Influenza, or flu, and air pollution are significant public health risks that impact nations around the world with large economic consequences. The authors of this paper show that increased levels of air pollution significantly increase the rate of hospitalisation for people with flu. In addition, they find that protection afforded …
Once again there is a food safety scare. A deadly strain of E coli bacterium has hit Germany, where it has taken the lives of 25 people and affected another 2,300 till date. German food inspectors on the trail of the source of contamination have as yet made two errors—blaming …
TILL swine flu panic gripped the world, washing hands was considered the best way to maintain personal hygiene and protect oneself from diseases. But as fear of the disease spread, so did hand sanitisers. They became a prefered choice because of their mobility and convenience. All you need to do …
CHILDREN and adolescents injected with a swine flu vaccine could be at an increased risk of a sleeping disorder, warned a study. Made by multinational pharma firm GlaxoSmithKline, Pandemrix vaccine was used in 47 countries, including India, during the swine flu outbreak in 2009-10. Finland’s National Institute for Health and …
THREE Indian organisations have successfully developed H1N1 detection kits which give results in an hour and cost between 1,000 and 2,000. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Imperial Life Sciences and Ocimum Biosolutions have individually manufactured these kits. V M Katoch, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, …
AWAY from the conference rooms of climate talks, developed countries have begun arm-twisting developing countries to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. Sasan, a coal-based project of Reliance Power, almost lost out on funding from a US-based lending agency (See: US bank uses carbon smokescreen). Earlier in the year, power …
Hypotheses about the genesis of novel H1N1 influenza (the pandemic strain of swine flu) range far and wide. Some public health and epidemiology experts are taking a fresh look at concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) , which they say provide ideal conditions that facilitate the mutation of viral pathogens into …
