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Saudi MERS Infections Soar ahead of Hajj Pilgrimage

MERS coronavirus infections have soared in Saudi Arabia ahead of the hajj pilgrimage, forcing the closure of a major hospital's emergency ward in Riyadh and killing three people, officials and the press said.

The Saudi Gazette said Thursday authorities shut the emergency ward at the King Abdulaziz Medical City, one of the capital's largest hospitals, "after at least 46 people, including hospital staff" contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

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Experimental Vaccine against MERS Virus Shows Promise

An experimental vaccine against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, or MERS, has shown promise when tested on lab monkeys, researchers said Wednesday.

There are no approved vaccines against MERS, which is believed to originate in camels and began to sicken people in 2012, killing hundreds since then. Infections have mainly been seen in the Middle East, South Korea, Europe and the United States.

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Second Human Plague Case Probed at Yosemite Park

A second tourist who visited Yosemite National Park has likely contracted the plague, Californian authorities said.

The unnamed individual, from the southern U.S. state of Georgia, had vacationed in Yosemite, the Sierra National Forest and surrounding areas in California early this month.

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Study: Obesity 'Master-Switch' in Genes May be Turned Off

Scientists have identified a genetic master-switch that makes some people more prone to obesity than others, and research out Wednesday suggests it can be turned off, possibly leading to weight loss.

So far, researchers have been able to manipulate the genes of mice and human cells in the lab in order to reverse obesity, but the approach has not yet been tested in people.

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Study: Working Longer Hours Increases Stroke Risk by Up to 33%

Working 55 hours or more per week is linked to a one third greater risk of stroke compared to a 35-40 hour work week, according to research published Thursday.

Based on a review of 17 studies covering 528,908 men and women followed for an average of 7.2 years, the increased stroke risk remained once smoking, alcohol consumption and level of physical activity were taken into account.

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Doctors Should Prescribe e-Cigarettes to Smokers

E-cigarettes should be prescribed to smokers to help them quit the habit, British public health experts recommended in a study on Wednesday.

The study commissioned by health authority Public Health England (PHE) found that so-called "vaping" electronic cigarettes was 95 percent less dangerous than smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes.

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U.S. Regulators Approve 'Female Viagra'

U.S. regulators Tuesday approved the first "female Viagra," a drug known as Addyi that works on the brain to boost younger women's libido if they have lost interest in sex.

Made by North Carolina-based Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Addyi, also known as flibanserin, received the nod from the US Food and Drug Administration, on the condition that extra care is taken to ensure women do not take it with alcohol due to the risk of serious side effects.

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U.N.: Cholera, Climate Change Fuel Haiti's Humanitarian Crisis

Climate change, cholera and the return of thousands of emigrants from the neighboring Dominican Republican are fueling a humanitarian crisis in Haiti, the U.N. warned Tuesday.

The impoverished Caribbean nation is facing a deluge of problems, pushing an already vulnerable population closer to the edge, said Enzo di Taranto, who heads Haiti's U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

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U.N.: Typhoid Hits Palestinians from Syria's Yarmuk Camp

Typhoid has broken out among Palestinian refugees from the besieged Yarmuk camp in the Syrian capital Damascus, a UN agency said Wednesday.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said it had been able to confirm the outbreak after gaining access to residents of the camp sheltering in the nearby Yalda neighborhood.

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New Study Links Preterm Birth with Microbes in Mother's Body

U.S. scientists might have found a new way to tell who's at risk of having a premature baby, by checking the bacterial community that lives in the mother's reproductive tract.

Trillions of microbes share our bodies, living on the skin or in the gut, mouth or vagina, what scientists call our microbiome. Many of these germs play critical roles in health, from good digestion to robust immunity, but they can contribute to health problems if they get out of whack.

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