The widely-held perception that the influenza vaccination reduces overall mortality risk in the elderly does not withstand careful scrutiny, according to researchers in Alberta. The vaccine does confer protection against specific strains of influenza, but its overall benefit appears to have been exaggerated by a number of observational studies that found a very large reduction in all-cause mortality among elderly patients who had been vaccinated.

The study included more than 700 matched elderly subjects, half of whom had taken the vaccine and half of whom had not. After controlling for a wealth of variables that were largely not considered or simply not available in previous studies that reported the mortality benefit, the researchers concluded that any such benefit "if present at all, was very small and statistically non-significant and may simply be a healthy-user artifact that they were unable to identify."

"While such a reduction in all-cause mortality would have been impressive, these mortality benefits are likely implausible. Previous studies were likely measuring a benefit not directly attributable to the vaccine itself, but something specific to the individuals who were vaccinated - a healthy-user benefit or frailty bias," said Dean T. Eurich,Ph.D. clinical epidemiologist and assistant professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. "Over the last two decades in the United Sates, even while vaccination rates among the elderly have increased from 15 to 65 percent, there has been no commensurate decrease in hospital admissions or all-cause mortality. Further, only about 10 percent of winter-time deaths in the United States are attributable to influenza, thus to suggest that the vaccine can reduce 50 percent of deaths from all causes is implausible in our opinion."

Chicago - Nearly a fourth of widely used new-generation biological drugs for several common diseases produce serious side effects that lead to safety warnings soon after they go on the market, the first major study of its kind found.

Included in the report released Tuesday were the arthritis drugs Humira and Remicade, cancer drugs Rituxan and Erbitux, and the heart failure drug Natrecor. All wound up being flagged for safety.

This year saw the first commercial planting of genetically modified (GM) sugar beets in the United States, with that sugar to hit the food supply soon after.

Farmers across the country will soon be planting Monsanto's Roundup Ready sugar beet, genetically engineered for resistance to Monsanto's herbicide glyphosate (marketed as Roundup). John Schorr, agriculture manager for Amalgamated Sugar, estimates that 95 percent of the sugar beet crop in Idaho will be of the new GM variety in 2008, or a total of 150,000 out of 167,000 acres.

Harare - A cholera outbreak that has bridged Zimbabwe's dry season is proving difficult to contain and has spread from the cities to rural areas.

There are fears that the onset of the rainy season could make the waterborne disease endemic if the authorities fail to address the water and sanitation crisis plaguing the county.

Cholera is an intestinal infection causing acute diarrhoea and vomiting and, if left untreated, can cause death from dehydration within 24 hours. It is easily treatable with rehydration salts.

An anthrax outbreak has also been reported in Hurungwe, a rural area in Mashonaland West Province, about 300km north of the capital, Harare, "where 10 cases have been reported, but no deaths as yet. WHO [World Health Organisation] is still investigating", the UN said in a recent situation report on cholera and anthrax.

From partisans at a political rally to fans at a football game, groups that engage in pompous displays of collective pride may be trying to mask insecurity and a low social status, suggests new research led by University of California, Davis, psychologists.

The research will be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology in Sacramento. Hosted this year by the UC Davis Department of Psychology, the three-day meeting will bring together about 250 research psychologists from around the world.

"Our results suggest that hubristic, pompous displays of group pride might actually be a sign of group insecurity as opposed to a sign of strength," says Cynthia Pickett, associate professor of psychology at UC Davis and one of only a few research psychologists to have studied collective pride.

A vaccination given to babies has been linked to asthma.

Experts believe the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough jabs might provoke an immune system response which predisposes the body to the lung condition.

Psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman has designed and constructed a large-scale multi-media space that aims to calm even the most stressed out of minds.

To help promote the University of Hertfordshire's Health and Human Sciences Research Institute Showcase, Wiseman reviewed the scientific research into relaxation, and has created what is being billed as 'The world's most relaxing room.'

During the Showcase, which runs from 21-24 October at the University's de Havilland campus, groups of up to ten visitors at a time will be invited to enter this large and unusual space, lie on soft matting and rest their head on lavender-scented pillows. In each fifteen minute session, people will be bathed in a calming glade-like green light, listen to a specially composed soothing soundtrack, and look at a completely clear artificial blue sky.

"The pace of modern-day life, credit crunch, and financial crisis is making many people feel very stressed and so we have created this space to help them relax", noted Professor Wiseman.

German researchers say they have "very convincing proof" that they are one step closer to finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists working in the eastern city of Halle claim to have developed a new way to prevent the build-up in the brain of damaging proteins associated with Alzheimer's.

Health authorities have confirmed that a viral haemorrhagic fever was the main reason behind the death of three people in Johannesburg. A fourth person did not die of the fever.

The type of virus and where it came from are still a mystery. This came out during a media briefing at the Morningside Medi-Clinic in Johannesburg this afternoon. Professor Guy Richards, from Wits University, says knowing the disease is a viral haemorrhagic fever, is a step forward in containing the disease.

In Venezuela, a mysterious disease has killed nearly 40 people from indigenous river communities. In one village, 10% of the population has died.

The origin of their name is not known for sure, but the Warao are often referred to as the "boat people". Venezuela's second biggest indigenous group live on the banks of the mighty River Orinoco.

It is impossible not to be impressed by the landscape here. There is just so much water. The hundreds of tributaries and channels spill with wildlife. A chorus of birds, frogs and monkeys fills the air. River dolphins break the surface, splashing through the brown water as it flows through long grassland and forests to the sea.