Health officials in Thailand have confirmed the death of a 53-year-old man from Anthrax -- a serious bacterial illness --, after consuming raw meat.

Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis.

The country’s Department of Disease Control (DDC) confirmed the first confirmed human death from the Don Tan district in Mukdahan province, The Nation Thailand reported.

The DDC linked the death with the consumption and distribution of beef during a religious festival.

The deceased patient, a construction worker with underlying diabetes, developed a lesion on his right hand on April 24 and was hospitalised on April 27.

A surge in the number of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) cases among school-aged children in Malaysia's northern Borneo state of Sabah has forced the temporary closure of five schools, according to health authorities.

More than 4,300 HFMD cases were reported between January to April, with nearly 83 per cent involving children under the age of seven, the Sabah Health Department said in a recent statement.

Sabah Health Director Maria Suleiman, a health crisis expert, said the closures were a precautionary measure to allow for thorough cleaning and disinfection of affected premises to break the chain of infection, news agency reported.

"All reported cases have been mild and treated as outpatients. There have been no ICU admissions or deaths," she said, adding that parents have been urged to keep symptomatic children at home and maintain good hygiene by regularly disinfecting commonly used items

Integrating mental health support in cancer care is important and will boost the health of both survivors and caregivers, according to a new study by oncologists at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.

The study, published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, sheds light on the critical yet under-recognised psychological struggles faced by cancer survivors and their caregivers.

More than affecting physical health, a cancer diagnosis raises fear, uncertainty, anxiety, and depression -- all of which can profoundly affect the quality of life not only for patients but also for caregivers.

“We advocate for integrating mental health care into routine oncology services, expanding access to psycho-oncology, and recognising caregivers' needs,” corresponding author Dr. Abhishek Shankar, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Dr BR Ambedkar Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS, Delhi, told.

A virus long dismissed as a scientific oddity has been found hiding in plain sight, and it may help fight dangerous bacteria, according to a study.

The study focussed on bacteriophages (phages) -- viruses that infect bacteria and come in many forms. In particular, researchers investigated telomere phages -- a type of phage that until now was considered a ‘curiosity’.

These viruses aren't just passive passengers as they may actually help good bacteria wipe out neighbouring bad ones, news agency reported.

Previous studies decoded only their unique DNA replication mechanism. The new study, published in Science Advances, discovered that bacteria carrying telomere phages produce toxins that kill off rival bacteria.

Researchers from Monash University, Australia discovered that telomere phage is surprisingly common in Klebsiella. Klebsiella is a type of bacteria that can cause pneumonia and serious drug-resistant infections.

Artificial intelligence (AI) could soon play a pivotal role in diagnosing and treating genetic disorders, according to a study.

The study, led by researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) in Australia marks a significant step toward more precise, personalised medicine by harnessing the power of new data tools, news agency reported.

Published in Nature Communications, the study combines AI-powered protein models with genome sequencing to better understand how mutations affect human health.

It uncovered why some proteins are more vulnerable to harmful mutations than others, through the use of Google DeepMind AlphaFold's cutting-edge AI to analyse the effects of every possible mutation across the full range of human proteins.

Treating patients with semaglutide -- an anti-diabetic medication -- can halt and even reverse liver disease, according to a study.

Researchers from the King's College London, UK, chose to investigate semaglutide as a potential treatment because this class of drug helps reduce fat and liver scarring for people with metabolic dysfunction associated steatohepatitis (MASH) -- a life-threatening form of liver disease.

MASH is a more severe form of Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) -- a long-lasting liver condition caused by having too much fat in the liver.

It is closely linked with obesity as well as conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart and circulatory disease.

The US declared measles eliminated 25 years ago, but the growing outbreak of the disease centered in West Texas poses a threat to this status and signals the possibility of measles becoming more common, media reported.

"The Texas outbreak, which began in late January, has sickened more than 700 people, hospitalised dozens and spread to other states. Measles has taken its first lives in the US in over a decade," noted the Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday.

Some public health leaders and epidemiologists say it is possible the months-long Texas outbreak could last longer than a year, endangering the US's status, it added.

The US achieved the elimination milestone in 2000 after widespread vaccination efforts inoculated the vast majority of children with the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, news agency reported.

A team of Swedish researchers has identified biomarkers in the blood associated with symptoms of long Covid, particularly severe respiratory disorders.

Long Covid is a condition characterised by persistent symptoms including acute breathlessness and fatigue, after an infection caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The team from Karolinska Institutet discovered a set of proteins in the blood of people with long Covid. The findings may pave the way for future diagnosis and treatment.

"The proteins were mainly found in patients with long Covid and severe respiratory problems," said Marcus Buggert, docent at the Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet.

"This is a biomarker pattern that we know to be linked to inflammatory signal pathways involved in cell death and lung damage and that has also been observed in other patient groups with severe pulmonary disorders," he added.

Amid increasing global warming and heat-related deaths worldwide, a new study has shown that expanding urban vegetation cover by 30 per cent could save over one-third of all deaths caused due to heat, saving up to 1.16 million lives globally.

Researchers from Monash University in Australia showed that increasing vegetation levels by 10 per cent, 20 per cent, and 30 per cent would decrease the global population-weighted warm-season mean temperature by 0.08 degrees Celsius, 0.14 degrees Celsius, and 0.19 degrees Celsius, respectively.

It can also prevent 0.86, 1.02, and 1.16 million deaths, respectively.

While increasing greenness has been proposed as a heat-related death mitigation strategy, “this is the first modelling study to estimate both the cooling and modifying effects of greenness, providing a more comprehensive assessment of its benefits in mitigating heat-related mortality,” said Professor Yuming Guo from the varsity.

Young adults across the world between the ages of 18 and 29 are struggling, not only with happiness but also with their physical and mental health, according to a new study.

The study showed that young adults are struggling with perceptions of their own character, finding meaning in life, the quality of their relationships, and their financial security, news agency reported.

The data, collected by Gallup primarily in 2023, was derived from self-reported surveys of more than 200,000 people in over 20 countries and published in the journal Nature Mental Health.

The study was one of a collection of papers based on the inaugural wave of data from the Global Flourishing Study, a collaboration between researchers at Harvard and Baylor University.