Tag: United States

Bird flu studies, halted over terrorism fear, to resume

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A member of the Rapid Response Team culls a rooster in a poultry farm infected by H5N1 bird flu virus at Bode in BhaktapurLONDON (Reuters) – Scientists around the world declared an end on Wednesday to a moratorium on researching mutant forms of the deadly H5N1 bird flu that had raised international biosecurity concerns. Announcing their decision to resume what they say are risky but essential studies of the avian flu strain, the scientists said the work would only be carried out in the most secure sites in countries that agree it can go ahead. That will allow work to start again in key laboratories in the Netherlands and elsewhere but not yet in the United States or U.S. …

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Study casts doubt on link between cannabis, teen IQ drop

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SYDNEY (Reuters) – A landmark study suggesting a link between cannabis use and a drop in teenage IQ may not have gone far enough in its research, with any falls in IQ more likely due to lower socioeconomic status than marijuana, according to a Norwegian study. The latest work, which appears in the journal PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, also suggests that different policy steps might be needed in that case. …

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U.S. faces drug shortages in treating multidrug-resistant TB

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ATLANTA (Reuters) – More than 80 percent of health departments in the United States that treat tuberculosis resistant to standard treatment have trouble obtaining the drugs they need to cure the disease, according to a national survey released on Thursday. Difficulties obtaining the drugs could be attributed to nationwide shortages, shipping delays and a complicated process for procuring new drugs that are still being tested, according to a National Tuberculosis Controllers Association survey of health departments. …

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Flu reaches epidemic level in U.S., says CDC

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A girl gets an influenza vaccine at Boston Children's Hospital in Boston(Reuters) – Influenza has officially reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with 7.3 percent of deaths last week caused by pneumonia and the flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The early start and fast spread of flu this season – especially after 2011-2012's very mild outbreak – has overwhelmed doctors' offices and hospitals, forcing some patients to wait through the night to be seen in emergency departments. Nine of the 10 U.S. …

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Merck begins overseas recall of HDL cholesterol drug

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A view of the Merck & Co. campus in Linden, New Jersey(Reuters) – Merck & Co said it is recalling Tredaptive, its medicine to raise "good" HDL cholesterol levels, in overseas markets where it is sold, after it failed to prevent heart problems in a large study and raised safety concerns. The medicine is not approved in the United States but the U.S. drugmaker sells it in about 40 countries. Merck said it would recall stocks of Tredaptive now held by wholesalers, but that pharmacies can continue to dispense their remaining supplies. …

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Some conservatives warn Republicans against debt limit fight

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Josten gestures during remarks to the Reuters Washington Summit in the Reuters newsroom in WashingtonWASHINGTON (Reuters) – As Republicans in the Congress struggle to find a strategy for forcing big spending cuts on President Barack Obama, some conservative voices are warning against taking the country to the brink of a debt default as the strategy for winning the budget wars. "We would encourage the administration and the Congress of the United States, first and foremost, don't default. That's a bad idea," said U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Bruce Josten on Thursday. An historic U.S. …

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Scientists urge end to limits on gun safety research

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Research restrictions pushed by the National Rifle Association have stopped the United States from finding solutions to firearms violence, more than a hundred scientists from virtually every major U.S. university told Vice President Joe Biden’s task force on gun violence in a letter on Thursday. In the wake of the December school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and other mass homicides, the group of economists, health researchers, educators, doctors and criminologists said funding should be restored to a range of study areas, from gun safety to tracking illegal …

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Food prices to stay high in 2013, low stocks pose risk: FAO

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To match interview NAKUMATT/ROME (Reuters) – Food prices will stay at high levels in 2013 and low stocks pose the risk of sharp price increases if crops fail, the United Nations' food agency said on Thursday, after its index showed prices fell for the third month running in December. A surge in food prices over the summer of 2012 fuelled by the worst drought in more than half a century in the United States and dry weather in other major exporters raised fears of a new food crisis such as the one seen in 2008. …

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Boston declares health emergency amid U.S. flu outbreak

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Boston Mayor Thomas Menino addresses delegates during the second session of the Democratic National Convention in CharlotteBOSTON (Reuters) – With flu cases in this city up tenfold from last year, the mayor of Boston declared a public health emergency on Wednesday as authorities around the United States scrambled to cope with a rising number of patients. U.S. health authorities say the flu arrived about a month earlier than usual this year, and the flu strain making most people sick – H3N2 – has a reputation for causing fairly severe illness, especially in the elderly. As a result, hospitals around the country have been forced to find additional space to treat the ill, and some have had to turn people away. …

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Major Cancer Death Rates Are Lower; Throat and Anal Cancer Incidence on the Rise

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While the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer reveals positive news in the fact that the overall death rate from cancer has decreased during the period of 2000 through 2009, the statistics mean little to anyone has lost a loved one to the disease. Physicians and researchers have noted an increase in cancers of the throat and anus related to human papillomavirus, HPV. An additional concern about future cancer diagnoses is related to the high rate of obesity in the United States and the aging of its population, both factors in the development of cancer.

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