As more laboratory-confirmed mpox cases continue to be detected in South Africa, the National Department of Health has announced plans to commence vaccination to curb the spread of the disease.

"Vaccination helps control the spread of this preventable and manageable disease, with vaccinated individuals being protected from infection and from developing severe complications," Health Department spokesperson Foster Mohale said on Wednesday.

Following the recent detection of two new cases in the Western Cape and Gauteng, the department said the mpox vaccine would be made available in the three most affected provinces, including KwaZulu-Natal.

Environmental factors such as the temperature, the water level in lakes and ponds in winter, and the presence of mute swans (Cygnus olor) could be key reasons that predict the potential of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) occurring in Europe, according to a study.

The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, are derived from a machine learning model trained on the characteristics of 21st-century European HPAI outbreaks and could help improve future monitoring programmes.

The model showed that the coldest recorded temperature in autumn had the greatest effect on the likelihood of an outbreak occurring.

However, the actual effect varied considerably by region. In some areas, warmer minimum temperatures were associated with a higher likelihood of an outbreak; while in others, they were associated with a lower likelihood.

Scientists have identified a key gene essential for vitamin D absorption, which may also boost treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

The gene, called SDR42E1, is crucial for taking up vitamin D from the gut and further metabolising it -- a discovery with many possible applications in precision medicine, including cancer therapy.

"Here we show that blocking or inhibiting SDR42E1 may selectively stop the growth of cancer cells,” said Dr Georges Nemer, Professor at the University of College of Health and Life Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

Previous research showed that a specific mutation in the SDR42E1 gene on chromosome 16 is associated with vitamin D deficiency.

In a remarkable breakthrough, scientists in the UK used a three-person in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique to bring to life eight children and spared them from genetic mitochondrial disease.

The infants -- four girls and four boys, including one set of identical twins -- were born using DNA from three people.

The babies were born to seven women at high risk of transmitting serious disease caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA, said the researchers from Newcastle University in the UK.

“All babies were healthy at birth, meeting their developmental milestones, and the mother’s disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations were either undetectable or present at levels that are very unlikely to cause disease,” the researchers said.

Diarrhea has claimed four lives in just eight days in Bedia, a tribal-dominated village in the Jarmundi block of Jharkhand’s Dumka district.

Several other residents have taken ill, prompting urgent medical intervention from the district administration.

The medical crisis came to light after former state minister and senior Congress leader Badal Patralekh informed Dumka Deputy Commissioner and Jharkhand Health Minister Dr Irfan Ansari about the outbreak and the rising number of fatalities on Thursday.

The first casualty was Sangeeta Marandi, who died on July 7, followed by her son Arvind Soren on July 10. On Thursday, July 17, two more deaths were reported -- Lakhiram’s wife and Bablu Kisko.

Taking cognisance of the situation, Dr Ansari immediately directed the Deputy Commissioner and Civil Surgeon to rush a medical team to the village with life-saving medicines and essential supplies.

A higher dose of rifampicin -- a bactericidal antibiotic used primarily to treat tuberculosis (TB) -- may be safe, and its use can potentially lead to recurrence-free survival in patients with pulmonary TB, according to a recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

TB is curable but still remains the most common cause of death due to infectious diseases, with an estimated 1.3 million deaths globally in 2022. Rifamycins are a crucial drug group in the anti-TB regimen, which sterilise the lesions and aid in recurrence-free cure.

Currently, rifampicin is administered at 10 mg/kg for six months to all patients with pulmonary TB.

The team reviewed the available evidence from published clinical trials to determine whether higher doses of rifampicin (more than 15 mg/kg) are more efficacious and safer.

“Compared to standard dose, higher doses of rifampicin were found to lead to early sputum conversion in eight weeks and thus faster TB bacteria clearance,” said corresponding author Dr Leeberk Raja Inbaraj, Department of Clinical Research, ICMR- National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai.

A newly developed artificial intelligence (AI) tool, that uses data from the low-cost electrocardiogram (ECG), may be more accurate in identifying hidden heart disease than cardiologists, according to US researchers.

Structural heart disease, including valve disease, congenital heart disease, and other issues that impair heart function, affects millions of people worldwide. These often remain undetected due to lack of a routine and affordable screening test.

To address the gap, a team from Columbia University in the US has developed an AI-powered screening tool, EchoNext, that detects structural heart diseases using ordinary ECG data.

EchoNext identifies patients who should have an ultrasound (echocardiogram) -- a non-invasive test that is used to diagnose structural heart problems. In the study, published in the journal Nature, the tool was found to be more accurate than cardiologists.

A 32-year-old man on Wednesday tested positive for Nipah and is currently under treatment at the Palakkad Medical College hospital. Notably, his father recently passed away and was Nipah positive.

The test results came out on Wednesday.

The test was done at a centre in Malappuram district.

The timing of eye contact is key to how we communicate with both humans and robots, revealed a study led by Australian researchers on Wednesday.

Researchers from Flinders University found that not just making eye contact, but when and how it's done, fundamentally shapes how we understand others, including robots, according to a statement from the HAVIC Lab (Human, Artificial + Virtual Interactive Cognition), news agency reported.

"Our findings have helped to decode one of our most instinctive behaviours and how it can be used to build better connections, whether you're talking to a teammate, a robot, or someone who communicates differently," said cognitive neuroscientist Nathan Caruana, who led the HAVIC Lab.

In a study with 137 participants, researchers found that a specific gaze sequence -- looking at an object, making eye contact, then returning to the object -- was the most effective non-verbal way to signal a request for help.

Indians consume salt 2.2 times more than the amount recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), posing severe health risks such as hypertension, strokes, and kidney disease, among others, according to ICMR's National Institute of Epidemiology.

WHO recommends less than 5 grams per day of salt (roughly under a teaspoon) or below 2g of sodium per day.

However, “the mean salt consumption per day by an Indian is 11 grams per day, which is 2.2 times more than the WHO recommendation”, the ICMR-NIE said.

According to the apex research body, regular iodised salt contains 40 per cent of sodium, much higher than the WHO limit. The WHO also suggests the use of low-sodium salt to ward off the risk.