The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Menactra, a vaccine used for meningitis, for babies as young as nine months old.

Menactra, a two-dose vaccine that creates anti-bodies against a damage of meningococcus bacteria, was approved for 11 to 500 year-old in 2005 and for two years old in 2007. Even if the cases of meningitis are somewhat rare, almost 1,000 to 2,600 cases annually, this condition can be fatal.

According to the announcement of the FDA, meningococcal illness is a life-threatening disease caused by the bacteria that can contaminate the bloodstream and the lining that encloses the spinal cord and the brain. The agency also said that even with proper intensive care and antibiotic, between ten percent and 15 percent of individuals who develop this kind of disease die from the virus. Also, another ten percent to 20 percent suffer from complications like loss of hearing or limb and brain damage.

Toddlers younger than one year old are most vulnerable to this kind of illness, even if adults that range from the age of 18 to 23 years old have greater-than-average rates of infection. However, the vaccine for meningitis s not on the list of immunization that is usually recommended for young toddlers but rather for those who have ages 11 to 18 years old.

Since a vaccine is approved in babies does not mean that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevenion (CDC) will suggest that it join a vaccine list that already contains immunizations against flu, measles and chicken pox. Still, because of the recommendations sometimes occur for few years to get closer to with the latest vaccines.

Way back in 2005, as the advisory committee of CDC stated that meningococcal conjugate immunizations may be considered for licensing in the U.S. among individuals in other age groups, such as babies and children.

Reports said Friday that Roche Holding’s treatment for rheumatoid arthritis Actemra has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating juvenile arthritis.

Actemra, which has a generic name of Tocilimuzab, got another approval from the US health regulators after it was approved in 2010 as a proven safe and effective treatment for severely active rheumatoid arthritis. Friday’s approval, on the other hand, is for treating a rare form of juvenile arthritis.

According to reports, the pharmaceutical giant has been trying to expand the use of Actemra after the company got an approval last year and earlier this year for preventing joint damage. Badrul Chowdhury, head of the federal health agency’s pulmonary, allergy and rheumatoid products division, said that this year’s new indication of Actemra provides the first approved therapy for children with this rare disease.

Systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (SJIA) is a rare form of arthritis in children that is characterized by arthritis, fever and a salmon pink rash. This disease can be challenging to diagnose because the fever and rash come and go. In addition, it may also involve internal organ, leading to serositis. Over the years, this disease can only be treated through a surgical procedure that is used to remove scars and improve joint function.

In an effort to help treat this disease without resorting to surgeries, Roche has developed a drug that can now be used to treat active adolescent-onset Still’s disease in children ages two years and older. Based on the latest statistics, data revealed that approximately one to two per 1,000 children have juvenile idiopathic arthritis, while ten percent of all JIA patients are affected by SJIA.

Regulators of Europe (EU) recommended diabetes medicine from Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly for approval to treat patients through weekly injection of drug.

With this positive result, the shares of Amylin increased by almost 13 percent. According to European Medicines Agency, Bydureon, a longer-acting description of Byetta, another medicine sold by Amylin and Lilly, is the right medication for Type II Diabetes in adults.

Both medicines contend with the Victoza of Novo Nordisk, which is also injected every day. The recommendations from the expert committee of the agency with regard to their latest medicines are normally approved by the European Commission in several months.

According to Tim Race, analyst from Deutsche Bank, the green light in Europe came as a little disclosure, given the setbacks encountered by Bydureon in the United States, adding the rival can rage some more optimistic anticipation for Victoza of Novo.

Race also said that even if Bydureon is not as effective as Victoza, for its once per week dosing, versus the everyday need for Victoza’s injections, will be striking to some patients who are suffering from Type II Diabetes.

In addition, Bydureon has been advertized as a main driver for Amylin and partner Alkermes and Lilly, but the product has encountered repetitive delays in the all-vital market in the U.S. The regulators in the U.S. requested for more information on October with regard to possible risks in the heart before giving their approval on the drug.

On the other hand, Robyn Karnauskas, analyst from Deutsche Bank, said that while they think that eh decision of EU is totally separate from the decision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they also think that the decision of EU that they view Bydureon is safe enough to use in patients with Type II Diabetes and the U.S. may possibly to follow.

A new study suggests that people think that food items with a label ‘organic’ is much tastier and healthier than the other food items without it.

The research involved 144 participants who were asked to evaluate what they thought were usually and organically manufactured potato chips, plain yogurt and chocolate sandwich cookies. All of the food items were typically organic, but they were labeled as either ‘organic’ or ‘regular’.

