The CDC confirmed Friday that pet rats were the source of the Seoul virus outbreak in Wisconsin and Illinois. Based on the agency’s report, eight human cases of infection have been reported so far.

Dr. Jennifer McQuiston, the CDC deputy division director for high consequent pathogens and a veterinarian, says that this is the first time in the U.S. history when humans get infected with the Seoul virus in pet rats.

Previous outbreaks occurred, but all of them were caused by wild rats. McQuiston adds that a similar outbreak linked to pet rats occurred in Europe a few years ago. The first patient who contracted the virus was a Wisconsin resident, who reported having flu-like symptoms.

When his doctor learned about the man’s exposure to small rodents, he decided to check if the patient might have been infected with hantavirus. The sample tested positive for the rat virus, so the public health specialists in Wisconsin sent them to the CDC.

Plus, they also sent a second sample from a family member who was a home-based rodent breeder too. On the 11^th of January, the CDC officials confirmed the two cases of Seoul virus infections in both men.

McQuiston explains that the Seoul virus is unusual in the United States. The infection usually triggers mild symptoms similar to the flu, but in the worst-case scenario, it can lead to severe complications, including renal disease.

More precisely, the patients can experience abdominal pain, headache, fever, nausea, chills, rashes, and eye infection. It is worth mentioning that in the rarest cases, this simple infection might lead to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a potentially deadly disease which causes severe aches, fever, and fatigue.

In some patients, the disease might be asymptomatic. The symptoms generally appear within seven to 14 days after the patient contracts the Seoul virus, but in some cases, the symptoms appear after eight weeks.

The investigators discovered that two ratteries in Illinois were responsible for six other cases of human infection. However, only one of the patients experienced the symptoms. Fortunately, the Seoul virus cannot be transmitted from one person to another, so the authorities believe that they will successfully contain the outbreak as soon as possible.

People can contract the Seoul virus if they come in contact with urine, saliva, blood, and other infectious fluids from sick rats.

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Nothing compares to a relaxing day at the beach, but as with any activity, there are some dangers which can be easily avoided. In the case of the beach experience, it is the sunburn, which many prefer to either prevent by bringing a beach umbrella or sunscreen.

However, not much information was available regarding the best way to prevent a sunburn or any conditions caused by long exposures to high temperatures and sunlight. Therefore, researchers have conducted a study which showed the sitting under a beach umbrella does not have as many benefits as using sunscreen.

For their study, the researchers recruited 81 people with fair skin. All the participants were required to sit in the midday sun at the beach in Lake Lewisville, Texas for three and a half hours in August 2014. The researchers randomly assigned each participant to either use an SPF 100 sunscreen or a standard-sized beach umbrella.

After the experiment was concluded, the researchers analyzed a number of sunburns the participants in both groups experienced. They found that 78 percent of the participants who used the beach umbrella to protect themselves from the sun were sunburned the following day. However, only 25 percent of sunscreen users were affected by sunburns. More specifically, the researchers found 142 areas with sunburn on 41 people who used the umbrella, while among those who used the sunscreen, the researchers found only 17 such areas.

The findings of the study were published in the journal JAMA Dermatology, by a team of researchers led by Dr. Hao Ou-Yang, and was partly funded, Johnson and Johnson. In the study, the researchers explain that the beach umbrella was designed as a way to prevent contact with direct rays from the sun. However, they are unable to protect its users from scattered rays.

Although the study found that SPF 100 sunscreen is more efficient in preventing sunburns than the beach umbrella, while allowing greater freedom for the user, neither method is 100 percent effective in preventing sunburns in all users. Therefore, it is best to use a combination of preventative factors like protective clothing, as well as sunscreen.

What do you think about the study’s results? Do you get sunburnt easily?

Image source: Wikimedia

There are many people who are trying every method they can to avoid aging instead of accepting as a natural process. While the genuine science is still far away from preventing our eventual aging and decay, there are several companies which claim to have the solution to aging. One such company will inject you with the blood of young people as a way to slow the aging process.

Although all previous attempts at proclaiming the discovery of the fountain of youth were dismissed by scientists, this doesn’t stop new companies or individuals with coming up with all sorts of ideas on how to combat aging. One of the most recent endeavors against old age comes from a startup company named Ambrosia based in Monterey, California.

