Lifestyle

Following fears earlier this month that, in Britain, flu vaccine would not be available for all those due to be vaccinated this autumn, a contributor to the British Medical Journal now wants resources diverted from vaccination towards research to establish the efficacy of vaccination. There have been warnings that production problems have delayed delivery of sufficient vaccine to complete the programme on time. The Department of Health had said there should be enough doses in the long-term but some patients would have to wait. This is the thir

The annual Living Planet Report compiled by the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, published this week by WWF International, assessed "the health of the planet's ecosystems" and measured the demands people make on the planet's resources. The Living Planet Index is based on population trends between 1970 and 2003 of over 3 600 populations of more than 1 300 vertebrate species from around the world. There has been an overall decline of around 30 per cent over the 33-year period. Tropical species populations declined

The haze situation in Southeast Asia has still not subsided, despite efforts by the Indonesian government to douse the flames. In Singapore, the Pollutant Standards Index hit 103, in the unhealthy range, at 8AM (GMT+8); Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, is also covered in smoke, with the Air Pollution Index (or Air Quality Index) in the Klang Valley region registering at 103. The latest pictures from satellites NOAA 12 and NOAA 18 show a combined total of 107 hotspots in Borneo and 89 in Sumatra Related

Yesterday the first person to climb Mount Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato for his work in the fields of environment, education and humanitarian causes. Sir Edmund said: "Receiving this so close to home is something special," as all his other doctorates he had received had all come from other countries. Sir Edmund was born in Auckland and had travelled around Waikato, and in regards to that he said: "It's a great honour to be here, and I feel that it's almost home to me." Roy Crawford,

The United Nations security council is expected to vote later today on whether to impose sanctions on North Korea after the country announced its first nuclear bomb test last week. The current draft of the resolution would ban North Korea from importing any materials that could be used in the construction of nuclear weapons, it would also restrict international travel of those involved in the country's weapons program and their family members. The five permanent members of the council and Japan met on Friday morning to discuss the wording of th

U.S. scientists prospectively analysed the health and eating pattern of 2,258 study participants and found a link between a Mediterranean diet and a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia. Participants were scored on their use of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals and fish (which were considered beneficial in this study), and dairy products and meat, which were regarded as being detrimental to the subjects health. A moderate fat and alcohol intake was also considered part of a typical Mediterranean diet. Pot

The recent E. coli outbreak that killed three people and sickened nearly 200 in the United States and Canada has been linked to cattle. The outbreak affected people who ate contaminated bagged spinach. Shortly after the outbreak began, the contaminated spinach had been traced to the Salinas Valley region of California. Now, health officials say the contamination came from cattle manure. The infected cattle manure was found on a ranch in Salinas Valley that is adjacent to the field that produced contaminated spinach. How precisely the infection

Two trains have collided head-on in eastern France at Zoufftgen in the Moselle region of France, close to the Luxembourg border, at around 11:45 local time (09:45 UTC) earlier today. Based on inital reports, BBC News has suggested 10 passenger deaths as well as the those of two train drivers involved in the incident and a track side worker. French officials later confirmed at least 5 dead. The trains were a french freight train and a Luxembourgeois passenger train. The passenger train was travelling from Luxembourg to Nancy and the freight tra

An amber alert has been cancelled after an eight-year-old Inwood boy was found unharmed after a car theft-turned-kidnapping ended on Long Island. According to various local sources, Belkis Gonzales left her sleeping child, Jay Polanco, in her SUV while she entered a store at Sherman Avenue near 204th Street. The vehicle was then stolen with the boy still inside. Residents in the area kept their eyes open and NYPD arrived on the scene quickly. According to news reports, the vehicle was traveling along the Northern State Parkway near Westbury

The acrid haze situation in Southeast Asia is worsening. Visibility has been severely reduced in neighboring countries and some schools have been closed due to the health hazard posed. The annual smoke season is caused by illegal slash and burn clearance of land in Indonesia, particularly the island of Borneo. The haze has spread over 2,250 miles (3,600 kilometers) into neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and even drifting to Guam in the western Pacific. Aviation has been severely impaired in Indonesia, where in certa

Up to 17,000 people are being evacuated in Apex, North Carolina after a chlorine gas leak occurred during a Hazardous Waste facility explosion and fire. Residents are advised to keep windows closed, turn off all air conditioning and that tenderness of the mouth, gagging and nausea are typical signs of poisoning. They are advised to stay away from the fire and any smoke, as it could be a health hazard. CNN reports that air quality tests run by the NCDENR indicate nothing especially harmful in the air near the plant. Area residents are being ad

The Health Board of New York City on Tuesday presented a plan to ban trans fatty acids (or trans fat) from the eateries in the city. The ban would not involve grocery stores, or natural trans fat that is present in dairy products or meat from ruminants. The proposal follows a campaign last year to encourage restaurants to cut down on using trans fat themselves, but recent surveys show that the campaign was unsuccessful. In 2003, the city already instituted a smoking ban in restaurants, which was met with protest, but the measure has been copie