WHO suspends vaccine by Sanofi-Aventis subsidiary

2010-03-17T10:30:22Z

<div><p>The U.N. health agency said Wednesday it has suspended its approval of a vaccine against tetanus and four other diseases produced by Sanofi-Aventis SA subsidiary because of a white substance forming inside some vials.</p><p>The World Health Organization and th...

Women prefer hunks, but don't trust them:Study

2010-03-16T20:17:34Z

<div><p>Scientists report that women living in countries with worse rates of disease and ill health are far likelier to plump for "masculine"-looking men than "feminine"-looking rivals.</p><p>Psychologists from Scotland's University of Aberdeen tested a theory that masculine traits in men are a sign of genetic health.</p><p>If true, this ...

Theory about masculine traits tested in UK study

2010-03-16T19:16:03Z

<div><p>In a study published on Wednesday, scientists report that women living in countries with worse rates of disease and ill health are far likelier to plump for "masculine"-looking men than "feminine"-looking rivals.</p><p>Psychologists from Scotland's University of Aberdeen tested a theory that masculine traits in men are a sign of genetic healt...

What is Influenza?

2010-03-16T14:16:34Z

Most people have symptoms for about one to two weeks and again no problem. But with most other viral respiratory infections such as colds, influenza (flu), the infection can be compared to a serious illness, death rate (death rate) from 0.1% of the virus that causes an infection.<br><br>Influenza is transmitted when an infected person sneezes or coughs in the public places, like market, shoping mall, bus, trains etc.The particles pass through the air, where they infect, with whom ...

Global swine flu toll reaches 16,713: WHO

2010-03-12T08:15:51Z

<div><p>Swine flu has claimed at least 16,713 lives around the world since it was first uncovered in Mexico and the United States last April, the World Health Organisation said Friday.</p><p>The pandemic, which has spread to 213 countries and territories, has since waned in much of

Do needle-exchange programs really work?

2010-03-11T10:45:19Z

<div><p>NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Needle-exchange programs designed to cut injection drug users' risk of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and other infections do seem to reduce needle sharing, but there is only limited evidence that they lower disease transmission, a new research review concludes.</p><p>Reporting in the journal Addiction, researchers say that based on their study -- an analysis of five pr...

WHO unveils landmark anti-malaria measures

2010-03-09T10:16:38Z

<div><p>The World Health Organisation unveiled Tuesday landmark new measures to counter the misuse of anti-malaria drugs, which is threatening attempts to stifle some 250 million cases a year of the disease.</p><p>The UN health agency recommended that all suspected cases of the mosquito-borne disease should be tested and diagnosed b...

Not more quakes, just more people in quake zones

2010-03-08T15:00:24Z

<div id="subtitle">Worsening quake problem not below ground, but above; more people, poor buildings, more deaths</div><div><p>First the ground shook in Haiti, then Chile and now Turkey. The earthquakes keep coming hard and fast this year, causing people to wonder if something sinister is happening underfoot.</p><p>It's not.</p>&...

H1N1 seen lying low, then rising again in Europe

2010-03-08T11:17:26Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Europe is unlikely to see another wave of pandemic H1N1 flu soon but local epidemics are likely as winter returns to the Northern hemisphere, health officials said on Monday.</p><p>The European Center for Diseas...

Cambodia drug-resistant malaria stirs health fears

2010-03-06T16:15:21Z

<div><p>PAILIN, Cambodia (Reuters) - In a dusty village near the Thai-Cambodia border, 24-year-old Oeur Samoeun sits on a dark green hammock recovering from a strain of malaria that has resisted the most powerful drugs available.</p><p>Ravaged by days of fever and chills, he is considered lucky: the parasite has left his body. But for many others, the potentia...

Nigeria, key to wiping out polio in Africa, makes gains

2010-03-05T09:53:36Z

<div><p>GENEVA (Reuters) - Nigeria, seen as the key to wiping out polio in Africa, has made impressive gains against the disease in the year since religious leaders backed vaccination, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.</p><...

WHO: over 85M African kids get polio vaccination

2010-03-05T05:30:12Z

<div id="subtitle">WHO: polio vaccination for over 85 million children starts in 19 African countries</div><div><p>The World Health Organization says more than 85 million children under 5 in west and central Africa will be vaccinated against polio.</p><p>The agency says the massive vaccination campaign in 19 countries by Reuters) - North Korea has reduced deaths from surgery and among women in childbirth under a program funded by South Korea that is building trust across the divided peninsula, the World Health Organization (WHO) said...

WHO: Korean cooperation boosting health in north

2010-03-04T07:00:41Z

<div id="subtitle">WHO official says Korean cooperation is boosting medical services in the north</div><div><p>North Koreans are getting better medical treatment as the result of a joint program between the two Koreas that has trained thousands of doctors, provided modern equipment and renovated hospitals, the World Health Organization said Thursday.</p><p>Maternal mortality has ...

Mexico detects first mutation of swine flu

2010-03-03T17:15:51Z

<div><p>Mexican officials said Wednesday they have confirmed the first mutation of the A(H1N1) flu virus in a girl who survived the infection.</p><p>Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova told Mexican journalists that the case was the first confirmed mutation of the swine flu virus, though there were 423 other suspected cases.</p><p>He said the girl was treated two months ago at a hospital in

UN: Many children die in road accidents

2010-03-02T13:00:56Z

<div><p>Road accidents are the leading cause of death for youths from ages 5 to 29 and nearly half of the 1.2 million traffic fatalities each year are pedestrians, bikers and motorcyclists, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.</p><p>The study finds that more than 90 percent of the fatalities occur in developing nations, and in some of the poorer nations as many as four-fifths of those...

"Big Tobacco" still on the march, WHO warns

2010-02-26T13:50:19Z

<div><p>GENEVA (Reuters) - Governments must do more to protect workers in bars, restaurants and the entertainment sector from harmful smoke, and curb tobacco advertising and sponsorship, the World Health Organization said on Friday.</p><p>Developing countries are the new frontier for tobacco companies, which often target women...

S.Africa winter raises World Cup swine flu risk

2010-02-26T10:17:12Z

<div><p>The World Cup kicks off at the height of South Africa's winter, bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors during peak flu season and raising concerns aboout a resurgence of swine flu.</p><p>The H1N1 strain has killed nearly 16,000 people, proving less lethal than regular flu despite the global alarm.</p><p>But health minister

World health chief slams tobacco industry 'bullies'

2010-02-26T10:17:09Z

<div><p>World Health Organisation chief Margaret Chan on Friday accused "ruthless, devious" tobacco companies of bullying as she battled attempts to stimulate smoking in poor nations.</p><p>In a speech marking the fifth anniversary of an international convention on tobacco control, Chan said she would not allow the tobacco industry to...

Everyone in U.S. should get flu vaccine: experts

2010-02-25T12:15:50Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Everyone in the United States over the age of six months should get seasonal influenza vaccines every year, federal vaccine advisers said on Wednesday.</p><p>The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice...

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