People tie 30,000 condoms to form a 3.269-kilometers line during an anti-AIDS event in Bucharest, capital of Romania, on October 28. Some 59% of the 10,447 HIV-infected patients and AIDS patients in the country are youth aged from 15 to 19.
Scientist have announced a skin-patch vaccine that can save the wearer from the rumblings of diarrhoea when travelling to places where stomach bugs are endemic.
A clinical trial by Maryland-based vaccine maker Iomai Corporation showed that of 59 people who used the patch - which slaps on the skin to deliver the vaccine without a needle - only three found their guts growling with diarrhoea.
Comparing this to results from travellers who were given a placebo, the test showed that the patch cut outbreaks of diarrhoea by three-quarters.
“These are clinically significant results that suggest that the patch vaccine will address the most significant unmet need for travel medicine: prophylaxis for travellers’ diarrhoea,” said Gregory Glenn, the company’s chief scientific office. [News]
Hundreds of people have suffered headaches, nausea, and respiratory problems after a meteorite crashed in southern Peru. The meteorite landed in Carangas, Puno, southern Peru last weekend (Sep 16) and created a crater 65ft wide and 20ft deep.
Jorge Lopez, director of the health department in the southern state of Puno, said at least 200 people had become ill after inhaling “toxic” fumes emanating from the resulting crater; but a team of doctors who reached the isolated site said they found no evidence the meteorite had caused sickness.
Modesto Montoya, a member of the medical team, told El Comercio that fear may have provoked psychosomatic ailments.
“When a meteorite falls, it produces horrid sounds when it makes contact with the atmosphere,” he said. “It is as if a giant rock is being sanded. Those sounds could have frightened them.” [Telegraph]
The man with the largest hand in the world will be looking forward to a normal life after undergoing radical plastic surgery at Shanghai No. 9 People’s Hospital.
Liu Hua, a 24-year-old Jiangsu Province native, was born with a left thumb, index and middle finger much larger than normal.
Liu was suffering from a rare disease called Macrodactyly, a birth defect in which toes or fingers are abnormally large. The cause of the disease is unknown but bone and soft tissue grows at an extraordinary rate.
On July 20 surgeons began a seven-hour operation to reduce the size of Liu’s fingers and thumb. Doctors removed 5.1kg of flesh and bone in the procedure. A second operation is scheduled in six months to reshape his left arm and shoulder.
A giant hot air balloon (40 metres) that shaped like a condom was launched into the sky above the city of Lichtenvoorde, Netherlands on July 27.
Giant condom - hot air balloon
The giant condom was launched by Dutch Health Services (GGD) in conjunction with a rock concert that was attended by around 80,000 fans. The words ‘Vrij Veilig’ means ‘Safe Sex’ in Dutch.
The officials have applied for the balloon to be listed in Guinness World Records book; the balloon will also feature at a balloon festival in Joure, north of the Netherlands, as well as other music and theatre festivals in the coming months. [Javno]
According to a recent WHO report, Japanese women have a life expectancy of 86 years, the longest female life expectancy in the world. San Marino men, who tied with Japanese men last year at 79, added a year to get ahead.
Following San Marino on the male side were Australia, Iceland, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland at 79 years and then Canada, Israel, Italy, Monaco and Singapore at 78.
Countries with long-living women include Monaco, 85 years, and Andorra, Australia, France, Italy, San Marino, Spain and Switzerland at 84.
Want a longer life? Time to move…