Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/aid-disasters/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241217.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241217.phpApproximately 1.2 million humans die each year from malaria, a much higher figure than the previously estimated 600,000, researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, reported in The Lancet this week. The authors added that the majority of deaths occur in children under the age of 5 years, while 42% occur in adults and older children...Tropical Diseases Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241126.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241126.phpA new analysis of malaria mortality published in The Lancet this week suggests deaths to the parasitic disease worldwide have been grossly underestimated, especially in adults. If confirmed, the study has huge implications for how large amounts of charity money are spent in controlling the disease...Tropical Diseases Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240980.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240980.phpThe aim is to eliminate or at least control 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020 - it is a public and private partnership, including 13 drug companies, the UK, US and United Arab Emirate Governments, the World Bank, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and some other worldwide organizations...Tropical Diseases Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240810.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240810.phpSurvivors of Hurricane Katrina have struggled with poor mental health for years after the storm, according to a new study of low-income mothers in the New Orleans area. The study's lead author, Christina Paxson of Princeton University, said that the results were a departure from other surveys both in the design and the results...Aid / Disasters Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240580.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240580.phpDesigning an all-terrain robot for search-and-rescue missions is an arduous task for scientists. The machine must be flexible enough to move over uneven surfaces, yet not so big that it's restricted from tight spaces. It might also be required to climb slopes of varying inclines...IT / Internet / E-mail Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240527.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240527.php As numbers of international large-scale events, such as music concerts, sports events, religious pilgrimage and state funerals increase in frequency and scale, they pose substantial risks to the general public...Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240338.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240338.phpWhen organizational crises occur, such as plane crashes or automobile recalls, public relations practitioners develop strategies for substantive action and effective communication. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found that the way in which news coverage of a crisis is framed affects the public's emotional response toward the company involved...Psychology / Psychiatry Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240095.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240095.php Special section in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene on disease in post-quake Haiti includes likely identity of first cholera case and Paul Farmer and Louise Ivers' expert perspective on why amid huge aid effort cholera 'exploded' Internet-based news and Twitter feeds were faster than traditional sources at detecting the onset and progression of the cho...Tropical Diseases Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239954.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239954.php Software developed by computer scientists could help to quickly and accurately locate missing people, rapidly identify those suffering from malnutrition and effectively point people towards safe zones simply by checking their phones. It is hoped the smartphone technology could potentially not only help save lives but could also ease the financial and emotional burden on aid organisations...Aid / Disasters Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239959.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239959.phpConclusions of a Policy Forum article in PLoS Medicine have shown that an analytical framework, called "house model", which focuses equally on health workers deployment, production and retention could assist in strengthening and developing health systems in post-conflict countries, including Afghanistan, Cambodia and the Democratic Republic of Congo...Aid / Disasters Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239689.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/239689.php It's always advisable to read the medication label thoroughly before taking any drug and doubly so when administering a dose to a young child. With that in mind the FDA has issued a warning in regards to liquid acetaminophen marketed for children...Pediatrics / Children's Health Fri, 16 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239228.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239228.phpDeveloped countries and funding agencies are putting the brakes on growth in development assistance for health, raising the possibility that developing countries will have an even harder time meeting the Millennium Development Goal deadline looming in 2015, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington...Aid / Disasters Wed, 14 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239105.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/239105.phpThe World Trade Center disaster exposed nearly half a million people to hazardous chemicals, environmental toxins, and traumatic events. According to research published in the December 2011 issue of Elsevier-published journal Preventive Medicine, this has resulted in increased risk of developing physical and mental health conditions after 9/11...Bio-terrorism / Terrorism Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238920.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238920.php A study sponsored by the National Science Foundation found that most respondents felt the evacuation of New Orleans residents to the Superdome after Hurricane Katrina was a "failure" and this opinion has shaped their willingness to accept shelter if offered in an emergency evacuation...Aid / Disasters Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238877.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238877.phpStress in the second and third months of pregnancy can shorten pregnancies, increase the risk of pre-term births and may affect the ratio of boys to girls being born, leading to a decline in male babies. These are the conclusions of a study that investigated the effect on pregnant women of the stress caused by the 2005 Tarapaca earthquake in Chile...Pregnancy / Obstetrics Sun, 27 Nov 2011 11:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238291.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238291.phpMichel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS, says that this coming AIDS day, December 1st, will be unique in that health care professionals, health authorities and scientists may be able to say with confidence that the end of AIDS really is in sight. Collective international actions have resulted in solid achievements in the fight against AIDS...HIV / AIDS Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238226.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238226.php It seems that every day another area of the economy is depressed because of the global financial crisis in the banks and governments around the world. This time it's The Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, which has announced it will make no new grants until 2014; and there is a possibility of some existing projects being cut...Aid / Disasters Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238048.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238048.phpGovernments and the nuclear industry have failed to address serious data gaps and untested assumptions guiding exposure limits to Cesium (Cs)-137 released in the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and this year's incident at Fukushima, says University of Massachusetts Amherst toxicologist Edward Calabrese. It's time now to move toward adopting more evidence-based risk assessment for the future, he adds...Radiology / Nuclear Medicine Mon, 21 Nov 2011 05:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238006.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238006.phpAccording to a new investigation that involved rescue workers exposed to dust from the World Trade Center (WTC), metabolic syndrome biomarkers predict decline in lung function later in life following particulate exposure. Findings from the study were published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine...Respiratory / Asthma Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237844.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237844.phpResearchers have released a preliminary report on the effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on the surrounding areas, following radiation levels for approximately three months following the event and surveying more than 5,000 people in the region. The report was published in the online journal PLoS ONE...Aid / Disasters Fri, 11 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237461.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237461.phpHealth costs exceeding $14 billion dollars, 21,000 emergency room visits, nearly 1,700 deaths, and 9,000 hospitalizations are among the staggering impacts of six climate change-related events in the United States during the last decade, according to a first-of-its-kind study published in November 2011 edition of the journal Health Affairs...Aid / Disasters Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237432.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237432.phpWildfires kill and, too often, fatalities are caused by a lack of situational awareness, said Kelly Cohen. Timely information can prevent wildfire deaths, especially among first responders, said Cohen, associate professor of aerospace engineering & engineering mechanics at the University of Cincinnati...Aid / Disasters Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237393.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237393.phpLawyers representing over 5,000 Haitian cholera victims are suing the United Nations and the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) for bringing the disease into their country. The cholera epidemic resulted in more than 475,000 registered cases of sickness and over 6,000 deaths. They say MINUSTAH brought cholera into Haiti in October 2010...Litigation / Medical Malpractice Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237278.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/237278.phpSpiders are very agile, and some can even jump. They owe this capability to their hydraulically operated limbs. Researchers have now designed a mobile robot modeled on the same principle that moves spider legs. Created using a 3-D printing process, this lightweight can explore terrain that is beyond human reach...Aid / Disasters Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237093.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/237093.phpDr Susan A Bartels and Dr Michael J Van Rooyen's review published Online First in The Lancet details the devastating health effects of earthquakes and the challenges posed by these natural disasters...Aid / Disasters