Polio campaign
India has mounted a colossal vaccination programme to stamp out the world鈥檚 largest polio outbreak in recent years. To reach the 165 million children at risk, India has supplied 1.3 million health workers and volunteers with 200 million doses of vaccine.
Ebola outbreak
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Six people are thought to have died of Ebola in the Republic of Congo, Brazzaville, and another 16 deaths are being investigated. The outbreak reportedly started when people ate primates that died of the disease.
Dirty bomb defence
The US Food and Drug Administration has asked companies that make a non-toxic pigment called Prussian blue to apply for licences to market it as an anti-radiation treatment in case of a terrorist dirty bomb. The pigment can bind to radioactive particles such as caesium-137, eliminating them from the gut.
Kettle caution
Don鈥檛 buy an electric kettle with a nickel-coated element if you are allergic to the metal, warns Britain鈥檚 drinking water inspectorate. Tests by the agency show that nickel leaches into the water.
Competition for Viagra
Eli Lily last week launched in Europe another impotence pill. The effects of Cialis last up to a day, compared with four hours for Viagra, and it does not produce a permanent erection.
More death on the roads
By 2020, over 2 million people a year will be killed in road accidents, a conference in London heard this week. Most victims are pedestrians, cyclists and users of public transport, and treating injuries is a huge drain on poor countries.
Playground peril
Children playing on wooden equipment treated with an arsenic pesticide could have a slightly higher risk of lung and bladder cancer as a result, a US government commission reported last week. It recommends that children wash their hands before eating.