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Health

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Health

Kenya Confirms Its First Ebola Case, a Man Who Flew In From Uganda After Years in Congo and Died in Nairobi

Officials in Nairobi are tracing 28 close contacts and the passengers on his flight after the Congo outbreak reached a fourth country. The WHO says it is not a reason to restrict travel.

Oct 6, 2026/3 min read

The international arrivals entrance at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, photographed in August 2025, a file photograph illustrative of the airport and not of the patient or the response

Health

A Technician at Russia's Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute Has Died, and Authorities Give Conflicting Accounts of Why

About 200 people are under medical observation after the death of a 28-year-old worker, who reportedly broke a test tube of plague bacteria. Russian health officials call it pneumonia of unknown cause.

Oct 4, 2026/2 min read

A view of Irkutsk, Russia, photographed in September 2015, a file photo of the Siberian city and not the institute or hospital involved

Health

Alfalfa Sprout Outbreak Has Now Sickened 76 People in 16 States, With 21 New Cases Since August

The CDC's 1 October update counts 76 illnesses from E. coli, Salmonella or both, all traced to one lot of alfalfa seed. Six people have been hospitalised and none has died.

Oct 2, 2026/2 min read

Germinated organic alfalfa seeds growing as sprouts, a file photograph taken in March 2010 that illustrates the food involved and is not a sample from the recalled lot

Health

Creatine Helped Adults in Their 40s, 50s and 60s Build Muscle Even Without a Workout Plan, Texas A&M Study Finds

Sixty-four adults aged 45 to 65 who took 10 grams of creatine daily for 12 weeks gained lean tissue and strength regardless of whether they followed a structured exercise programme, researchers at Texas A&M reported.

Oct 1, 2026/2 min read

A woman performing a squat exercise with a barbell in a gym, illustrative of the kind of strength training referenced in the study and not a participant in the Texas A&M trial, photographed in February 2019

Health

A Daily Weight-Loss Pill Worked Just as Well for Women at Every Stage of Menopause, New Trial Data Show

New analyses of the ATTAIN trials presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes found orforglipron cut body weight by up to 14 per cent regardless of whether women were premenopausal, perimenopausal or postmenopausal.

Sep 29, 2026/2 min read

A doctor reviewing notes with a patient during a consultation, illustrative of the kind of clinical visit involved in the ATTAIN trials and not a participant in them

Health

Congo's Ebola Outbreak Passes 8,000 Confirmed Cases as Health Worker Shortages Worsen

The Bundibugyo outbreak has now been confirmed in 8,067 people and has killed 3,901, with the virus reaching two more regions of the north and no approved vaccine or treatment to stop it.

Sep 28, 2026/2 min read

An aerial view of Bunia, the main city of Ituri province in north-eastern Congo where the outbreak began, photographed in September 2006 and illustrative rather than a picture of the outbreak

Health

CDC Vaccine Guidance Has Ground to a Standstill Under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Leaving a New Flu Shot in Limbo

The agency has issued no recommendation on a newly approved mRNA flu vaccine for older adults, citing legal uncertainty after a court froze Kennedy's overhauled vaccine advisory panel, leaving doctors' groups to fill the gap on their own.

Sep 27, 2026/2 min read

A COVID-19 vaccine vial alongside an influenza vaccine vial, illustrative of the kind of shots caught up in the CDC's stalled guidance process and not the specific mRNA flu vaccine named in this report, photographed in October 2023

Health

A Paris Simulation Found Drones Could Deliver a Defibrillator Within Five Minutes in 95 Per Cent of Cardiac Arrests

Modelling 28,349 real cardiac arrests across seven departments outside central Paris found drone-delivered defibrillators reached the scene within five minutes in more than 95 per cent of cases, against 30 to 40 per cent for fetching a fixed device by road.

Sep 27, 2026/2 min read

A US Army medical delivery drone exercise, illustrative of drone-based emergency delivery and not the Paris study itself, photographed in October 2025

Health

A Missouri Study Finds Why Ageing Muscles Lose Strength, and a Drug Target That Reversed It in Animals

Researchers traced sarcopenia to a breakdown in the nerve-to-muscle handoff caused by falling levels of a protein called NaV1.4, then showed that partially blocking a separate channel, ClC-1, restored muscle responsiveness in older animals.

Sep 26, 2026/2 min read

Outdoor senior citizen exercise equipment in Singapore, illustrative of strength training in older age and not connected to the Missouri study, photographed in May 2020

Health

More Than Half of English Adults With High Blood Pressure Do Not Know They Have It, a Study of 1.4 Million Finds

Oxford Population Health researchers found 37 per cent of adults enrolled in Our Future Health had hypertension, and 59 per cent of those, about 1.3 million people, were undiagnosed. Even diagnosed patients often had it poorly controlled.

Sep 25, 2026/2 min read

An automatic sphygmomanometer measuring blood pressure, illustrative of the England hypertension study and not a participant in it, photographed in November 2018

Health

How to Measure Your Blood Pressure at Home So the Number Means Something

A home reading is only as good as the way it was taken. Sit, rest, support the arm, use the right cuff, and take readings for a week. The thresholds at home are lower than in the clinic.

Sep 19, 2026/3 min read

An automatic upper-arm home blood pressure monitor on a table beside a person's bare arm, photographed in April 2024