LONDON (Reuters) – The state-of-the-art brain scans that allowed doctors to look inside the head of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon show how advances in neuroscience are forcing a rethink of what it means to be in a long-term coma.

Neurologists who performed the tests said they hinted that Sharon, who has been in a coma since suffering a stroke in 2006, may have a degree of consciousness and be able to hear sounds or make out pictures.

LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) – At least one in five people
worldwide were infected with swine flu during the first year of
the 2009-2010 H1N1 pandemic, an international research group
said on Friday, but the death rate was just 0.02 percent.

The results echo other studies that found children were hit
harder by the H1N1 strain, which swept around the world, than
they are by regular seasonal flu outbreaks and that people over
65 were less vulnerable.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Scientists around the world
declared an end on Wednesday to a moratorium on researching
mutant forms of the deadly H5N1 bird flu that had raised
international biosecurity concerns.

Announcing their decision to resume what they say are risky
but essential studies of the avian flu strain, the scientists
said the work would only be carried out in the most secure sites
in countries that agree it can go ahead.

LONDON, Jan 23 (Reuters) – Scientists around the world
declared an end on Wednesday to a moratorium on research into
mutant forms of the deadly H5N1 bird flu that can be transmitted
directly among mammals and had raised international biosecurity
concerns.

Announcing their decision to resume what they say are risky
but essential studies of the avian flu strain, the scientists
said the work would only be carried out in the most secure sites
in countries that agree it can go ahead.

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Emelie is plagued by hallucinations and nightmares. When she wakes up, she’s often paralyzed, unable to breathe properly or call for help. During the day she can barely stay awake, and often misses school or having fun with friends. She is only 14, but at times she has wondered if her life is worth living.

Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder, after being immunized with the Pandemrix H1N1 swine flu vaccine made by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in 2009.

STOCKHOLM, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Emelie is plagued by
hallucinations and nightmares. When she wakes up, she’s often
paralysed, unable to breathe properly or call for help. During
the day she can barely stay awake, and often misses school or
having fun with friends. She is only 14, but at times she has
wondered if her life is worth living.

Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere
in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder,
after being immunised with the Pandemrix H1N1 swine flu vaccine
made by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline in 2009.

LONDON (Reuters) – When it comes to protecting millions of people from deadly infectious diseases, Mark Kendall thinks a fingertip-sized patch covered in thousands of vaccine-coated microscopic spikes is the future.

A biomedical engineer with a fascination for problem solving, he has developed the so-called “nanopatch” to try to transform delivery of life-saving vaccines against potential killers like flu and the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer.

LONDON (Reuters) – A new strain of the winter vomiting disease norovirus has spread to France, New Zealand and Japan from Australia and is overtaking all others to become the dominant strain in Britain, health officials said on Wednesday.

The norovirus variant, known as Sydney 2012, was identified in a scientific paper last week and Britain’s Health Protection Agency (HPA) said genetic testing showed it was now causing more cases in England and Wales than other strains.

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) – A drug for bipolar disorder that
works like lithium – the most common and effective treatment -
but without lithium’s side-effects has been identified by
British researchers in tests on mice.

Scientists say the drug, ebselen, may be a swift answer to
long-sought after better medications for patients with the manic
depressive disorder, since it is already known to be safe.

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Testing children with asthma for a
specific gene could help doctors avoid giving them common
inhaler medicines that are unlikely to help and may make their
condition worse, scientists said on Tuesday.

British researchers studying why certain asthma drugs taken
by millions of children don’t appear to benefit some patients
said a gene called arginine-16 (Arg16) is key to determining
which medicines work for some and not for others.