The number of lives lost due to viral hepatitis infections is increasing and already accounts for 3,500 deaths daily, according to this report by the World Health Organization (WHO). This is the first consolidated WHO report on viral hepatitis epidemiology, service coverage and product access, with improved data for action. …
KATHMANDU, Sept 18: Nepal has become the first ever country, among the 11 South East Asian countries, to use the latest antidote to Polio, Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV). Nepal is honored with this title after Minister for Health and Population, Khagaraj Adhikari, handed over the vaccine for administering to a …
An improperly mixed or possibly sabotaged measles vaccine has killed as many as 50 children in insurgent-held areas of northwestern Syria, volunteer medical organizations and physicians reported Wednesday, forcing the suspension of a large-scale United Nations vaccination campaign intended to stop the spread of measles, rubella and polio. The victims, …
The `peanut safe syringe' will be available in the commercial market, four years after it was invented. The state pollution control board (PCB) and the department of health has approved its commercial launch, and its inventor, Dr Baby Manoj, has approached HLL Lifecare for its mass production. The peanut safe …
THE lucky ones are admitted to a health centre. They arrive bleeding, in taxis, on foot, in wheelbarrows and sometimes in ambulances. Mostly there is little help available and patients are dying alone, lying on the ground and lucky to receive even palliative care. Médecins Sans Frontières, a medical charity …
Last year, Israel's polio-free status was seriously challenged. On May 28, 2013, a sample obtained during routine supplementary environmental surveillance at a sewage-treatment plant in the South district tested positive for wild poliovirus type 1. Additional analyses retrospectively confirmed that the virus had already been present in February 2013 in …
Scientists may have developed an effective vaccine for the Ebola virus after one shot of an experimental immunization gave monkeys long-term protection from the deadly disease. One shot of a vaccine made from two Ebola virus gene segments in corporated into a chimpanzee cold virus vector (called chimp adenovirus type …
Renowned Virologists and President of Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) Prof. Oyewale Tomori Monday hinted that the much expected breakthrough in Ebola cure and vaccine may not be ready until January or February 2015. Tomori, who just returned from experts' summit on Ebola disease in Geneva, Switzerland, said necessary guidelines …
PESHAWAR: Health authorities are gearing up to start vaccination campaigns in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) following emergence of two new polio cases in the Khyber Agency and one in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) on Wednesday. The National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, confirmed that three more unvaccinated children …
LAHORE: The government of Punjab is spending around Rs 4,000 on every child for vaccination against polio, measles and other diseases. Punjab Health Services Director Dr Munir Ahmed said this on Sunday. He said that parents should cooperate with vaccinators who had been serving the people by putting their lives …
Using both types of polio vaccine could speed up efforts to free the world of the disease, research suggests. The oral vaccine is leading the fight to eradicate polio, but trials in India show an additional injection of inactivated virus boosts immunity. The World Health Organization said the findings, published …
A new vaccine in its first human trials may offer protection against the chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne infection that causes fever and severe joint pain, researchers reported Thursday in The Lancet. As of June 13, there were an estimated 166,000 suspected cases in the Caribbean and South America. Last month, …
JAIPUR: The percentage of fully immunized children in the age group 12-23 months has increased noticeably in the state, points out the recently released annual health survey (AHS) 2012-13. The percentage of fully immunized kids has increased to 74.2% from 69% in state. On the flip side, there are several …
IN EASTERN Sierra Leone the roads are unusually quiet. Checkpoints manned by heavily armed soldiers have blocked all movement to and from the districts of Kailahun and Kenema. The main road to Freetown, the capital, is travelled by just a few motorbikes and cars carrying supplies. In Kenema, a usually …
Unicef and the World Health Organization yesterday began a four-day campaign to try to vaccinate 4 million children for polio in Iraq, a difficult task in a region ravaged by fighting. More than 600,000 children have been displaced by conflict, as fighters from Islamic State, an insurgent al-Qaeda offshoot in …
The death toll of adults suffering from Japanese encephalitis in the state is being considered exceptional in the global context. Japanese encephalitis mostly affects children and young infants, but the anomalous case of adults contracting it in Assam has compelled researchers and health experts to admit that proper evaluation and …
With an aim to reduce under five mortality rate, the Union health ministry is all set to introduce Pentavalent vaccine in the National Immunisation programme in 11 high burden states. The move will reduce the injection load as a single shot of the vaccine has antigens of five diseases — …
Before the allegations of polio vaccine contamination a decade ago, Nigeria's polio eradication initiative (PEI) was affected by traditional barriers such as inadequate funds, poor coverage, poor supervision, broken cold chains, and lack of community mobilization and ownership. However, after the allegations of contamination of the vaccine with HIV, carcinogens, …
Disease spreads to south Bengal claiming two lives in Bankura, Murshidabad With over 200 deaths reported because of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in West Bengal, the State government has urged the Centre to allow it to go in for adult vaccination programme to arrest the disease. …
The Arunachal health department said it has taken steps to prevent the spread of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in the state and is closely monitoring the current situation. The department requested people to be calm and cooperate in vector-control. Explaining that the treatment of JE is symptomatic and medicines are available …
