,000 people acquire shigellosis each year in the US. While the infection can affect anyone, some strains have developed resistance to multiple antibiotics, making treatment increasingly challenging.

Drug-Resistant Shigella Rising In The US

A CDC analysis published in April 2026 found that extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Shigella isolates increased in the US between 2011 and 2023. Among 16,788 isolates analyzed, the proportion classified as XDR rose from 0% in 2011–2015 to 8.5% in 2023.

The CDC report found that 86.2% of XDR shigellosis patients with available sex data were men. However, sexual exposure information was not routinely collected, so the findings do not establish that these infections were sexually transmitted.

Molecular biologist Shangxin Yang said healthcare workers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), are now seeing roughly one case of extensively drug-resistant Shigella a month, compared with just one case throughout 2022.

"It's almost like an explosion of this pathogen in the community," Yang told CIDRAP News at the University of Minnesota.

The CDC has warned that XDR Shigella infections pose a treatment challenge because these strains are resistant to multiple antibiotics, and no FDA-approved oral antimicrobial treatment is available for them.

Sexually Transmitted Shigella Spreading Faster In The UK

A July study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found that sexually transmitted Shigella strains are spreading faster than non-sexually transmitted strains in the UK and developing resistance to key antibiotics.

Over an evolutionary period of about 2.5 years, sexually transmitted strains spread an average of 117 kilometers between related cases, compared with 46 kilometers for non-sexually transmitted strains.

“Many men who have sex with men are unaware of the serious and increasing risk posed by sexually transmitted Shigella,” said Professor Kate Baker, senior author of the study from the University of Cambridge's Department of Genetics.

Baker said sexually transmitted shigellosis should be treated as a distinct public health threat requiring different surveillance, prevention and treatment strategies.

Why Is Sexually Transmitted Shigella Becoming Drug-Resistant?

Cambridge researchers found that antibiotic-resistant sexually transmitted Shigella strains were spreading 71% faster than drug-susceptible strains. More than 70% of sexually transmitted strains were resistant to at least one clinically important antibiotic.

“This isn’t just one form of sexually transmissible diarrhea. This is multiple overlapping variants emerging that are all quickly becoming resistant to the drugs we use to treat them,” Baker said.

They believe the rise in resistance may partly be driven by antibiotics prescribed to treat or prevent other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhea.

“Our evidence suggests that the variants of Shigella transmitting in sexual networks were actually getting resistant against treatments for other STIs, like gonorrhoea, so people need to remember that when they’re taking antibiotics they’re treating their whole body,” Baker said.

Another possible factor is bystander resistance, in which antibiotic exposure affects bacteria other than the intended target and can favor the survival and spread of resistant bacteria.

How To Prevent Sexually Transmitted Shigella

Precautions to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted shigellosis include:

• Avoiding sexual activity during illness: Do not have sex while experiencing diarrhea or recovering from a recent diarrheal illness.
• Waiting before resuming sexual activity: Wait at least two weeks after fully recovering before having sex again.
• Telling your healthcare provider about possible exposure: Mention your sexual history if you seek care for diarrhea or related symptoms.
• Asking about testing: Seek advice on appropriate testing and sexual health screening if you may have been exposed.

People experiencing symptoms should seek medical advice. Because some Shigella strains are resistant to multiple antibiotics, treatment should be guided by a healthcare professional, who can determine the appropriate approach based on the infection and its resistance profile.

As the US measles outbreak nears 4,000 cases and five deaths amid concerns over vaccine hesitancy, the new CDC director Erica Schwartz says the MMR vaccine is “absolutely safe.”

The US has reported 3,887 confirmed measles cases in 2026, with 95% occurring among unvaccinated people or those with unknown vaccination status, according to CDC data as of October 1. The outbreak has also claimed five lives in Pennsylvania, all reportedly among unvaccinated people.

As of October 5, Pennsylvania has reported 1,004 measles cases, including 198 hospitalizations and five deaths. Lancaster County alone has recorded 391 cases. The outbreak is the worst recorded in the US since the major measles resurgence between 1989 and 1991.

This week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared a statewide disaster emergency after the state recorded 108 measles cases through October 3. Of these, 92 cases were reported since July 15 across 18 counties, particularly in under-immunized rural communities.

CDC Director Calls MMR Vaccine ‘Absolutely Safe’

“If there's one vaccine that parents should be talking to their health care providers about in terms of immunizing their children, the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine is absolutely safe, absolutely effective,” said Erica Schwartz, speaking at the WSJ’s Future of Health event.

“We want to make sure that we're constantly telling Americans that the MMR vaccine is safe.”

Measles is a highly infectious disease that can be prevented with vaccination. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are recommended for children, while some adults may also need additional doses depending on their vaccination history and risk.