The company is named after the food of the Greek gods believed to bestow immortality. In a similar manner, the company claims to combat aging by injecting old people with young blood collected from teenagers or young adults for the sum of $8,000.

According to the company’s CEO, Jesse Karmazin, the inspiration for this idea came from studies which showed that old mice that were sewn with younger price in a process known as parabiosis, leads to some reverse aging effects. Other studies performed on mice also showed an increase in neuron growth or improved memory after 10 transfusions of young blood from other mice.

By December 15, 2016, Ambrosia completed trial tests on 25 participants infusing them with young blood. The company claims that the participants saw improvements in the state, as they felt healthier and younger, which are questionable results as they have not been under proper scientific review and their reported states may be caused by the placebo effect.

Now, the company seeks to enroll up to 600 more participants for a clinical trial. The study will consist in the administration of a one-time transfusion of young blood. More specifically a two-liter bag of plasma, which has had the blood cells removed. The blood was collected from people with ages between 16 to 25 years old.

Scientists have expressed their doubts and strong skepticism about the company’s claims as they have warned would-be participants about the lack of scientific evidence about how young blood can combat aging.

Image source: Pixabay

Acupuncture is regarded by many people as a somewhat strange and unorthodox treatment, but both eastern and western medicine have taken notice of its health benefits. According to a new study, among the benefits of acupuncture is the reduction in babies’ excessive crying known as infantile colic.

The study was published in the online journal Acupuncture in Medicine and it details how the benefits of acupuncture, a treatment known to relieve patients of pain, induce calm, restore gut function, and more, may even help parents reduce the excessive crying of their babies.

Doctors characterize infantile colic as a condition present in babies who cry more than three hours a day at least three days in a week. This condition can affect one in five families and causes pain for the baby and stress for its parents.

For their study, the researchers wanted to determine if the pain-relieving effects of acupuncture would also be present in babies suffering from the condition. Therefore, they compared two types of acupuncture treatments with just standard care. The study involved the observation of 147 babies affected by excessive crying and whose condition was confirmed during a routine check-up across four different child health centers in Sweden.

All the babies involved in the study were aged between 8 weeks and 2 years old. All of them were found healthy besides the colic condition. Furthermore, all of them did not receive any cow’s milk for at least five days as a way to curb excess fussing or crying.

The scientists then randomly allocated each baby to one of three groups and were required to visit the health center for two more times each week over the course of two weeks. The visits included a 30-minutes discussion with a nurse regarding the baby’s symptoms and situation as well as statutory appointments which consisted of childcare advice, weighing and measuring of the baby.

The first group in the study received minimal acupuncture treatment at one acupuncture point for a few seconds. The second group of babies received a tailored acupuncture treatment of five acupuncture points for 30 seconds. Finally, the last group received no acupuncture at all to act a control a group. Furthermore, over the course of the entire study, the parents were asked to monitor how long and often their child cried before and after the treatment.

The researchers saw a reduction in excessive crying in all groups as the colic cleared up in all babies, but the drop was more significant in babies who received the acupuncture treatment.

Image source: Wikimedia

A new study reveals the fact that scientists were able to restore vision in mice which suffered from eye diseases which thought to lead to irreversible vision loss. They were able to restore the mice’s vision by using stem cells.

Researchers were able to grow retina tissue in a lab using the versatile stem cells. They managed to successfully transplant the tissue into the mice which had the end-stage retinal degeneration disease. After the completion of the procedure on a number of mice, 40 percent were able to see light in the following period.

This experiment marks the first time that researchers were able to transplant cells with the capacity to sense light, more specifically, the light receptors on the retina, were able to connect to the mice’s nervous systems and transmit the light signals to its brain.

The study detailing the experiment was published in the journal Stem Cell Reports by a team of researchers led by Dr. Michiko Mandai, the lead author of the paper and deputy project leader at RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan.

The researchers plan to continue their work and eventually improve the operation by increasing the number of connections between the cells located in the degenerated retina and the transplant of stem cells. The increased number of connection would allow the mice to see larger figures and movement besides light.

