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Found! - mutant viruses that laid NSW low with gastro

New mutant viruses responsible for gastroenteritis outbreaks in New South Wales in recent times have been identified by research published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the US Centers for Disease Control.

27 Jun 2005

Scots outline their priorities for health in new BMA survey

Cleaner hospitals are the top priority for Scots according to the results of a poll released by the British Medical Association (BMA), Sunday 26 June 2005. However bottom of patients' list of priorities was to have a choice for where they can have an operation.

26 Jun 2005

Nitromed heart drug designed for blacks wins U.S. approval

A new heart drug designed specifically for blacks has been approved by U.S. officials.

26 Jun 2005

Team of experts sent to Vietnam to study bird flu risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sent a team of international experts to Vietnam to study whether the H5N1 bird flu virus could be evolving into a form that might trigger a human pandemic.

26 Jun 2005

Most children with infective conjunctivitis (pinkeye) do not need treatment with an antibiotic

One in eight school children have an episode of conjunctivitis every year. This amounts to more than 1 million episodes in the UK and more than 5 million in the USA. Diagnosis of the condition is usually straight forward but doctors find difficulty in differentiating a viral cause from a bacterial cause.

21 Jun 2005

Fish may help prevent heart failure as well as heart attacks

Older people who ate fish once or twice a week had a 20 percent lower risk of developing congestive heart failure during 12 years of follow-up, according to a new study (PDF) in the June 21, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

21 Jun 2005

Worldwide cost of Alzheimer's disease and dementia estimated at $156 billion

The first estimate of the worldwide direct costs of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia care was released at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on the Prevention of Dementia. As a result, scientists, advocates and those affected by the disease are calling for increased funding for research and support services.

21 Jun 2005

Safety warning on Internet drugs

Thousands of men in the UK buy “lifestyle drugs” such as erectile dysfunction medication, weight and hair loss products from websites and are oblivious to the fact that some (not all) of the websites belong to unscrupulous vendors.

21 Jun 2005

Expert says the world is not ready for the next pandemic

Michael T. Osterholm is Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, Associate Director of the Department of Homeland Security's National Center for Food Protection and Defense, and Professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health.

21 Jun 2005

Obesity is associated with an impairment of coronary circulatory function

A team of University of California, Los Angeles researchers found that positron emission tomography (PET) can provide important information on the relationship between heart function and obesity. Their findings were reported at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 52nd Annual Meeting June 18–22 in Toronto.

20 Jun 2005

Acting violently could be protective against the effects of community violence

Researchers have known for some time that violent adolescents tend to become more depressed over time than other adolescents. And young people living in violent neighborhoods also are more subject to depression. But violent adolescent boys who also live in unsafe neighborhoods where they witness violent acts do not appear to get as depressed.

20 Jun 2005

Finding may impact understanding of mechanical facets of many diseases

An international team led by Jeffrey J. Fredberg, professor of bioengineering and physiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, has found that the cell modulates its mechanical properties in much the same way as a glassblower shapes fine glassware.

20 Jun 2005

Inexpensive tests can be used to decide who needs HIV treatment in poor countries

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chiang Mai University in Thailand, evaluated the ability of inexpensive biological markers, which are obtainable in resource-poor countries, to determine which HIV-infected patients are in the greatest need of antiretroviral therapy.

20 Jun 2005