GENEVA (Reuters) – Some 6,000 people in Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo are believed to be infected with yellow fever, six times the number of confirmed cases, but no new infections have been confirmed since July 12, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. Around 7.7 million people were vaccinated over 10 days in a major campaign in the Congo capital of Kinshasa, Oyewale Tomori, chair of WHO’s Emergency Committee, told a news conference. […]
Health
Study finds flaws in criticism of St. Jude cyber security
By Ransdell Pierson (Reuters) – University of Michigan researchers on Tuesday said their own experiments undermine recent allegations of security flaws in St. Jude Medical Inc’s pacemakers and other implantable medical devices. Shares of St. Jude fell 5 percent on Thursday after short-selling firm Muddy Waters and its business partner, cyber security company MedSec Holdings Inc, alleged finding significant security bugs in the company’s Merlin@home device for monitoring implanted heart devices. They said the flaws […]
Singapore Zika cases surge to 82
Singapore, Singapore (AFP) – The number of Zika cases in Singapore has surged to 82, the government said Tuesday, as the mosquito-fighting effort continued in a bid to curb the spread of the disease. Singapore’s Ministry of Health and National Environment Agency confirmed 26 new local infections — the majority around the eastern Aljunied suburb where most of the other cases have been clustered. Many of the initial cases were foreign workers on a condominium […]
Australia, Taiwan, South Korea issue travel warnings for Singapore
By Marius Zaharia SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia, Taiwan and South Korea advised pregnant women and those attempting to get pregnant to avoid travel to Singapore after an outbreak of the Zika virus infected more than 50 people in the city-state. The outbreak and the warnings come as a potential blow to tourism in one of the world’s busiest travel hubs, which is already struggling to recover from a slump amid tepid global growth. Singapore […]
Singapore confirms 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus
(Reuters) Singapore has confirmed 41 cases of locally transmitted Zika virus, mostly among foreign construction workers, and said it expected more cases to be identified. All but seven of those infected had fully recovered, the Health Ministry and the National Environment Agency said in a statement on Sunday. The seven remain in hospital. On Saturday, authorities confirmed a 47-year-old Malaysian woman living in southeastern Singapore as the city-state’s first case of a local transmission […]
After backlash, EpiPen maker to help reduce patient costs
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) -by Douglas Gillison The embattled manufacturer of EpiPens said Thursday it would help extreme allergy sufferers meet the costs of the life-saving devices after a five-fold price hike sparked outrage. Mylan NV, which holds a near-monopoly on the manufacture of the epinephrine injectors, said it would expand existing programs to defray out-of-pocket costs but did not say it would lower prices. After a series of price hikes, a pack of two […]
Being overweight linked to eight more kinds of cancer
MIAMI, United Estate (AFP) — Being overweight can raise the likelihood of being diagnosed with cancers of the stomach and digestive tract, as well as certain brain and reproductive tumors, international researchers said Wednesday. A report in the New England Journal of Medicine adds eight more kinds of cancer to the list of those already known to be more likely among overweight people. In 2002, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Cancer on Research […]
How to cope in a heat wave
EUROPE (AFP) — Advice for elderly people, children and adults for avoiding heatstroke and dehydration as parts of Europe face a heatwave.
DOH: Give children the best milk in the world
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — Reiterating the need to breastfeed, the Department of Health in Region 10 reminds mothers to put their babies interest first. Dr. Jocelyn P. Torrecampo of DOH during the “Talakayan sa PIA” media forum held in Cagayan de Oro city on 19 August said pregnant women should do breast feeding because it’s the best milk, “while it’s economically wise, it gives the best start and protection to infants,” she added. […]
Most fatal type of stroke declining along with smoking rates
By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – The type of brain bleeding that causes the most lethal kind of stroke has declined substantially since 1998, possibly as a result of falling smoking rates, according to researchers in Finland. Bleeding in the space between the brain and the thin tissue covering it, known as subarachnoid hemorrhage, affects fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. each year and represents about 10 percent of all strokes. About 50 percent […]
Zika spreads to Miami Beach, U.S. expands travel warning
By Zachary Fagenson and Julie Steenhuysen MIAMI/CHICAGO (Reuters) – Federal health officials on Friday warned pregnant women not to travel to trendy Miami Beach after Florida confirmed that the mosquito-borne Zika virus was active in the popular tourist destination. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also suggested that pregnant women who are especially worried about exposure to Zika – which has been shown to cause the severe birth defect known as microcephaly […]
Local Zika spreads to tourist hotspot Miami Beach
MIAMI, United States (AFP) – by Leila MACOR Kerry SHERIDAN Five new cases of Zika have been found in the tourist hotspot of Miami Beach, signaling the spread of local transmission of a virus blamed for birth defects, officials said Friday. Pregnant women and those who want to become pregnant are urged to stay away from two areas — a 1.5 square mile (3.9 square kilometer) section of Miami Beach and a neighborhood north of […]