The findings of the study offer a promising future for the 15 million people in the US or the 170 million worldwide which suffered age-related retinal degeneration. However, further research is required even before the scientists attempt human trials.

For their study, the researchers were able to convert skin cells collected from an adult mouse into induced pluripotent stem cells. Afterward, they converted the stem cells into the retinal tissue which was transplanted into the mice.

To determine the results of the experiment, the researchers used a shuttle avoidance test. It involved a box which insulated both sound and light and had two chambers separated by a wall featuring a small opening to allow the mice to move between the rooms. The researchers trained the mice to respond to a shock and light signal and move to the other room. After a period, they removed the shock stimulant, only leaving the light. If the mice still followed the trained behavior than it means that they saw the light.

Image source: Wikimedia

Americans who enjoy eating raw or undercooked fish should be careful because they can become infected with the Japanese broad tapeworm.

Known as the Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense, this species is a digestive tract-invading parasite which can cause a lot of damage. Although most scientists believed that the Japanese tapeworm lives just in Asia, recent research has shown that it has infected US salmon as well.

CDC experts announced that the samples from numerous wild Alaskan salmon tested positive for the Japanese broad tapeworm larvae. As such, the biologists stress that those who catch salmon along the North American Pacific coast should be extremely careful because the fish is most likely infected.

Back in 1986, the researchers discovered this parasite, and concluded that it caused roughly 2,000 infections, making it the 2^nd most prevalent type of infection caused by a species of tapeworm.

The scientists later discovered that the parasite is more dangerous than they had thought. More precisely, most of the infections occurring in Russia, South Korea, and Japan were caused by the Japanese broad tapeworm.

In other words, this species of tapeworm is the most dangerous. Three years ago, a team of wildlife biologists caught 64 wild salmon in Alaska and analyzed them. They found out that the fish were infected with larvae between eight and 15 mm long.

After lab testing, they established that the larvae were Japanese tapeworms. According to the study findings, there are four types of Pacific salmon which can carry Japanese tapeworm larvae, such as sockeye salmon, pink salmon, masu salmon, and chum salmon.

Also, these species arrive in many restaurants worldwide, so they might occur even in Europe. It is worth mentioning that those who become infected usually experience no symptoms. Just some of them can suffer abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, and weight loss.

In the worst-case scenario, this parasite can cause more violent symptoms such as painful bile ducts inflammation and intestinal obstruction. This parasite can grow up to 30 feet long, and it consumes a lot of vitamin B12.

In time, vitamin B12 deficiency can have a detrimental effect on the brain affecting cognitive abilities and memory. Fortunately, tapeworm infections are very rare across the United States, but CDC officials urge citizens to be aware of the risks of consuming undercooked or raw fish.

Image Source:Pixabay

Although the internet’s adoration for Nutella seems to have died down slightly, a new study issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reveals that a key ingredient in the popular product, palm oil, may cause cancer in certain conditions.

According to EFSA study, palm oil, a widely used chemical in the food industry as well as an essential Nutella ingredient can become carcinogenic when it is processed at high temperatures of around 200 degrees Celsius.

More specifically, the EFSA study reveals that the highest amounts of known carcinogens such as the glycidyl fatty acid esters (GE), 2-monochloropropanediol (2-MCPD), and 3-monochloropropanediol (3-MCPD) were found in processed vegetable oils. Furthermore, they were present in higher concentrations in palm oils and palm fats.

Although the study did not specifically mention Nutella, as they only referred to margarine, cakes, and pastries as possible sources of contact with those substances for small children. However, one glance at the ingredient label and you can find out that the controversial palm oil is indeed a Nutella ingredient.

Following the findings of the study, several supermarkets in Italy decided to pull the popular product from their shelves. The company that produced Nutella is based in Italy and is known as Ferrero has taken a public stance against the claims it can cause cancer.

It several posts about their product and the recent controversy, the company sought to assure their consumers that the product is safe for consumption by stating the way they use palm oil to produce Nutella does not lead to the formation of the carcinogens in question. The EFSA study did not make any recommendations regarding the consumption of Nutella, as more research is required to assess the risk.

