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Infectious Diseases (Other)

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Fact File

Q fever

Health: Library - 19 June 2003
Q fever is a highly infectious disease that is carried by animals and passed to humans. People who work with livestock are at highest risk of the disease and it is very prevalent in Queensland. But now there is a vaccine available.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, vaccines-and-immunity, rural

Fungi and disease

Health Minutes - 21 July 2008
Researchers warn that fungi are underestimated as a cause of disease; yet medical technology has created an environment in which fungi thrive.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other

Measles: it's back

Health: The Pulse - 17 July 2008
Measles is on the rise again, and health authorities are urging parents to make sure kids are vaccinated.

Tags: child-health-and-behaviour, infectious-diseases-other, vaccines-and-immunity

Antibiotic resistant golden staph

Health Minutes - 23 June 2008
Living conditions in disadvantaged communities could be helping drug-resistant golden staph to spread outside hospitals.

Tags: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, infectious-diseases-other, pharmaceuticals

Elderly vulnerable to tetanus and diptheria

Health Minutes - 30 October 2007
Research shows that a high proportion of Australians aged over 50 are vulnerable to catching tetanus and diphtheria, and need to be vaccinated against them.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, older-people, vaccines-and-immunity

Gastro bug outbreak

Health: The Pulse - 20 September 2007
This year 200,000 Australians will get the highly infectious gastro virus norovirus, but they can stop it spreading with a few simple measures.

Tags: child-health-and-behaviour, infectious-diseases-other, older-people, stomach-and-digestion

Hepatitis C and lymphoma link

Health Minutes - 09 July 2007
Research has found that people with hepatitis C are more likely to develop non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Tags: cancer, infectious-diseases-other

Elderly vulnerable to tetanus and diphtheria

Health Minutes - 20 June 2007
According to recent research, a high proportion of Australians aged over 50 are vulnerable to catching tetanus and diphtheria and need to be vaccinated against them.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, older-people, vaccines-and-immunity

Climate change and Australia's health

Health: The Pulse - 03 May 2007
Climate change is going to affect our health for the worse - but state and federal governments have done little contingency planning.

Tags: epidemiology, infectious-diseases-other, environmental-health

Chickenpox immunisation

Health Minutes - 17 April 2007
A recent study suggests the chicken pox vaccine is less effective after five years, so children between the ages of six and eight may need a chicken pox booster shot.

Tags: child-health-and-behaviour, infectious-diseases-other, vaccines-and-immunity

Indigenous health improving

Health Minutes - 12 February 2007
The rate of increase in chronic diseases in Indigenous communities may be slowing, according to new figures from the Northern Territory.

Tags: indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, heart-disease, infectious-diseases-other, rural

Thumbs down for flu drugs

Health Minutes - 19 September 2006
Researchers investigated anti-flu drugs like amantadine and rimantadine - as well as newer versions such as Tamiflu and Relenza - and found them to be far from 100 per cent effective.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, older-people, pharmaceuticals

Take breathlessness seriously

Health Minutes - 14 August 2006
Breathlessness can be a sign of heart disease or another condition such as diabetes and high blood pressure - and it should be investigated.

Tags: heart-disease, infectious-diseases-other, stress

Elderly vulnerable to tetanus and diptheria

Health Minutes - 27 June 2006
According to recent research, a high proportion of Australians aged over 50 are vulnerable to catching tetanus and diphtheria and need to be vaccinated against them.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, older-people, vaccines-and-immunity

Thumbs down for flu drugs

Health Minutes - 03 February 2006
Researchers investigated anti-flu drugs like amantadine and rimantadine - as well as newer versions such as Tamiflu and Relenza - and found them to be far from 100 per cent effective.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases, older-people, pharmaceuticals

Take breathlessness seriously

Health Minutes - 14 November 2005
Breathlessness can be a sign of heart disease or another condition such as diabetes and high blood pressure - and it should be investigated.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, older-people

Elderly vulnerable to tetanus and diptheria

Health Minutes - 05 October 2005
According to recent research, a high proportion of Australians aged over 50 are vulnerable to catching tetanus and diphtheria and need to be vaccinated against them.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, older-people, vaccines-and-immunity

Mysterious childhood viruses

Health Minutes - 23 March 2005
Human Herpesvirus 6, or HHV 6 as it's known, could be the culprit behind those lingering and mysterious viruses in babies and toddlers.

Tags: child-health-and-behaviour, infectious-diseases-other

Smallpox bioterrorism

Health Minutes - 28 October 2004
One of the big worries in bioterrorism is the smallpox virus, especially since people are no longer immunised. Would it be possible to dilute existing stockpiles of the vaccine, to make it go further if necessary?

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, vaccines-and-immunity, health-policy

Erythromycin warning

Health Minutes - 30 September 2004
Erythromycin, a commonly prescribed antibiotic, can cause potentially deadly complications when taken at the same time as some other medications.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, pharmaceuticals

Artificial nails - a health hazard

Health Minutes - 04 August 2004
A US intensive care unit identified a nurse with artificial nails as one of the culprits of an outbreak of infections in babies.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, doctors-and-medical-professionals, healthcare-facilities, skin

Hep A outbreak leads to food safety

Health Minutes - 17 March 2004
A salutary tale about food safety comes from a dramatic episode in the US a few months ago. They had one of the largest ever outbreaks of hepatitis A, affecting over 550 people with three deaths. The disease detectives got on the job to find out what these people had in common.

Tags: diet-and-nutrition, food-poisoning, infectious-diseases-other, liver-and-kidneys

Smallpox immunisation affords long term defence

Health Minutes - 26 November 2003
After the September 11 attacks on New York there was an international scare about the prospects of biological terrorism involving smallpox. But there is also a large number of people who did have smallpox vaccination when they were children and who are wondering whether they are still immune. The difficulty is that no-one is really sure which part of the immune system best fights smallpox.

Tags: infectious-diseases-other, vaccines-and-immunity

Antibiotics and the heart

Health Minutes - 07 October 2003
One theory of heart disease is that it's caused by an infection. The germ that's often talked about is Chlamydia pneumoniae. So could taking antibiotics reduce the liklihood of heart disease? A recent study of people taking antibiotics showed that they had no effect.

Tags: heart-disease, infectious-diseases-other, pharmaceuticals

Change breeds a new disease

Health Minutes - 10 April 2003
Whenever we humans change the way we live, by changing our behaviour or the things we do to the environment, new diseases emerge.

Tags: epidemiology, infectious-diseases-other, respiratory-diseases

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