Measles was considered eliminated in the US since 2000. However, the country could lose that status as cases continue to rise. The Pan American Health Organization is expected to decide in November whether the US has lost its elimination status.

The Trump administration and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have faced criticism over their anti-vaccine stance and policies amid the measles resurgence. More recently, President Donald Trump announced a proposal to separate the MMR vaccine into individual shots, which experts have warned could have consequences.

Meanwhile, Schwartz attributed the rise in measles infections across the US to declining herd immunity, saying, “the herd immunity within this country and other nations is lower than ever before.”

“And so because of that herd immunity, we really want it to be about 95%. I think we're hearing 87% in some communities, 98% in other communities. Because the herd immunity is lower, that's why we're seeing this resurgence of measles.”

Schwartz Says Vaccine Hesitancy Is A Global Issue

The recently appointed CDC director also noted that while the US is nearing 4,000 measles cases, there have been more than 45,000 cases of measles in Mexico and Guatemala. She attributed it to global rise in vaccine hesitancy.

“So it's not just a United States issue; it's an international issue. And I think the key critical issue is that there is vaccine hesitancy not just within the United States, but we're seeing that vaccine hesitancy throughout the world. Again, my premise is that all happened around COVID, where we were seeing folks who were just not trusting vaccines in general,” Schwartz said.

“We were finding that children were not getting vaccinated because they were not going to school during that time frame. So there's a number of reasons why we're seeing this increase in measles,” she said, adding that “people are conflating their concerns about all vaccines; all vaccines are bad.”

Schwartz also defended Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr., and said he has always maintained that the MMR vaccine is safe and effective.

“I think what people get confused is that the secretary does represent the voices of a number of Americans who are asking the questions about certain vaccines. [...] And so there's this shared decision-making that the secretary is very focused on to say, why aren't we having conversations with parents, with people that may have some concerns about vaccines, rather than saying it's an all-or-nothing premise,” she said.

Plague is highly treatable if caught early, newly appointed CDC Director Erica Schwartz said, adding that the US is monitoring travelers arriving from Siberia following the reported death of a worker in Russia.

Speaking at the WSJ’s Future of Health event, Schwartz said the risk to the US from an unconfirmed case of pneumonic plague in Siberia was extremely low. She noted that the reported illness involved Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague.

“It’s a bacterial disease, a very serious bacterial disease. The one good thing is that it’s a treatable, highly treatable bacterial disease with common antibiotics that most physicians within the United States can utilize,” Schwartz said.

“This is a disease that is spread person to person through respiratory droplets, but as I said, if we can identify cases early, they’re absolutely treatable,” she added.

Read More: Russia Plague Scare: Could It Trigger A New Pandemic? Experts Explain

Schwartz said the CDC was prepared to monitor and screen travelers, particularly those arriving from Russia. She also discussed steps public health officials are taking to ensure Americans are protected from a potential threat linked to the reported case in Russia.

“There are about 200 flights that come into the United States from Siberia, that region. We are working with Department of Homeland Security, working (with) Department of State, Department of War, and other agencies within the government to make sure that we know exactly if anyone from that area comes into the United States,” Schwartz said.

She said flights from Siberia, where the plague-linked Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute is located, typically arrive at JFK International Airport.

“We have a port health station set up in JFK so that we can do appropriate surveillance and screening if anyone from that area comes into the United States. So we’re very well positioned to make sure that we are protected from a potential threat like that,” Schwartz said.

An HHS spokesman said about 200 individuals per year from the Siberian region travel to the United States. Direct flights between Russia and the United States have been suspended since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.

Also Read: Russia Plague Scare: Is Pneumonic Plague Deadlier Than Bubonic & Septicemic Plague?

Russia Plague: What We Know So Far

Russia has reportedly seen two deaths allegedly linked to pneumonic plague. One was Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old laboratory technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute. The identity of the other person remains unknown.

Shipilova fell ill on September 29, was placed on a ventilator, and died on October 2. Around 200 contacts were reportedly placed under medical observation after she allegedly told doctors that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria.

However, Russian authorities maintain that Shipilova died from “unidentified pneumonia”. Authorities said tests of her contacts found no dangerous infectious-disease pathogens, although some reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 or rhinovirus.

Russia has also denied reports of a second death linked to plague, calling them “fake news”.

In a statement published by Russian news agencies, the regulator denied what it called “fake information circulating on social media regarding a second case of illness”.

It said it had completed checks on all contacts of the dead woman, adding that “no health issues related to an infectious disease were detected” and that nearly 5,000 laboratory tests showed no dangerous pathogenic microorganisms, Reuters reported.

US President Donald Trump and Senator Rand Paul have publicly criticized Russia’s handling of the situation, with Trump calling it a “big problem for Russia” and Paul accusing Russia of not fully cooperating with international health authorities.