Toronto reports first two West Nile deaths of 2005
|
|
Toronto on Tuesday reported two deaths related to the West Nile Virus, the first for three years in Canada’s largest city.
The city said a 63-year-old man and a 90-year-old man died over the weekend from West Nile, which is carried by birds and transmitted to humans by mosquito bites.
Eritea wants US help despite asking USAID to go
|
|
Eritrea voiced hope on Wednesday that its request for the US government’s overseas development agency to leave the poor Red Sea state would not bring the end of aid from its biggest food donor.
In July, Eritrea asked the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to stop working in the drought-stricken country, one of the most food aid dependent nations in the world, saying it was uncomfortable with the agency’s activities.
Cholera kills 33 in remote northwest Nigeria
|
|
At least 33 people have died and hundreds have been hospitalized following an outbreak of Cholera in the remote northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, officials said on Wednesday.
The victims, including women and children, died over the past three days in three villages in the Sabon Birni district, officials said.
British doctors’ performances beat expectations
|
|
Britain’s family doctors are delivering a high quality service that beats expectations, health experts said after the launch on Wednesday of a new database providing details of how GP surgeries are performing.
The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) measures general practitioners (GPs) performances on a range of issues such as appointment times and tackling common chronic diseases like Diabetes Mellitus or coronary Heart Disease.
S. Korea says it found carcinogens in Chinese fish
|
|
South Korea officials said on Wednesday they were stepping up inspections of imported Chinese freshwater fish after finding cancer-causing chemicals in some fish sent from the country.
The Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) said in a statement released on Tuesday it had found the carcinogens malachite green and leucomalachite in some imported Chinese carp available at a local wholesale market.
Chiron says British flu vaccine plant passes test
|
|
Chiron Corp., which last year suspended U.S. sales of its flu vaccine because of contamination problems at its plant in England, on Wednesday said it hopes to supply the vaccine in the 2005-2006 flu season following a favorable inspection of the plant by U.S. regulators.
The U.S.-based company’s manufacturing license for its Fluvirin vaccine was withdrawn last October because of contamination problems at the factory in Liverpool, depriving the United States of almost half the nation’s anticipated flu vaccine supply.
Access to morning-after pill poor in hospital ERs
|
|
The results of a new survey show that the availability of Emergency Contraception, also referred to as the “morning after pill,” to prevent unintended Pregnancy is limited in hospital emergency departments in the US, regardless of circumstances or affiliation with the Catholic Church.
Posing as female patients, trained interviewers telephoned emergency department staff at all 597 Catholic hospitals in the US and 615 non-Catholic hospitals to inquire about the availability of Emergency Contraception.
Poland says EU should help Russia fight bird flu
|
|
Poland called on the European Union to help Russia stop the spread of deadly bird flu, which Polish veterinary services said on Tuesday could be brought to the country by wild birds within weeks.
Fears of a global outbreak of the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu have grown after the virus spread from Asia into eastern Russia and Kazakhstan. Health experts fear it could mutate into a form that spreads from person to person.
School-based program keeps girls active after class
|
|
A school-based program designed to increase high-school girls’ physical activity levels may have benefits that extend beyond school hours, new study findings show.
Girls who participated in the school-based intervention were more likely to report engaging in vigorous physical activity in the months after the program ended than were girls who did not participate in the intervention.
Dutchwoman, “world’s oldest person”, dies aged 115
|
|
The world’s oldest person on record, a Dutchwoman who swore by a daily helping of herring for a healthy life, died on Tuesday aged 115.
Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, a former needlework teacher born on June 29, 1890, died in her sleep at a nursing home in the northern Dutch town of Hoogeveen.
Firm recalls John Morrell sausages for food risk
|
|
Lykes Meat Group voluntarily recalled 35,830 lbs (16,300 kgs) of Polish sausage sold under the John Morrell brand that may have been under-processed, a U.S. food safety agency said Tuesday.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said consumers face the risk of foodborne illness when meats are not processed properly. FSIS said it had no reports of illnesses from the recall. Lykes Meat, based in Plant City, Florida, discovered the problem and began the recall on Monday.
Volkswagen uses game to fight AIDS in South Africa
|
|
The game the school children are playing in this South African town looks like Trivial Pursuit. But the subject is anything but trivial.
The boardgame was created by Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) - a subsidiary of German car maker Volkswagen - to teach children about HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Pregnancy.
US official defends “morning-after” pill delay
|
|
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt on Monday defended the Food and Drug Administration’s delayed ruling on over-the-counter access for a “morning-after” pill, saying officials never guaranteed a “yes or no” decision by this week.
On Friday, the FDA postponed a ruling on Barr Laboratories’ Plan B emergency contraception because it said officials are unsure how to enforce a prescription requirement for younger girls while easing access for women over 16.
Trafficking of women, children on rise worldwide-UN
|
|
Human trafficking is on the rise worldwide, with millions of women and children ending up as sex slaves, beggars and mine laborers each year, U.N. officials said on Tuesday.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, speaking at an Asia-Pacific human rights conference in Beijing, called trafficking in humans horrendous.
Fast food “clusters” seen around schools
|
|
Most Chicago kids have a wide array of fast food options waiting for them just a few minutes’ walk from school, a new study shows.
This means kids from kindergarten to high school have easy access to high-fat, low-nutrition snacks and meals before, after and even during school, Dr. S. Bryn Austin of Children’s Hospital in Boston and her colleagues report. And it isn’t just a Chicago problem, Austin told Reuters Health; she expects the situation is similar in urban centers nationwide.
