A total of 51 deaths caused by dengue have been reported across Bangladesh since the start of this year, indicating a sharp increase compared to the last two years.

As of Tuesday, dengue cases were reported from 60 districts of the South Asian nation. During the same period in 2024, cases were reported from 54 districts, while in 2023, the number was 56.

This faster and wider spread of the disease has raised serious health concerns, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of Bangladesh, three more people died from dengue in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, bringing the number of deaths from the mosquito-borne disease to 51 in 2025.

Additionally, 425 new patients were hospitalised across the country, raising the total number of infections to 13,188 since January.

The new cases reported in the country include 120 in Barishal, 98 in Chattogram, 36 in Dhaka Division (outside city areas), 38 in Dhaka North City Corporation, 55 in Dhaka South City Corporation, 18 in Khulna, 11 in Mymensingh, 48 in Rajshahi, and one in Sylhet.

While cancer has seen some significant advancements in treatments that have shown promise and increased lifespan, however, it also causes serious side effects, which can affect quality of life.

A new study by researchers from Australia is shedding new light on the reasons behind these side effects, news agency reported.

The team from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne discovered that the protein MCL-1 -- a key target in cancer drug development -- plays not only a role in preventing cell death in cancer cells but also supplying energy to normal cells.

As a result, drugs that inhibit MCL-1 can inadvertently damage healthy tissues that rely on this protein for energy, especially in organs with high energy demand like the heart and liver, leading to the severe side effects observed in clinical trials, said the team.

US children today weigh more, battle more illnesses and face higher odds of dying than youngsters just a generation ago, according to the most extensive review of pediatric well-being published in nearly two decades.

The study, released Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), tracked 170 separate health indicators drawn from eight national data sets that stretched back to 2002, reports news agency.

"All of them point in the same direction: children's health is getting worse," lead author Christopher Forrest of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said.

Researchers found that obesity among 2-19-year-olds climbed from 17 per cent in the 2007-2008 survey cycle to about 21 per cent in the 2021-2023 cycle.

Excess weight may increase the risk of developing breast cancer among postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease, according to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), published on Monday.

Higher body mass index (BMI) is a known risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society CANCER, unravels how the risk differs among women with and without cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes.

It showed that each 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI was associated with a 31 per cent higher risk of breast cancer in women who developed cardiovascular disease during follow-up and a 13 per cent higher risk in women without cardiovascular disease.

The development of type 2 diabetes did not seem to affect breast cancer risk: women with or without type 2 diabetes had a similarly elevated breast cancer risk related to higher BMI.

“The findings of this study could be used to inform risk-stratified breast cancer screening programmes,” said a team led by Heinz Freisling, from the WHO’s specialised cancer research team, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Are you in the habit of sleeping with lights on during the night? Beware, a study led by an international team of researchers found that brighter night-time light exposure may increase the risks of five major cardiovascular diseases.

Light at night causes circadian disruption, which is a known risk factor for adverse cardiovascular outcomes. However, it is not well understood whether personal light exposure patterns predict an individual’s risk of cardiovascular diseases.

In a study of 88,905 people, yet to be peer-reviewed, researchers from the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, along with colleagues in the UK and the US, showed that avoiding exposure to night light may lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

The study posted on the pre-print site medRxiv, that night light exposure to women more, with stronger associations for heart failure and coronary artery disease. Younger participants were also found at an increased risk for heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

Hospitalisations due to severe Covid-19 infection, a family history of sudden deaths, as well as lifestyle behaviours are some of the reasons behind the unexplained sudden death, according to a study led by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The peer-reviewed study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research explored factors associated with unexplained sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India.

It showed that Covid vaccination was not responsible for sudden and unexplained deaths seen among young and healthy individuals.

The study was conducted in 2023, following anecdotal reports of sudden, unexplained deaths in India's apparently healthy young adults, which were linked to Covid-19 infection or vaccination.

In a significant scientific breakthrough, an international team of researchers has developed a novel gene therapy that can improve hearing in children and adults with congenital deafness or severe hearing impairment.

In the study, Swedish and Chinese used gene therapy and improved hearing in 10 patients, and the treatment was well-tolerated.

“This is a huge step forward in the genetic treatment of deafness, one that can be life-changing for children and adults,” said Maoli Duan, consultant and docent at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.

The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, comprised 10 patients between the ages of 1 and 24 at five hospitals in China, all of whom had a genetic form of deafness or severe hearing impairment caused by mutations in a gene called OTOF.

US researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) model that significantly outperforms current clinical guidelines in identifying patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death.

The AI system, known as Multimodal AI for Ventricular Arrhythmia Risk Stratification (MAARS), integrates cardiac MRI images with a wide range of patient health records to detect hidden warning signs, offering a new level of precision in cardiovascular risk prediction, News Agency reported.

The study, published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research, focused on hypertrophic cardiomyopathy -- one of the most common inherited heart conditions and a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people.

"Currently we have patients dying in the prime of their life because they aren't protected and others who are putting up with defibrillators for the rest of their lives with no benefit," said senior author Natalia Trayanova, a researcher focused on using AI in cardiology, at Johns Hopkins University.

Women with poor cardiovascular health may be at a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes and coronary artery calcium (CAC) in midlife, according to a study.

CAC refers to the buildup of calcium deposits in the walls of the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart. It is a significant indicator of heart disease risk.

The findings, published in JAMA Cardiology, suggest that gestational diabetes is a marker of pre-pregnancy cardiovascular health. It also underscores the importance of healthcare providers in helping patients improve their cardiovascular health both prior and after pregnancy.

"We need to optimise cardiovascular health early in the life course," said lead author Natalie Cameron, instructor in the Department of Medicine's Division of General Internal Medicine at Northwestern University, US.

In the study, the investigators analysed patient data originally collected from 1985 to 2010. Of the more than 1,000 participants included in the cohort, the average age was 28.6 years.

An Australian man in his 50s has died after being bitten by an “extremely rare” bat virus that caused rabies-like infection, according to health officials on Thursday.

The man from northern New South Wales (NSW) was bitten by Australian bat lyssavirus -- a close relative of the rabies virus -- “several” months ago, as per a statement from NSW Health. Although he received treatment at the time, it proved to be ineffective.

“We express our sincere condolences to the man’s family and friends for their tragic loss,” NSW Health said in a statement.

“While it is extremely rare to see a case of Australian bat lyssavirus, there is no effective treatment for it,” it added.

The man from northern New South Wales, who has not been identified, was this week listed as being in a “critical condition” in hospital.