New research suggests a one-two punch could help battle polio in some of the world's most remote and conflict-torn regions: Giving a single vaccine shot to children who've already swallowed drops of an oral polio vaccine greatly boosted their immunity.

The World Health Organization officials said the combination strategy already is starting to be used in mass vaccination campaigns in some hard-hit areas and is being introduced for routine immunizations in developing countries.

Botox has frozen the faces of countless Hollywood stars, and international researchers said Wednesday the toxic injections might also be able to stop cancer in its tracks, at least temporarily.

The findings in the journal Science Translational Medicine are based on studies of mice with stomach cancer.

A total of 172 "suicide tourists" traveled to Switzerland in 2012, double the 2009 number, to die with medical assistance -- a practice prohibited in many countries, a study said Thursday.

German and UK citizens were the bulk of visitors, and the reasons most often cited were neurological conditions like paralysis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis.

High in the hills of Myanmar's war-torn borderlands, a clutch of new leprosy cases among communities virtually cut off from medical help is a sign that the country's battle with the ancient disease is far from over.

It took six days by plane, boat, motorcycle, bus -- and an arduous mountain trek -- for a group of medical workers to treat two leprosy patients in a remote corner of the country, where conflict and neglect are the legacy of decades of military rule and even access to basic medicines is a distant dream.

Violence erupted in an Ebola quarantine zone in Liberia's capital Wednesday when soldiers opened fire and used tear gas on crowds as they evacuated a state official and her family.

Four residents were injured in the clashes that flared in Monrovia's West Point slum which has been contained as part of new security measures aimed at containing the deadly virus.

A private hospital in South Africa admitted Wednesday that it had carried out heart surgery on the wrong patient after a name mix-up. 

Local media said 83-year-old Rita du Plessis was being treated for a respiratory infection, but ended up in theatre for a procedure to remove excess moisture around her heart.

Danish researchers reported a link Wednesday between a commonly-used antibiotic and a "significantly" higher risk of heart deaths, while observers urged caution in interpreting the results.

In a study published online by the British medical journal The BMJ, the team said clarithromycin use was associated with a 76-percent higher risk of cardiac death, compared to use of penicillin V.

Russians and Ukrainians aged 55 to 59 die from coronary heart disease at a higher rate than Frenchmen who are 20 years older, a study released Wednesday of Europe's cardiovascular health showed.

Drawing on data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the report covering 52 countries noted a generally positive trend, but with huge discrepancies across the region.

Steven Spielberg, Justin Bieber and Bill Gates are among many celebrities pouring buckets of ice water over their heads and donating to fight Lou Gehrig's disease, in a fundraising effort that has gone viral.

Since June, several thousand people worldwide have recorded themselves getting drenched, then posted the stunt online and challenged others to do the same, or pledge $100 to ALS research.

Vietnam and Myanmar are testing three patients for the deadly Ebola virus after they arrived in the Southeast Asian nations from Africa suffering fever, health officials said.

Two Nigerians were sent to Ho Chi Minh City's Tropical Diseases Hospital for isolation after they arrived in the city by plane, Vietnam's health ministry said, adding that they did not have symptoms other than fever.