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Whooping cough epidemic on North Coast of New South Wales

Health officials on the North Coast of New South Wales say there is now an epidemic of whooping cough in the region and they are advising young children and those who have close contact with them to be vaccinated.

5 Jul 2009

Antibiotic prescribing should be standardized across Europe to help tackle resistance

Antibiotic prescribing for respiratory illnesses should be standardised across Europe to help reduce inappropriate prescribing and resistance, say experts in a study published on bmj.com.

24 Jun 2009

Forget swine flu - whooping cough far more of a worry!

Queensland Health authorities say there has been a surge in the number of whooping cough cases in far north Queensland - according to health officials there have been 205 cases of the disease in the state's far north already this year, seven times higher than the same time last year and Dr. Steven Donohue at the Tropical Population Health Service is warning parents to have their children immunised.

24 Jun 2009

HIV antibody tests unreliable for early infections in teens

A previously healthy teenager shows up at the doctor's office with a sore throat, fever, aches and general malaise. Routine blood tests are normal, an HIV test comes back negative, and the pediatrician sends the patient home with a diagnosis of acute viral infection.

21 Jun 2009

Eleven accused of scamming Medicare in Michigan

Eleven people were charged in an indictment unsealed on Thursday with "scamming Medicare to get painkillers," the Associated Press reports.

5 Jun 2009

Drug-resistant tuberculosis a very real threat in the Pacific region

Health officials in the Pacific are concerned about two new strains of tuberculosis - multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) - both strains have been found to be resistant to the two most powerful drugs that have been used to treat tuberculosis (TB) for the past five decades.

5 Jun 2009

A pandemic of human fear and anxiety

Is a flu pandemic looming and if so should we worry? It is now 41 years since we experienced the last pandemic of flu and many think that we are overdue for the next one. But have we over-reacted to the present outbreak of swine flu?

1 Jun 2009

A broken trust: lessons from the vaccine–autism wars

Researchers long ago rejected the theory that vaccines cause autism, yet many parents don't believe them. Can scientists bridge the gap between evidence and doubt?

27 May 2009

Unvaccinated children 23 times more likely to get infected with whooping cough

Children of parents who refuse vaccines are 23 times more likely to get whooping cough compared to fully immunized children, according to a new study led by a vaccine research team at Kaiser Permanente Colorado's Institute for Health Research.

26 May 2009

Doctors often miss whooping cough diagnosis in teens

Doctors can do a better job of diagnosing whooping cough among teens, an age group with a growing incidence of the illness, according to a University of Michigan study.

19 May 2009

Self-treatment lowers overall health care costs for chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder sufferers

Individuals suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) can experience significant savings in healthcare costs by employing a self-treatment program with the judicious use of medications, according to the results of a new study. The self-treatment program achieves these savings by reducing the duration of flare-ups.

17 May 2009

The latest news on swine flu

The latest update (# 26) from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that as of the 12th of May 2009, 30 countries have officially reported 5,251 cases of influenza A (H1N1) infection.

13 May 2009

Simple interventions could contain flu spread – focus on children

Although many have touted strategies from travel avoidance to Tamiflu to halt the spread of H1N1 flu or swine flu, a large body of evidence from the Cochrane Library suggests that concentrating on children's hygiene might be the best way to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses.

12 May 2009

DASH diet to lower blood pressure also reduces women's risk of heart failure

The DASH diet was initially developed to help patients lower their blood pressure, but a large study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) demonstrates that women who followed the diet also significantly reduced their risk of developing heart failure.

12 May 2009

Pioneering new tests and treatments for tackling airways disease highlighted

Pioneering new tests and treatments developed in Leicester for people with conditions like asthma and chronic cough are to be presented at a public event at the University of Leicester.

7 May 2009

World Health Organisation says wash your hands and sing 'Happy Birthday' twice to avoid swine flu

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) as of the 2nd May 2009, 16 countries have now officially reported cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection (swine flu).

3 May 2009

So far Australia clear of swine flu

According to Queensland's Chief Health Officer, although more cases of suspected swine flu have been reported in the Queensland, to date the state and the nation remain free of the disease.

29 Apr 2009

Swine flu - All you need to know

Swine influenza or Swine flu is a respiratory disease commonly found in pigs which is caused by type A influenza virus - it causes high levels of illness in pigs but low death rates and while swine flu viruses may circulate among swine throughout the year, most outbreaks occur during the autumn and winter months similar to flu outbreaks in humans.

29 Apr 2009

Tijuana injection drug users on collision course for HIV and tuberculosis

A study by researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with Mexican researchers and health officials, shows that as many as 67 percent of injection drug users in Tijuana test positive for tuberculosis (TB) infection.

15 Apr 2009

OncoGel: New system for delivering chemotherapy for patients with esophageal cancer

Gastroenterologists at Rush University Medical Center are studying the safety and efficacy of a new system for delivering chemotherapy for patients with esophageal cancer, a rare, but deadly disease that attacks the throat.

15 Apr 2009