Health

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo is on track to surpass the deadliest one in history that killed over 11,000 people out of more than 28,000 cases, the head of the World Health Organization said Wednesday. "At its current pace, it's on track to eclipse the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. That outbreak horrified the world and jolted efforts to develop a vaccine. The outbreak in eastern Congo, considered the fastest-growing in history, has killed over 2,000 people out of more than 4,300 cases. The outbreak was declared on May 15, but health authorities now say sequencing showed it began months earlier, in February. It is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the rare Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vacci...

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rajkot has performed its first corneal transplant surgery, providing emergency treatment to a 65-year-old woman from Kodinar in Gir Somnath district whose severe corneal infection had failed to respond to medical treatment. The successful keratoplasty marks the commencement of specialised corneal transplantation services at the institute. The patient had been suffering from infective keratitis for two months and, despite intensive medical treatment, the infection continued to worsen and caused significant damage to her cornea. Given the severity of the infection, doctors decided to perform an emergency therapeutic corneal transplant. The procedure aimed to eliminate the infection, preserve the structural integrity of the eye, and maxi...

A 32-year-old man from Maharashtra's Hingoli, who had been living with severe spinal deformity caused by ankylosing spondylitis for nearly six years, underwent corrective spine surgery at Sir JJ Group of Hospitals in Mumbai. Shivraj Mahadeo Javane, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis in 2021, had developed a severe forward curvature of the spine that made it difficult for him to stand upright, walk, sleep, bend or look straight ahead. His condition had progressively worsened, eventually forcing him to quit his job at a bank in Hingoli in 2022. He later underwent hip replacement surgery in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2025 after abnormal weight-bearing caused by the spinal deformity severely affected his hip joint. Severe spinal curvature linked to ankylosing spondylitis Javan...

The arrival of the monsoon brings welcome relief from scorching summer temperatures, yet it simultaneously introduces a health challenge that often goes unnoticed: weeks of overcast skies, persistent rain, and a sharp decline in direct sunlight exposure. During this transition, it is easy to attribute lingering sluggishness or low energy solely to the damp, gloomy weather. However, if persistent fatigue remains despite getting adequate sleep, your body may be signalling an underlying micronutrient shortage. Vitamin D, often referred to as the sunshine vitamin, is a crucial fat-soluble nutrient synthesised naturally when skin is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) sunlight. With fewer clear days and an increased tendency to remain indoors during the rainy season, natural vitamin D production dr...

A team doctors in Navi Mumbai has brought renewed hope to a 28-year-old woman living with Sjögren's syndrome-associated ganglionopathy, a rare neurological complication of the autoimmune disease. With a previous history of autoimmune myositis, she endured a long and painful journey marked by severe dry eyes and mouth, muscle weakness, fatigue, imbalance, numbness, and progressive loss of mobility that left her unable to perform routine daily activities independently. After consulting multiple hospitals, the patient and her family were told that treatment options were limited and there was little hope for meaningful recovery. Following a personalised cell-based therapy and comprehensive rehabilitation program at StemRx Hospital & Research Centre, she is now showing encouraging improvem...

The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), a laboratory under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), has come up with a unique adhesive to close wounds, both after surgeries and during accidents, officials said on Saturday. The product has been licenced and while IICT has already tied up with a pharmaceutical company and launched it, the laboratory has asked for more partners for further commercialisation. According to researchers, it is an indigenous, biocompatible tissue adhesive based on alkyl 2-cyanoacrylate technology for rapid wound closure and tissue sealing that provides instant bonding under moist conditions while reducing the need for sutures in selected surgical procedures. The adhesive has undergone clinical trials and declared safe for surgical ...

A normal electrocardiogram (ECG) should not be interpreted as proof that the heart is free of disease, cardiovascular surgeon Dr Rahul Chandola said, stressing that while the test is an important diagnostic tool, it cannot by itself determine the overall health of the heart or identify blocked coronary arteries.  Dr Chandola, founder and managing director of the Institute of Heart Lungs Diseases Research Centre (IHLD), said many people mistakenly assume that a normal ECG rules out heart disease, leading them to ignore symptoms that require medical attention.  Drawing on his clinical experience, he said he had treated several patients who appeared healthy and physically active until shortly before suffering a heart attack.  "I have seen patients who ran several kilometres on the morning ...

Bengaluru doctors have successfully saved the life of a 57-year-old woman who came to the hospital with giddiness and a newly developed headache. While there were no obvious clinical signs of stroke or bleeding, the headache was unusual enough to warrant further evaluation leading to an MRI. The scan showed no evidence of a stroke but instead, it revealed an aneurysm located at a critical junction of blood vessels deep within the brain. Fortunately, the aneurysm had not ruptured.  For many people, headaches have become a part of daily life. Stress, lack of sleep, dehydration, long working hours and constant screen exposure are often blamed—and in most cases, rightly so. A painkiller, a cup of coffee or a few hours of rest usually bring relief. Why headaches should be taken seriously The...

Zydus Lifesciences on Tuesday said it has received final approval from the US health regulator for its generic version of indocyanine green for injection, an optical imaging agent indicated for fluorescence imaging. The final approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) is for the abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for indocyanine green for injection of strength 25 mg/vial, a sterile lyophilised powder for reconstitution, Zydus Lifesciences Ltd said in a regulatory filing. Zydus said its indocyanine green for injection is a generic equivalent of the reference listed drug IC-Green by Diagnostic Green LLC. The USFDA has designated the application a competitive generic therapy (CGT), it added. According to the USFDA, the regulator may designate a drug as a CGT after determi...

The first 1,000 days of life—spanning from conception through a child's second birthday—represent a critical window of human growth and development. Every feed during this timeframe does far more than simply satisfy immediate hunger.  Breast milk is a living, bioactive fluid containing immune cells, beneficial bacteria, and over 200 distinct human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) that collaborate to build an infant's gut, immune system, and brain. Every year, World Breastfeeding Week 2026 is being observed from August 1 to 7 to highlight the role of breastfeeding in an infant’s life. As medical science deepens our understanding of early paediatric care, expert insight from Dr. Ravneet Joshi, consultant lactation specialist at Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road, Bengaluru, and Dr. Asmita Mahaj...