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Syria used to have one of the highest rates of polio vaccinations in the region. But since the civil war began, rates have plummeted. Now the crippling virus has likely returned to the country, health officials say. Initial tests indicate that polio has paralyzed at least two children.
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Millions of Syrians have poured into refugee camps, where food, water and health services are scarce. As the U.S. prepares for possible military action, aid agencies are preparing for thousands more people to flee and worsen the humanitarian crisis.
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After being free of polio for decades, Israel has detected the virus in sewers across the country. No children have become ill. But health officials are worried that polio has regained a foothold in Israel.
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There's a difference between knowing your breast cancer risk and believing it. When psychologists asked several hundred women to plug personal health data into an online tool that then calculated their breast cancer risk, nearly 20 percent rejected their scores as wrong.
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Somalia now has the dubious distinction of having the worst polio outbreak in the world. The country had been polio-free since 2007. If this outbreak gains a foothold, health workers fear it could spread into the Middle East.
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The number of babies born with the life-threatening disease will climb by a third in the next 40 years, scientists say. The vast majority of sickle cell cases will occur in developing countries, which don't have the resources to treat deadly complications arising from the genetic disorder.
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The recommended change would mean that patients would begin treatment before they get extremely sick. In Africa, where millions of people are infected with HIV, a move to earlier treatment would be challenging for the public health system.
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People with HIV should get on medications even before they get sick, World Health Organization officials say. The new treatment guidelines aim to slow spread of the virus by making more then 26 million people eligible for antiretroviral drugs. But it's unclear who will foot the bill.
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The world is closer than ever to wiping out polio. But a growing outbreak in the Horn of Africa has health workers worried that the virus could spread to surrounding regions. Thirty-one kids have been paralyzed by the poliovirus in the past two months, and the number is expected to rise.
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The first comprehensive global study to be conducted finds that domestic violence kills many women and leaves others with long-standing physical and mental health problems, including sexually transmitted diseases and depression.