However, palm oil is affected by a number of other controversies such as farmers in Indonesia burning down large swaths of forest to plant more palm trees from whose fruits the oil is produced. Being the cheapest oil on the market at $800 a ton compared to $845 for sunflower oil is used at a large scale in the food industry. As such, Ferrero even defended its use of palm oil, in general, stating it gives Nutella it’s distinct texture and taste, unlike any other type of vegetable oil.

Image source: Flickr

Centrifuges are an essential tool for doctors, labs and research centers across the world. However, despite their many benefits, they are quite expensive, quite large and require electricity to function. Such requirement cannot be met in poorly developed regions where doctors need them the most.

However, the future of centrifuges is looking a lot better thanks to the amazing invention of a team of researchers from Stanford University.  Taking direct inspiration from a whirligig toy for children, the researchers were able to create a paper centrifuge which can be spun by hand without any need for electricity, a precious commodity in undeveloped regions.

Furthermore, the device is also extremely cheap, costing only 27 cents to make, and provides results quite fast compared to a normal centrifuge, as it is able to detect diseases like malaria in blood in only 15 minutes.

Researchers across the world recognize the importance of centrifuges and a bid to overcome its limitations, they tried to develop simple and less expensive devices from kitchen instruments like egg beaters or salad spinners. However, none were successful as they did not reach the required speeds specific to an advanced centrifuge.

The new paper centrifuge developed by Manu Prakash and his colleagues from Stanford was detailed in a paper published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering. They were able to recreate the capabilities of a modern centrifuge by using paper and wire while being lightweight, low-cost, and human-powered.

The scientists decided to name their paper centrifuge invention the “paperfuge”, which is able to reach an astonishing speed of 125,00 revolutions per minute. It can exert centrifugal forces of around 30,000g. This allows its users to separate white and red cells in a blood sample introduced into its paper core in only a few minutes of usage.

The paperfuge is the fastest non-electrical centrifuge ever developed, being 100 times faster than any previous inventions and it’s considered to have the highest rotational speed for a human-powered device. The inspiration for the device comes from an ancient toy known as the whirligig, dating back to 3.300 BC. It works by pulling the strings which pass through the center of the paper disk which can hold different medical samples. Pulling on the handles connected to the strings unwinds them making the disc rotate at high speeds.

Image credit: Stanford

E-cigarettes are relatively new product compared to the standard tobacco products. As such, researchers still don’t know definitively how long-term use of these devices can affect a person’s health.  Nonetheless, a new study reveals that the public mistrust of e-cigarettes has risen as of late.

Most studies involving the health effects of these battery-powered devices have somewhat mixed results as they mostly depend on the type of nicotine liquid consumers use. Although most think that e- e-cigarettes are at least safer and less dangerous than normal tobacco products, it seems that people are becoming more aware and cautious regarding its danger, as the new study reveals.

Eric Ford, a professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s department of health policy and management and the leader of the study, promotes the spread of information regarding the risks of e-cigarettes despite the absence of public or government health push against them.

He also emphasizes the surprising findings of his study which contradicts normal situations, where it is hard to reverse the beliefs about a specific product when misinformation about its health effects has already become widespread. This was not the case with e-cigarettes as they were and still are promoted as a healthier option, people seem to have grown somewhat more skeptic about them.

For their study, the researchers analyzed several representative surveys conducted nationally between 2012 and 2014. The surveys were all sponsored by the US National Cancer Institute and included over 3,000 non-smokers, former and current smokers each year. The study shows that the public’s awareness regarding e-cigarettes increased 17 percent between 2012 and 2014, from 77 percent to 94 percent. However, this increased awareness did not impact the number of people who renounced the habit.

Another interesting result of the study is that in 2014, around 43 percent of the people surveyed believed that e-cigarettes were not as dangerous as normal tobacco cigarettes, compared to 50 percent of people surveyed in 2012.

Researchers warn that the use of electronic cigarettes, which were used by 4 percent of US adults might lead to an increased use of tobacco. Teenagers can be quite vulnerable to the marketing campaigns for such devices.

What do you think about vaping and the use of such devices compared to normal cigarettes?

Image source: Wikipedia