Bubonic plague, the deadly scourge that wiped out half of Europe during the Middle Ages, still lurks in pockets of the globe, new research suggests.

Although plague is now rare in Europe, it recently sickened more than 10,000 people in Congo over a decade, and cases still occasionally emerge in the Western United States, according to a study published Sept. 16 in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

The plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis, had lain dormant in China’s Gobi Desert for centuries. But in the 1300s, it emerged with a vengeance, fanning out via trade routes from Asia to Europe and killing millions of people along the way. The plague was transmitted by fleas harbored by rats, which flourished in the overcrowded, filthy cities of the Middle Ages. By the end of the 1500s, between a third and half of Europe’s population had died from the Black Death. [Pictures of a Killer: Plague Gallery]

Even during the 1900s, the plague still killed millions of people, but since then, the advent of better hygiene in cities and swift treatment with antibiotics has reduced this erstwhile killer into a rare disease.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/bubonic-plague-kills-thousands_n_4005495.html

Britain will contribute one billion pounds ($1.5 billion) to the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and Malaria over the next three years, said Justine Greening, international development secretary at the UN.

The investment, she said, showed Britain was leading the way in international aid and claimed the contribution would save a life every three minutes, Daily Express reported Tuesday.

The aid will fund lifesaving anti-retroviral therapy for 750,000 people living with HIV, 32 million more insecticide-treated nets to prevent the transmission of malaria and TB treatment for over a million people.

The Global Fund was created in 2002 as a public private partnership to raise funds to significantly change the course of HIV/AIDS, TB, and Malaria. Britain is the third largest donor, after the US and France.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly meeting, Greening said: “AIDS, TB and Malaria are among the world’s biggest killers despite being entirely preventable and treatable.

“The Global Fund has already helped save millions of lives but we must keep up the momentum if we are to beat these diseases for good.

“It is in all our interests to help people live longer, healthier, more productive lives so we all need to play our part in working towards a world free of HIV/Aids, Malaria and TB.”

Source: http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=253733131

Delhi Health Minister A.K. Walia Tuesday launched the second round of annual de-worming in schools, expected to cover 3.6 million children in the national capital.

The first round of mass deworming was carried out in February 2012 and covered 2.7 million school children.

“The second round of deworming will cover children in anganwadi, government, municipal and cantonment schools. Deworming tablets or syrups will be given to pre-school children. There will also be a mop-up day for those who miss the first day,” said a statement.

The deworming program of the Delhi government was launched last year and is aimed at providing free and comprehensive health services to all school age children in the capital.

Non-governmental organization Deworm the World Initiative that has launched similar programs in 37 countries around the world, is giving technical support and donating drugs to the program.

Soil-transmitted worms are the commonest infestations in pre-school and school age children from poor communities. These infestations lead to anaemia, malnutrition, retarded physical and mental development, etc.

Regular deworming is the most effective way of immediately reducing worm burden and relieving children of the diseases.

Source: Business standard.com

                        If you hear a lot of sneezing this fall, it may be coming from Wichita.

Wichita ranked No. 1 in the 2013 Fall Allergy Capitals report, out Tuesday from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). The report compares the most challenging U.S. cities to live in for people with fall allergies.

The primary allergy trigger this fall will be ragweed pollen, says the not-for-profit organization, based in Landover, Md. It says outdoor mold also will be a problem because it continues to grow and is likely to be spread by fall weather and wind patterns.

The foundation looked at the 100 most populated, consolidated metropolitan statistical areas in the continental USA. The ranking is based on pollen scores, number of allergy medications used per patient, and number of board-certified allergists per patient. The report was sponsored by Dymista, a prescription nasal spray for relief of allergy symptoms.

An interactive map of the 100 cities is available at www.allergycapitals.com, along with resources for patients and doctors.

After Wichita, the highest-ranked cities are Jackson, Miss., and Knoxville, Tenn.

The top cities are “places where ragweed thrives,” says Mike Tringale, vice president of external affairs at AAFA. “In addition, there is some crossover — some grasses are still pollinating.”

A couple of major metropolitan areas jumped in the ranking. Dallas climbed from No. 26 last fall to No. 18 this fall, and Detroit moved up nine spots, to No. 19.

“Ragweed grows in urban areas, such as in cracks in sidewalks, along sides of roads and on roofs of buildings,” Tringale says.

