Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80 percent of the people tested.The discovery shows the particles can travel around the body and may lodge in organs. The impact on health is as yet unknown.
The death toll from one of the most destructive typhoons to hit the Philippines in recent years rose to 388 on Monday, the government said, as disease outbreaks threatened some of the stricken areas.Typhoon Rai struck the south and centre of the Asian nation on 16 and 17 December, toppling power lines and trees and unleashing deadly floods that also left hundreds of thousands homeless.The civil defence office in Manila raised the death toll from Rai to 388 with 60 others missing and hundreds
Tuberculosis (TB) is on the rise again globally for the first time in a decade, linked to disruptions in access to healthcare because of the COVID pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.The setback has erased years of progress toward tackling the curable disease, which affects millions of people worldwide. WHO says around 4.1 million people have tuberculosis but have not been diagnosed or officially declared, up sharply from 2.9 million in 2019."This is a
Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 not only cuts the risk of catching it but also of an infection turning into long COVID, research led by King's College London suggests.It shows that in the minority of people who get COVID despite two jabs, the odds of developing symptoms lasting longer than four weeks are cut by 50 percent.This is compared with people who are not vaccinated.So far, 78.9 percent of people in the United Kingdom (UK) have had two doses of a COVID vaccine.Many people
Over the past two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has made remarkable progress in managing disaster risk. But countries can never let down their guard. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its epicentre now in Asia, and all its tragic consequences, has exposed the frailties of human societies in the face of powerful natural forces.As of mid-August 2021, Asian and Pacific countries had reported 65 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 1 million deaths.
Other than preying on humans, the deadly COVID-19 virus has severely affected livelihoods, local businesses and the economy in general. Major industries such as tourism and hospitality have been hit hard by the pandemic.
It has been slightly more than a year since the COVID-19 virus emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019. The current health crisis has taken over 2.7 million lives since then and continues to infect thousands of people every day. While more than 400 million people have been vaccinated with coronavirus jabs, nations across the globe are still struggling to contain the deadly virus.
A year has passed since the coronavirus outbreak spread from Wuhan in China to Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. Yet, we are still in a ferocious battle with the deadly pandemic. As COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out in some parts of the world, a number of countries have reported new waves and have resorted to fresh lockdowns. New coronavirus variants have been identified in Britain and South Africa – which are said to be even more contagious – and spreading fast.
The COVID-19 pandemic underscores just how tightly interwoven humanity has become. A single infected animal somewhere in China set in motion a chain reaction with effects that, nearly a year later, are still reverberating in every corner of the planet. This should not be particularly surprising. The history of pandemics tracks our unification as a species. The Black Death travelled on new trade routes forged between Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages.
As nations around the world scramble to combat the deadly COVID-19 virus, it is important to remember that old diseases continue to remain a threat to many. Recently, the bubonic plague, once considered an ancient disease, triggered a health warning in China and Mongolia as fresh cases were reported, whereas ASEAN member state Malaysia reported its first polio case in 27 years late last year.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which has faced criticism over its early handling of the coronavirus crisis, on Thursday launched an independent review into the global response to the pandemic.Announcing the assessment, which will be presented next May, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it should help the world understand how to prevent such crises in the future.The Independent panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response will be headed by former New Zealand prime minister Helen
A few days ago, the world was shocked by media reports of a suspected case of the bubonic plague – named the deadliest pandemic in human history, in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.
