Health

Early cholesterol treatment lowers heart disease risk: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — Treating younger people with high cholesterol levels may help reduce their risk of heart attack or stroke in later life, a major study showed Wednesday. Described as the “most comprehensive” review of its kind covering almost 400,000 patients over more than 40 years, the study in The Lancet said its findings on the link between cholesterol levels and ill health “may be particularly important in people under 45 years.” A summary […]

Samoa’s measles death toll rises to 20

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — The death toll from a measles epidemic in Samoa has risen to 20 as the outbreak rages out of control, with hundreds of new cases emerging daily, official data released Friday showed. The government said there were 1,644 cases, with 202 diagnosed since Thursday, most affecting young children. It said the number of deaths had hit 20, including 19 children aged under four years old. An additional 11 children are […]

Canadian vaping study details danger from ‘popcorn lung’ chemical

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A 17-year-old Canadian nearly lost his lungs after five months of intensive vaping, but the ingredient suspected of doing the damage, diacetyl, is different from the substance US authorities blame for dozens of deaths. The case, described Thursday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), deepens the mysteries surrounding e-cigarettes, which have grown so popular US President Donald Trump earlier this week backed away from a proposed ban on certain […]

New York sues e-cigarette firm Juul for targeting youngsters

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York on Tuesday became the second state this week to sue Juul, the United States’ largest electronic cigarette manufacturer, for illegally targeting minors with its marketing campaigns. The lawsuits come as the vaping industry faces intense scrutiny over an epidemic of lung ailments linked to e-cigarette use that has killed more than 40 people and sickened more than 2,000 in recent months. The New York action, which […]

E-cigarettes: five things to know

  by Olivier THIBAULT Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — E-cigarettes have become hugely popular in the past decade but a rash of vaping-linked deaths and illnesses is feeding caution about a product, already banned in some places. On Thursday an 18-year-old man died in Belgium in a vaping-linked death, the first such case in the country. Here are five things to know about electronic cigarettes. – Around for two decades – Early designs […]

Two treated for deadly pneumonic plague in Beijing

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Two people in Beijing have been diagnosed with the pneumonic plague — a rare instance of the highly-contagious disease that is fatal if left untreated. The two individuals were being treated at a central hospital in China’s capital city — home to over 21 million inhabitants — on Tuesday, local authorities said. Pneumonic plague can prove fatal in 24 to 72 hours and is the “most virulent form of plague,” according […]

WHO prequalifies first Ebola vaccine

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it had prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time, hailing a “critical step” towards its licensing, access and roll-out in countries most at risk of outbreaks. “This is the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO,” it said in a statement, explaining that “prequalification means that the vaccine meets WHO standards for quality, safety, and efficacy.” The announcement comes hot on […]

E-cigs may damage the heart, study says

by Elizabeth DONOVAN PARIS, France (AFP) — Vaping devices and the chemicals they deliver — increasingly popular among teens — may damage the cardiovascular system, a study said Thursday, adding to a growing chorus of concern over injury and deaths related to e-cigarettes. The latest findings, published in the journal Cardiovascular Research, come after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month declared an “outbreak of lung injuries” linked to vaping. “E-cigarettes contain […]

Garbage crisis brings cholera to Yemen’s historic Taez

TAEZ, Yemen (AFP) — Mounds of stinking garbage line the streets of Yemen’s historic city of Taez, once renowned as one of the most beautiful places in the country, but now torn apart by war. The city in the highlands of southwestern Yemen has become a breeding ground for mosquitos as well as deadly outbreaks of diseases like cholera, as decaying refuse leaches into waterways. Yemen, long the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has […]

Researchers move closer to new vaccine for killer TB

  by Glenda KWEK Agence France Presse HYDERABAD, India (AFP) — Scientists said Tuesday they are closing in on a new game-changing vaccine for tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest infectious disease that claimed some 1.5 million lives last year. A chronic lung disease that is curable, TB was one of the top 10 killers worldwide last year, particularly in developing countries. The existing Bacille-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine — licensed for humans in 1921 — is only proven […]

1-in-3 young children undernourished or overweight: UNICEF

by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — A third of the world’s nearly 700 million children under five years old are undernourished or overweight and face lifelong health problems as a consequence, according to a grim UN assessment of childhood nutrition released Tuesday. “If children eat poorly, they live poorly,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, unveiling the Fund’s first State of the World’s Children report since 1999. “We are losing ground in the fight […]

FIFA to organize ‘big event’ in fight against AIDS, malaria and TB

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) — FIFA are organizing an event to raise funds and awareness to tackle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, their president Gianni Infantino told AFP on Friday. Infantino said the idea was in response to Thursday’s announcement that governments, philanthropists and private firms had pledged just over $14 billion for a plan to save 16 million lives. The money was promised at a replenishment meeting in Lyon, France, of the Global Fund to Fight […]