AFP - The World Health Organization warned a global swine flu pandemic was imminent, as more nations confirmed cases of a deadly disease that has spread round the world in a matter of days.
AP - From Egypt's order that all 300,000 pigs in the country be slaughtered to travel bans and putting the kibosh on kissing, the world is taking drastic В— and some say debatable В— measures to combat swine flu.
Reuters - Mexican President Felipe Calderon told his people to stay home from Friday for a five-day partial shutdown of the economy, after the World Health Organization said a swine flu pandemic was imminent.
AFP - The likelihood of swine flu spreading to China is very high, a senior health official said Thursday, as millions of people prepare to travel around the country for a long-weekend public holiday.
AP - Mexico readied a "temporarily closed" sign В— taking the drastic step of ordering a suspension of nonessential federal government and private business activity as it tried to squelch a swine flu epidemic. The World Health Organization ratcheted up an alert and warned that "all of humanity" is threatened.
The Patrick Administration today announced the first confirmed cases of swine influenza in Massachusetts. According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH), the patients, two school-age residents of Middlesex County, are considered to have a mild case of the disease and are expected to make a complete recovery. Neither child attended school at any point during their illness, and their parents did not go to work during that time. Massachusetts is the sixth state to have confirmed cases of swine flu; there are now a total of 66 confirmed cases in the United States.
There are three recently published studies about autism, two published online in Nature and one in Annals of Human Genetics, which point strongly to autism being genetic in nature.
The researchers initially studied DNA from more than 3,100 individuals from families affected with autism-related disorders. The Dr Hakon Hakonarson and colleagues? study reported in Nature involved more than 12,000 people. Included were people with autism, their relatives, and healthy individuals with no known family history of autism.
The swine flu has been officially reported in Mexico, United States, Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Mexico and the U. S. are the only countries with any reported deaths.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 4 to phase 5. They continue to track the pandemic and issue public health advice. At this time, WHO recommends that all countries immediately activate their pandemic preparedness plans. Each country should remain on high alert.
According to the CDC, there is no single method to protect from swine flu. Using a facemask alone is of little value for swine flu protection if other precautions are not taken, including hand-washing, avoiding crowds and limiting exposure to large groups of people.
Information about using facemasks to reduce chances of swine flu infection in community settings is limited. Currently, the CDC is basing recommendations for using facemasks as swine flu protection on their use in other settings where infection from respiratory secretions is possible.
Swiss researchers have begun exploring the benefits of oxytocin for helping couples communicate better.
Oxytocin has been touted as beneficial for reducing anxiety, producing feelings of well-being, empathy, bonding, and sexual arousal. Now researchers are studying the effect of oxytocin for improving stressful interactions between couples.