The volunteers used a range of one to nine to rate each of the food items on ten attributes like opinion of fat content and the overall taste of a food. They were also asked to approximate the quantity of calories in each product and how much they will be willing to compensate for each food item.

The researchers found out that the volunteers chosen almost all of the characteristics of taste of each food labeled as ‘organic; even if they were the same to those labeled as ‘regular’. The food products with a label of ‘organic’ were also distinguished as being higher in fiber, lower in fat, worth of their money and significantly lower in calories.

Jenny Wan-chen Lee, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management’s graduate student in the Cornell University said that cookies and chips that were labeled ‘organic’ were judged to much healthier than those thought to be nonorganic.

Lee performed that research to test the assumption that individuals are persuaded by what is illustrated as the halo effect. In this matter, the investigators embark to observe if the health halo, the insight that a food product that is labaled ‘organic’ is thus nutritious, will direct individuals to think that the organic food items tasted better.

A recent study showed that DNA may play an important role to find out how much caffeine individuals take in drinks like soda, tea and coffee and food like chocolate.

Scientists from the National Cancer Institute, Harvard School of Public Health and other organizations said that they have found out two variations of genetic that control the metabolism of caffeine and are related with how much consumption of caffeine people take.

Dr. Marilyn Cornelis, lead author of the study from Harvard School of Public Health, told WebMD that the genes are discovered as CYP1A2, long recognized to play some vital role in the metabolism of caffeine, and another called AHR, which influences the regulation of CYP1A2.

Everybody has both genes, but the research that involves over 47,000 European and American of middle age, finds that individuals with greatest consumption of variant for either gene took almost 40 milligrams more caffeine than those with the lowest consumption varieties of gene. Forty milligrams is the correspondent of 1/3 cup of one can of soda or caffeinated coffee.

Dr. Cornelis also said that her own father may take the variations that match to greater consumption of caffeine since he drinks no less than ten cups every day. She added that he is not trying to aim enjoyable effects, but rather he is trying to keep levels as means to prevent the symptoms of withdrawal. The doctor also added that without a cup, her father will wake up in the midnight with a headache.

This recommends that he can perhaps have the genetic profile of a quick caffeine metabolizer. The investigators also said that it is probable that the genetics plays an important role in other activities like smoking and consumption of alcohol.

A new research showed that one in every five mother that has children in the United States has different biological fathers.

As the researchers look at mothers with only two or more children, that statistic is even greater with 28 percent mothers have children with no less than two different biological fathers. According to Cassandra Dorius, the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research’s postdoctoral researcher, to put in viewpoint, this is the same to the quantity of adults in the U.S. with a college degree and it is persistent.

The research of Dorius, which was presented at the yearly conference of the Population Association of America, studied date from almost 4,000 women in the United States who has been questioned over 20 times over a period of 27 years. Dorius stated that this occurrence is very vital to study since there are consequences to both mother and her children.

Mothers with children from several men tend to be inconvenience compared with other mothers. Dorius also stated that they are more possible to be less educated, have lower family income and be underemployed. Moreover, this kind of family arrangement can lead to a great deal of stress for everybody that is involved, in part since the mothers need to manage the needs and demands of more than one father.

Dorius added that everyday assessments are more difficult and the rules in the family are more uncertain. Families need to make out who lives when and whom, who compensates for necessities, such as clothing and foods, and who is in charge for child support. Previous researches that looked at mothers with children from various men focused only on inner-city or young mothers.

The latest data, dragged from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, illustrates that this type of family arrangement is found at all levels of education and children and it is often tied to remarriage and divorce, and not simply to single motherhood.

According to a recent study, blood pressure medicine and certain kinds of antibiotics increased the risks of hypotension.

Aside from the risks of hypertension, or low levels of blood pressure, the combination of hypertension medicines called calcium-channel blockers and antibiotics clarithromycina and erythromycin can also lead shock for older individuals.

The Canadian study was released online in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on January 17.  The study also said that in elder patients that received a calcium-channel blocker, use of clarithromycin or erythromycin was linked with an increased danger of low levels of blood pressure or even shock that needs to be admitted in the hospital.

The two kinds of antibiotics, which are classified as macrolide antibiotics, are usually found in brands like Biaxin and E-Mycin. Moreover, calcium-channel blockers are also well-known as blood pressure medicines can be found in the continuing medicines Tiazac, Dilacor, Plendil, Adalat, Procardia, Cardizem and Norvasc.

The study analyzed a widespread information from individuals aging from 66 years old and above from 1994 to 2009. These participants took calcium-channel blockers and were admitted in the hospital for shock or hypotension treatment. On the 7,100 elder adults that were admitted in the hospital, 176 of them were found out to have also been taking an antibiotic, which investigators considered a crucial risk factor.

