New research suggests using two types of polio vaccine is more effective than using just one. The research team found administering an injection of the inactivated polio virus (IPV) alongside the oral dose of activated poliovirus vaccine (OPV) boosts patients’ immunity. It’s hoped the findings could help speed up the eradication of polio reports expat health.org

Currently, the oral vaccine is leading the battle against polio but this new research from India may change the way we fight the virus. The findings, which World Health Organisation calls “truly historic”, will potentially lead to a total eradication of the disease which is now widespread in only three countries.

Fighting polio has been one of the greatest global health success stories. As recently as 1988 there were 350,000 cases of polio in 125 countries. Once the worldwide vaccination programme was launched in 1988, the number of cases fell dramatically to just 291 in 2012. Polio is currently widespread in only three countries – Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

The disease is spread through contact with infected faeces and the oral vaccine is currently the preferred prevention method as it’s cheap and protects digestive tract from lower transmission of the virus. The injected vaccine works largely in the bloodstream. However, the protection offered by the oral vaccine wanes over time, so repeated doses are needed.

In this latest study, reported in Science Magazine, doctors tested the two vaccines on 1,000 children in northern India. The use of both types of vaccine lowered transmission and infection. “They both have an important role to play in the eradication programme,” said Professor Nick Grassly, co-author of the study.

The use of the IPV is more effective as a booster than multiple doses of the OPV, according to the study. However, the biggest challenge facing health workers, is not which vaccine to use, but accessing children in conflict zones.

The Korean government aims to tackle high smoking rates by doubling the cost of cigarettes.
South Korea is looking at doubling the cost of cigarettes in a bid to lower the smoking rate, reports the BBC. Under the proposed changes, the price of a packet of cigarettes would go up to 4,500 won (€3.35), the price is currently 2,500 won (€1.87).

South Korea has one of the highest male smoking rates among OECD member countries. About 41% of men smoke, according to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, this is higher than the 26% average reports expat health.org

The proposal, which would come into effect next year, is designed to lower the overall smoking rate (23%), which is also higher than the OECD average of 21%. The last increase in price was in 2004 when it went up by 500 won and the smoking rate fell 15%, reports Korean news agency Yonhap.

There have been many studies which appear to confirm a link between raising the price of cigarettes and a drop in the smoking rate. Researchers agree that a 10% increase in prices results in a 3-5% reduction in cigarette consumption.

Reports from Yonhap also said tobacco manufacturers would be required to print graphic warnings on packaging, and some types of advertising would be banned. General warnings on packaging were introduced in 1976, with graphic warnings originally introduced in 2007.

The South Korean government hopes the price increase will generate an estimated 2.8 trillion won in tax revenue. The opposition have already called it a “deceitful move” which will impact low-income earners as they smoke more than other population groups.

In April this year South Korea’s health agency launched a lawsuit against three of the largest tobacco manufacturers including the local arm of Philip Morris International, to offset the cost of treating smoking-related illness.

British military engineers and medics are being sent to Sierra Leone to help fight the world’s largest-ever outbreak of Ebola reports the BBC World News.

They will set up and run a treatment centre near the capital Freetown.

The World Health Organization says more than 2,000 people have now died in the outbreak in West Africa.

Last week, the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres called for a global military intervention in the region.

It said the global response to the outbreak had been “lethally inadequate” with countries turning their back on West Africa and merely reducing the risk of Ebola arriving on their shores.

The UK has announced it will build a centre with 50 beds for people in Sierra Leone and 12 beds for healthcare workers who become ill.

The proposed site will be surveyed this week, with the healthcare worker section of the facility scheduled to be running within eight weeks.

Yesterday, President Obama said the US military would set up isolation units and provide security for public health workers.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening said: “The scale of the problem requires the entire international community to do more to assist the affected countries which is why the UK is working with the government of Sierra Leone to build a new medical treatment facility near their capital Freetown.

“When it is up and running it will enable the UK to provide medical care for local and international health workers, as well as treatment for the wider population.”

The UK government has committed £25m to tackling the outbreak, including running trials for an Ebola vaccine.

The charity Save the Children will eventually take over management of the treatment centre.

Its chief executive, Justin Forsyth, said: “Ebola threatens thousands of people’s lives across West Africa and could set back development many decades.

“The key to combating this epidemic is backing front line health workers and underpinning a fractured health system in Sierra Leone.

“Without urgent action to assist medics, many more children and their families will suffer and die from this most appalling and tragic disease.”

Are diets low in sodium essential for everyone?
Excessive sodium consumption is putting the world’s health at risk, and placing a large burden on health systems, warns a new study. It is estimated that 1.65 million deaths from cardiovascular disease each year are linked to consuming too much salt on a regular basis.

“That’s remarkably high, that’s almost 1 in 10 of all cardiovascular deaths around the world,” Dariush Mozaffarian, study author told NPR.

“This suggests that a single factor in the diet [salt] could be contributing to almost 10 percent of the cardiovascular burden.”

This latest study adds weight to the argument that everyone should have a diet low in sodium, something many people ignore. Worldwide we consume on average, around 3,950 milligrams of salt per day. Although there are regional daily differences ranging from 2,000 to 5,500 milligrams, the global average is still nearly double what the World Health Organisation recommends (<2,000mg/day). The study found the areas where the most heart attack and stroke deaths are linked to sodium, varies quite a bit. In Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand around 10 percent of cardiovascular deaths can be attributed to salt intake. Interestingly there is a wide-band stretching from Eastern Europe to Central and East Asia where the percentage of sodium attributable deaths jumps to 20-25 percent. The study authors put this down to the centuries old trade routes that link the continents. “What seems to be linking those countries [in this band] … is that this is the Old Silk Road [trade] route, where people traveled many distances and needed salt to preserve their food,” says Mozaffarian. Centuries later, this tradition of eating salt-preserved foods remains strong. A diet high in sodium can cause high blood pressure, which in turn raises the risk of a heart attack or stroke. While sodium occurs naturally in many foods such as milk and eggs, it is found in much higher levels in processed foods and it is these people are being warned to cut down on. There is some disagreement over whether low-salt guidelines are beneficial for everyone. Another study, also published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said the risks associated with high salt consumption are increased in people with elevated blood pressure. It goes on to suggest that people with a healthy blood pressure can have as much as 3,500 milligrams of sodium a day, the typical amount Americans consume. Source : www.expathealth.org

The Democratic Republic of Congo has confirmed that an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in the north of the country has been identified as Ebola.

Health Minister Felix Numbi told the BBC that tests on two people had confirmed the disease in Equateur province, where 13 had already died.

But he said the deaths occurred in an isolated area and the disease seemed a different strain to West Africa’s.

Dr Numbi said a quarantine zone was being set up to contain the disease.

The cases are the first reported outside West Africa since the outbreak there began.

So far 1,427 people have died from the virus.

The speed and extent of the outbreak has been “unprecedented”, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.

An estimated 2,615 people in West Africa have been infected with Ebola since March.

There is no known cure but some affected people have recovered after being given an experimental drug, ZMapp. However, supplies are now exhausted.

SOURCE.. BBC World News