“AAFA encourages the approximately 40 million Americans who suffer from seasonal allergies to learn more and consult an allergy specialist for proper diagnosis and treatment of seasonal allergy symptoms,” he says.

The ranking is not meant to get people packing their bags, he says. “Don’t move; improve. Improve your understanding of your diagnosis and your treatment. Improve your knowledge about how to avoid allergy triggers and reduce allergens in your home.”

“Allergies are bad everywhere,” says Michael Kaliner, medical director of the Institute for Asthma and Allergy, which has offices in Chevy Chase and Wheaton, Md. “If allergies are left untreated or treated with the wrong medication, it can cause some serious complications.”

Top 10 worst cities for fall allergies

1. Wichita

2. Jackson, Miss.

3. Knoxville, Tenn.

4. Louisville

5. Memphis

6. McAllen, Texas

7. Baton Rouge

8. Dayton, Ohio

9. Chattanooga, Tenn.

10. Oklahoma City

Source: USAtoday.com

In the next few weeks thousands of young people will be starting university – and many of those will be embarking on a new life away from home.

For students like Helen Kitley, 21, from Kent, going to university in Southampton meant more than just learning to do her own washing and cooking.

It entailed coping with a severe allergy to hazelnuts, which almost put her off the whole idea of living in student accommodation.

It seems reckless to me not to take it [Epipen] with you. I bring it everywhere because I just don’t think it’s worth the risk.”

Helen Kitley

“Every student kitchen has Nutella in it – students are nuts about it – but for me it was like a little pot of poison looking at me.”

Severe allergic reactions, known as anaphylaxis, are very dangerous and can be fatal. There are thought to be about 20 deaths every year in the UK from anaphylaxis – and five of those result from food allergies.

‘Reckless’

But according to a survey of 500 young people aged 15 to 25, carried out by the charity Anaphylaxis Campaign, more than a third said they don’t always carry their life-saving adrenaline with them.

Adrenaline auto-injectors, such as Epipens, are the only effective emergency treatment for anaphylaxis which can be used as soon as the allergic reaction takes hold, while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

For Helen, her adrenaline pen is something she is never without.

“It seems reckless to me not to take it with you. I bring it everywhere because I just don’t think it’s worth the risk.

“I don’t always know where I will be eating so it’s just good sense to pop it in my handbag.”

Angela Simpson, professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Manchester, says that teenagers and students are in the highest risk group for anaphylaxis.

She says this is part of this age group’s bid for independence.

“It’s about mums no longer supervising what they eat, it’s about drinking a bit too much alcohol and not wanting to embarrass themselves if they can’t eat somewhere when everyone else wants to.”

Helen considered staying at home because of her allergy, but changed her mind.

“I really wanted the proper uni experience,” she says. “I asked lots of different universities about their policy on allergies and I was impressed when I heard that Southampton was so clued up about it.”

Although Helen’s allergy is specific to hazelnuts, she cannot eat other nuts either, which means that wherever she lives has to be a nut-free zone.

In her first year she plumped for catered accommodation where she could choose her meals and in her second and third years she lived in a shared house with five student friends where she had to manage food more carefully.

Her house mates agreed they would not bring nuts into the kitchen or in any communal areas, but she still remembers finding a gateau with a hazelnut topping in the fridge, muesli in the cupboard and Quality Streets in the living room.

“I don’t blame them because you just don’t think about it if it doesn’t affect you, but they are generally very good because they don’t want to be the cause of me having an allergic reaction,” she says.

Better evidence

A major international study into allergies, called iFAAM, began earlier this at the University of Manchester. It is searching for answers to why the prevalence of food allergies has increased over the past 20 years, whether there is a link between childhood diet and allergies and what makes certain foods cause allergic reactions.

As part of the study, researchers plan to analyse the molecules that make up peanuts in minute detail using new, ground-breaking equipment to find out more about why they are so dangerous for some people.

It is already known that the reaction from boiled peanuts is much less than from roasted ones, for example.

Prof Clare Mills, a molecular scientist working on the study, says there could be years of work ahead on allergies.

“Food is taken as an everyday given, it’s just seen as a part of everyday living but it’s very complicated – even roasting a peanut.”

At the end of the study she hopes they will have much better evidence on allergens and better tools to help the food industry manage nuts during the manufacturing process.

– BBC News