“Delayed implementation of accelerated disease control in India” has led the country to account for “47 per cent of estimated measles mortality in 2010” stated a paper published today (April 24) in The Lancet . At 36 per cent, even the World Health Organisation (WHO) African region accounted for lesser mortality than India.

The high number recorded in India stands out, as the global measles mortality had decreased by 74 per cent in 2010.

Haiti is all set to start vaccinating one lakh people with an oral cholera vaccine “Sahchol” developed by the Hyderabad-based Shantha Biotechnics. According to a news report in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the first phase of the campaign will be targeting 50,000 people living in Port-au-Prince and will be followed by a further 50,000 in the Artibonite River valley. The vaccination programme became possible with the Haiti's National Ethics Committee approving the oral cholera vaccine.

Cancer killed 5,56,400 people across the country in 2010. The 30-69 age group accounted for 71 per cent (3,95,400) of the deaths. In 2010, cancer alone accounted for 8 per cent of the 2.5 million total male deaths and 12 per cent of the 16 million total female deaths in this age group. These are some of the findings of a paper published on March 28 in The Lancet.

The study found that 7,137 of the 1,22,429 deaths during 2001-2003 were due to cancer, corresponding to 5,56,400 cancer deaths in 2010. At nearly 23 per cent,

Infusion of cardiac stem cells into persons who suffered heart attack recently can help to regenerate their heart muscles, says a study published today, February 14, in The Lancet.

Phase I of the study was conducted on 17 patients, who received stems cells, and eight, who received standard care (control group), at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles and Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore.

The number of malaria deaths worldwide in 2010 was 1.24 million, nearly double the number previously estimated by the 2011 World Malaria Report (WMR). This is despite a 31-per-cent reduction in such deaths globally in the last five years.

This was stated in a study published on February 3 in The Lancet.

Minister for environment and forests (MoEF) Jayanthi Natarajan has shot off a letter to European Union Commissioner for Climate and Energy Connie Hedegaard demanding a reversal of the carbon tax on airline emissions.

The letter has stated that such a unilateral measure “stands not only in violation of the principles and provisions of the international convention, but will also not augur well for the success of future climate change negotiations.”

The spores survived and germinated after being exposed to 115 degree C for two hours

Can the mesophilic fungal spores that normally grow at 20 degree C to 35 degree C survive higher temperatures and still be able to germinate when the conditions are right? Believe it or not, laboratory studies have shown that some species of mesophilic spores can indeed survive even when exposed to 115 degree C for two hours! The duration of survival was longer at lower temperatures.

The final results of the Phase I prime-boost AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) vaccine trial started in February 2009 and conducted at the two sites — Tuberculosis Research Centre (TRC), Chennai, and the National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune — has shown that the vaccines are safe and their ability to elicit immune response are modest.

Cells of children rapidly divide and hence are more sensitive to any radiation.