LONDON (Reuters) – Criminal behavior in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drops sharply when they take stimulant drugs like Ritalin to help them to control impulses, scientists said on Wednesday.

A study of more than 25,000 people with ADHD found the number of crimes committed was about a third or more lower in those taking medication, suggesting that encouraging ADHD patients to stay on the pills could cut the risk of crime.

LONDON (Reuters) – Europe is experiencing its first sustained transmission of dengue fever since the 1920s with more than 1,300 people infected with the mosquito-borne disease in the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira.

In a rapid risk assessment, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that 25 cases of the disease – which is also called “breakbone fever” because of the severe pain it can cause – have been found elsewhere in Europe in travelers returning from Madeira.

LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) – An end to the worldwide AIDS
epidemic is in sight, the United Nations says, mainly due to
better access to drugs that can both treat and prevent the
incurable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the
disease.

Progress over the past decade has cut the death toll and
helped stabilise the number of people infected with HIV, the
U.N. AIDS programme said in its annual report on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) – A United Nations report said on Tuesday that eradicating AIDS was in sight, owing to better access to drugs that can both treat and prevent the incurable human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes the disease.

An aim to eventually end the worldwide AIDS epidemic is not “merely visionary” but “entirely feasible”, the report said.

LONDON (Reuters) – Women who drink even moderate amounts of alcohol while pregnant may risk lowering child’s intelligence levels, according to a study by British scientists.

Advice to pregnant women about drinking is contradictory, with some guidelines recommending no alcohol at all and others suggesting the odd drink now and then is safe.

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – A cheap meningitis vaccine
designed to treat a type of the disease common in Africa was
ruled safe to use after several days without refrigeration on
Wednesday, allowing health workers to get it to people in more
remote parts.

Epidemics of meningitis A occur every seven to 14 years in
Africa’s “meningitis belt”, a band of 26 countries stretching
from Senegal to Ethiopia, and are particularly devastating to
children and young adults.

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Patients with schizophrenia in
Britain are too often locked up in “mad house” institutions that
are more likely to make them worse than better, mental health
experts said on Wednesday.

In a damning report on how people with the severe mental
illness are cared for in Britain, the experts said there were
“catastrophic failings” in treatment and described “shameful”
standards of care on some mental health wards.

LONDON (Reuters) – Researchers have used DNA sequencing for the first time to identify, analyze and put a halt to an infectious disease outbreak in a hospital.

The success of the technique, which used fast genome sequencing technology to control an outbreak of the MRSA superbug on a baby ward, suggests it could be used to control hospital bugs, salmonella and E.coli infections and diseases like tuberculosis, scientists said.

LONDON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Patients with schizophrenia in
Britain are too often locked up in “mad house” institutions that
are more likely to make them worse than better, mental health
experts said on Wednesday.

In a damning report on how people with the severe mental
illness are cared for in Britain, the experts said there were
“catastrophic failings” in treatment and described “shameful”
standards of care on some mental health wards.

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) – The world’s first potential
malaria vaccine proved only 30 percent effective in African
babies in a crucial trial, calling into question whether it can
be a useful weapon in the fight against the deadly disease.

The surprisingly poor result for the vaccine, which
GlaxoSmithKline has been developing for three decades,
leaves several years of work ahead before a protective malaria
shot could be ready for countries that desperately need one.