The two macrolide antibiotics in the research slow down an enzyme important to the function of calcium-channel blockers. Also, Dr. Barry Materson, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine’s professor, said that the increased danger in shock and hypotension occurs because of the obstruction with an enzyme that metabolizes the calcium-channel blockers.

The authors of the study also said that the danger of combining the two kinds of medicines is preventable. On the other hand, Dr. David Juurlink, senior researcher of the study and from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto told Reuters that physicians must be aware of the danger, and know that there is a substitute out there.

Reports said Monday that former Peace Corps director Robert Sargent Shriver is currently on critical condition due to Alzheimer’s disease.

According to a family statement, the 95-year old former US vice-presidential nominee was admitted at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda early in the day.

In 2003, Shriver was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which was detailed by his daughter Maria in a children’s book What’s Happening to Grandpa. Moreover, Maria also discussed her father’s worsening condition in the HBO documentary series The Alzheimer’s Project in 2007, where she described the changes on his father’s mental characteristics. She even said that there has been a time when she no longer tried to correct his father’s various delusions.

Shriver was a founding member of America First, an organization that tried to keep America out of war. He volunteered for the US navy and spent five years in active duty. Shriver also became popular to be part of the Kennedy family, after John F. Kennedy Sr. hired him to manage the Merchandise Mart, which is part of the Kennedy’s business empire in Chicago, Illinois. He was also relied upon by the Kennedy’s for personal tasks such as when Jacqueline Kennedy needed the funeral arrangement for her assassinated husband, former president JFK.

In 1994, Shriver received Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian honor, from former President Bill Clinton. Shriver was also given a special documentary film titled American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver aired on PBS in January 2008. Shriver is also known to be the father-in-law of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Government officials in Brazil cautioned all the affected residents with regard of the risk of waterborne illness after the devastating water-flood happened in the country.

Officials stated that they already distributed several thousands of vaccines to fight against diphtheria and tetanus. Rescuers said that they cannot reach some hard-hit places, and several of them are feared dead.

Moreover, the heavy rain is anticipated to continue for many days in places that are already sank in water or slathered with sludge. The army members entered the areas of Teresopolis and were capable to save 110 families.

Thousands of families were still on the riverbanks and mountain slopes and face great danger of being carried away. One resident illustrated that the catastrophe was like a tsunami that dropped from the sky. Sergio Cabral, the governor state of Rio de Janeiro, said in a statement that he was having his trip to Nova Friburgo and noticed a distressed mountainside.

Outside a temporary mortuary in Teresopolis, there are vast of individuals that waited for their turn to distinguish their loved ones. The government officials added that the casualty toll from distressing water-flood in Brazil kept on increasing on Sunday, exceeding 600.

No less than 631 fatalities were accounted in a region of mountain state of Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the city of Rio. Furthermore, the other states in the country of South America had also seen heavy rains. Authorities in the state of Sao Paulo claimed last week that 24 individuals have been died because of the flood.

According to weather forecasters, a forthcoming cold front is expected on late Sunday and it can carry more landslides and water-flood. Most of the mortalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro were reported in the cities of Teresopolis and Nova Friburgo, with 269 and 287 deaths respectively.

Singer Usher had cancelled at least four shows due to sickness, and did not continue his show on January 12 in Berlin because he is not feeling better.

Usher, who is at the beginning of his European OMG tour suffered from a sinus infection that has affected his health, report stated. The singer publicist affirmed that a physician had recommended Usher to get enough rest to be able to restore his health.

According to his representative, the singer is affected from an upper respiratory sickness that it at present avoiding him from continuing his shows. Following doctors’ consultation, he was told to reschedule upcoming dates to be able to rest properly to guarantee he will recover completely.

Apart from the postponed concert in Berlin, the cancelled concerts were scheduled to take place in Antwerp, Rotterdam as well as Oberhausen this week all in Germany.

Usher made his statement asking sorry to his supporters for the postponements. According to him, he was truly excited regarding his tour in Europe and he is deeply sorry for rescheduling his concerts. He added that he is deeply sorry for any sort of inconvenience he had caused his supporters and saying that his fans are the greatest thing in the world and he truly eager to recover to offer them a deserving show.

In other news about Usher, he had revealed the suggestion the King of Pop had offered him when he was a teen. According to him, Michael Jackson has told him to become the best he can be and understand that as individuals, they are constantly building history in every little thing they perform, Usher remembered.

The 32-year-old star stated he desired to mentor teen superstar Justin Bieber like how the King of Pop guided him.