Life

Who is Zika?

QUEZON City, Philippines (February 8) – Who is Zika? It is actually not a person but a virus.  Borne by mosquitoes, Zika causes mild fever, skin rash (exanthema), conjunctivitis (sore eyes) and muscle pain. These symptoms normally last for 2-7 days. Its name derived from the Zika forest in Uganda, where scientists first identified in 1940’s. The virus was associated with birth defects in Brazil. Since the start of 2015, Brazil has recorded 4,000 cases of […]

Twitter suspends over 125,000 accounts for ‘promoting terrorist acts’

  TWITTER Inc said on Friday (February 5) it had suspended over 125,000 accounts since mid-2015 for “threatening or promoting terrorist acts, primarily related to ISIS.” Reuters said the microblogging service provider said in a blog on Friday that it had increased the size of the teams that review reports of such activity, reducing the response time significantly. The company said it was seeing results, including an increase in account suspensions and “this type of […]

Brain scan detects depression during childhood

MASSACHUSSETS, United States of America – The Massachussets Institute of Technology is using a new type of brain scan imaging to find out if children are predisposed to depression. Said scan discovered that there are differences in neural pathways that will help in the early detection of what could later be a serious psychological disorder. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Dexter Magno/Aniway Acosta and Uploaded by Vince Alvin Villarin)

Florida declares public health emergency due to Zika virus

FLORIDA, United States of America – Florida added another county under public health emergency due to the Zika virus, bringing up the number of counties affected in Florida to five. In Brazil, two cases of Zika virus were recorded due to blood transfusion. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Dexter Magno/Aniway Acosta and Uploaded by Vince Alvin Villarin) https://youtu.be/tfQYjDcxLMU

Unsanitary conditions in slums provide breeding grounds for mosquitos spreading Zika virus

Unsanitary conditions in Brazil’s slum areas are provided potential breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes that can transmit viruses including Zika and dengue. In the city of Recife, capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, ditches are found with waste water and even other garbage discharged by local residents, with foul smells given out from time to time. Algae and weeds have grown in the water, and rat carcasses as well as other floating garbage […]

Maynilad intensifies anti-dengue campaign

MAYNILAD Water has intensified its anti-dengue campaign by holding series of workshops in its concession areas for some 1,000 families to help curb dengue cases in Metro Manila with the use of a simple ‘Do-It-Yourself Anti-Dengue Mosquito Trap.’ Maynilad, together with the Department of Health (DOH) and Y&R Philippines, will visit 10 barangays in Muntinlupa, Parañaque and Quezon City to teach families how to prepare the anti-dengue mosquito trap. The workshops are being conducted in barangays […]

Several provinces may experience drought this February

According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), 13 provinces in Mindanao, 13 provinces in Visayas and three provinces in Luzon will experience drought while 15 provinces will experience dry spell this February due to the effects of El Niño. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Dexter Magno, Uploaded by MRFaith Bonalos) https://youtu.be/HcJW_TPUbjI

Zika virus could be tackled by transgenic mosquitoes, says Panama institute

RESEARCHERS in Panama have developed a possible strategy to combat the spread of the Zika through the release of sterile male mosquitoes to combat population numbers of the virus-carrying insect. The Gorgas Institute for Health Studies (ICGES) in Panama came across the idea last year when they were doing research on the Aedes aegypti mosquito to tackle dengue and chikungunya. According to the findings, the release of genetically-modified Aedes aegypti male mosquitoes into the female population […]

Beard bacteria could lead to new antibiotics

THE looming crisis of antibiotic resistance means diseases that were once easily treatable are becoming deadly again. The over-prescription of antibiotics for conditions that don’t require them is spurring resistant mutations leading to so-called superbugs – multi-drug-resistant infections that can evade the medicines designed to kill them. “What we’ve done as a human species is to basically coat the world in antibiotics by our overuse and inappropriate use. So, we’ve selected for these resistance mechanisms in […]

Indian biotechnology firm working on two possible Zika vaccines

Indian biotechnology firm Bharat Biotech based in southern Hyderabad city, said on Wednesday (February 3) it was working on two possible vaccines to fight the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects in thousands of babies in Brazil. The virus is spreading rapidly in the Americas, and WHO officials on Tuesday (February 2) expressed concern that it could hit Africa and Asia as well. No vaccine has been developed so far. Chairman and […]

Smart band-aids on the horizon

Wearable electronics will revolutionize the way doctors diagnose and treat patients, according to researchers at MIT, who are developing stretchable hydrogels that share many of the same properties of human tissue. “Hydrogel is a polymer network infiltrated with water. Even though it is only 5 to 10 percent polymer, this network is extremely important,” said Xuanhe Zhao, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The polymer network Zhao and […]

Improper waste management causes green house gases

The Provincial Environment Management Office (PEMO) in Negros Occidental said that improper waste management is one of the factors that causes the production of greenhouse gases in the country. Engr. Jocy Mar Victorino, Senior Environmental Management Specialist, said greenhouse gases can mainly be attributed to sources of energy, gasoline from vehicles and pollution, but improper waste management also contributes nine percent of the greenhouse gases that are emitted. Improper waste management can lead to biodegradable […]