Women, men differ in travel-related ills

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Traveling around the globe can make anyone fall ill, but men and women tend to differ in the types of illnesses they suffer, a new study finds.

Health

In a study of almost 59,000 international travelers, researchers found that women were more likely than men to come down with bouts of diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems, colds, urinary tract infections and adverse reactions to medications, such as those taken to prevent malaria.

Men, meanwhile, had higher risks of fever, including from infections transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks or other such "vectors," such as malaria, dengue and rickettsia.

Men were also more likely than women to be treated for mountain sickness, frostbite or sexually transmitted diseases.

The findings offer travelers and travel-medicine specialists a clearer idea of how to prepare for international trips, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Patricia Schlagenhauf of the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

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Army official: Four soldiers have become ill and evacuated from Haiti

By Jonathan Mattise
Posted February 24, 2010 at 3:03 p.m. , updated February 24, 2010 at 4:08 p.m

Four Army soldiers total — including Stuart native Chris Lust — have been stricken ill and evacuated to receive treatment while serving in Haiti, an Army official said Wednesday.

Lust, a 33-year-old warrant officer, contracted a tropical disease called leptospirosis during relief work in Port-au-Prince three weeks ago. The bacterial infection is generally caused by contact with water contaminated by animal excrement in impoverished countries, said Dr. Moti Ramgopal of Associates in Infectious Diseases in Fort Pierce.

Lust is now in stable condition at James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa after spending almost a week in the intensive care unit.

The soldier experienced flu symptoms, only 100 times worse, his mother Lorilei Lust said. Chris Lust’s temperature hovered from 102 to 105 degrees.

Cold spell tremors, almost like seizures, struck regularly. While receiving IV medication, he developed a blood clot in his left arm that puffed up his left hand much larger than his right.

His condition stabilized and he left the ICU Saturday. He expects to be shipped to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio in the next 24 hours for three months of light duty.

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Vaccine Study Retracted, and Causes of Autism Remain Elusive

U.S. News and World Report Health

By Nancy Shute

Posted: February 3, 2010

In 1998, the medical journal The Lancet published a study suggesting that the childhood MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine was tied to autism. On Tuesday, the journal retracted the study, saying in an editorial that key aspects of the paper—in which Andrew Wakefield reported that 12 children he studied had experienced a sudden onset of autism symptoms after getting MMR shots—were false...
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Vaccine paranoia might be killing us.

Get Vaccinated
Robert Nelsen, 01.21.10, 10:00 AM EST
Forbes Magazine dated February 08, 2010

It has taken 14,160 lives, 2,328 of them in the U.S. Within the latter group are 248 children. No, it is not terrorism, nor is it war. It is H1N1.

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Haiti earthquake: How to help

A list of charitable organizations active in the nation

msnbc.com
updated 9:21 p.m. ET, Wed., Jan. 20, 2010

Click for information on how you can become involved.

National Influenza Week, 11 - 15 January 2010.

President declares National Influenza week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim the week of January 10-16, 2010, as National Influenza Vaccination Week....

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Solution to Killer Superbug Found in Norway - Sphere News

Interesting article on how the Norwegians are handling the use of anti-biotics.

Solution to Killer Superbug Found in Norway - Sphere News