Insurance broker Aon launches Ebola liability cover

Medical staff members take part in a Ebola virus preventive drill at Ditan Hospital in Beijing, October 30, 2014. LONDON (Reuters) - (The story was corrected in the first and fourth paragraphs of Oct. 28 story to show Aon is based in Britain, and not the United States) British insurance broker Aon has launched Ebola liability cover for hospitals and other health care institutions, the company said on Tuesday.The Ebola...

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Ebola death toll rises, fewer cases in Guinea than thought: WHO

A billboard with a message about Ebola is seen on a street in Conakry, Guinea October 26, 2014. GENEVA (Reuters) - The Ebola epidemic has killed 4,951 people out of 13,567 infected in eight countries, the World Health Organization said on Friday, slightly revising downwards its figures for cases mainly due to "suspected cases in Guinea being discarded". The toll reflects a rise of 31 deaths since the United Nations...

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Judge rejects isolation for U.S. nurse who treated Ebola patients

FORT KENT Maine (Reuters) - A Maine judge ruled on Friday that a U.S. nurse who treated victims of Ebola in West Africa does not need to be confined to her home, declaring Ebola fears in the United States "not entirely rational." Nurse Kaci Hickox's challenge of Maine's 21-day isolation regime became a key battle in the dispute between some U.S. states and the federal government. A handful of states have imposed mandatory quarantines on health workers returning from three Ebola-ravaged West African countries while the federal government is wary...

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U.S. Medicare sets new hospital, doctor payments for 2015

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Medicare program's payment rate for hospital outpatient services will increase 2.3 percent in calendar year 2015, while the rate for ambulatory surgical services will rise 1.4 percent, the federal government announced on Friday. The Medicare health insurance program for the elderly and disabled will also begin to pay doctors a monthly fee to coordinate care for patients with multiple chronic conditions in 2015, a government statement said.The separate monthly payment of $40.39 is aimed at improving care, including...

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The double burden household in sub-Saharan Africa: maternal overweight and obesity and childhood undernutrition from the year 2000: results from World Health Organization Data (WHO) and Demographic Health Surveys (DHS)

Background Previous studies have characterized an increasing trend of double burden households, or households with individuals experiencing both undernutrition and obesity, in countries undergoing a nutrition transition. Although most prior studies indicate the prevalence of double burden households is highest in middle-income countries, there is some support for an increase in double burden households in sub-Saharan African countries as well. Method Using data from the Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and the World Health Organization...

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The cost of anal cancer in England: retrospective hospital data analysis and Markov model

Background Anal cancer requires a multidisciplinary approach to treatment with often complex interventions. Little is known regarding the associated costs and resource use. Methods Patient records were extracted from a national hospital database to estimate the number of patients treated for anal cancer in England. Identified resource use was linked to published UK cost estimates to quantify the reimbursement of treatment through the Payment by Results system. A mathematical model was developed simultaneously to validate findings and to...

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AbbVie sales blow past forecasts, fueled by Humira

A screen displays the share price for pharmaceutical maker AbbVie on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange July 18, 2014. (Reuters) - AbbVie, which this month walked away from a $55 billion deal to buy Dublin drugmaker Shire, on Friday reported quarterly revenue and earnings well above Wall Street expectations, fueled by soaring sales of its Humira arthritis drug. The Chicago drugmaker, which significantly boosted...

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U.S. envoy to report temperature twice daily after West Africa visit

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power returned to New York on Thursday after a brief visit to Ebola-stricken West Africa and will report her temperature twice daily to the New York state health department for the next 20 days. Traveling on a U.S. government plane, Power's delegation did not come in contact with any Ebola patients during a visit to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, the three countries worst affected by the deadly hemorrhagic fever that has killed some 5,000 people.Customs and Border Protection...

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U.S. quarantines 'chilling' Ebola fight in West Africa: MSF

A Doctors Without Borders health worker takes off his protective gear under the surveillance of a colleague at a treatment facility for Ebola victims in Monrovia September 29, 2014. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mandatory quarantines ordered by some U.S. states for doctors and nurses returning from West Africa's Ebola outbreak are creating a "chilling effect" on aid work there, the humanitarian aid group Doctors Without Borders...

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New Zealand's Fonterra says China lifts ban on baby formula ingredients

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's Fonterra Co-Operative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter, said the Chinese government has lifted a ban on the last two products that were embroiled in last year's contaminated infant formula scare. It said the ban on New Zealand producers exporting whey powder and base powder containing whey for infant formula to China has ended.The ban was imposed in August last year in the wake of the scare that whey powder had been contaminated with a bacteria that could cause botulism.The scare, which prompted precautionary...

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The impact of numerology over the names

Whenever an infant is born into a family, it’s a norm to first assess him/her with a name. The name of a person is just not a word to be referred to them but actually is the definition, a description of their personality and the briefing of their traits. It should be made very sure that while naming a person all the necessary measures are taken care of. They say that labeling of a product is done properly to define the quality of that product. The same theory can be applied upon assessing names to the young ones too. The better the name the more...

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U.S. quarantines 'chilling' Ebola fight in West Africa: MSF

A Doctors Without Borders health worker takes off his protective gear under the surveillance of a colleague at a treatment facility for Ebola victims in Monrovia September 29, 2014. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mandatory quarantines ordered by some U.S. states on doctors and nurses returning from West Africa's Ebola outbreak are creating a "chilling effect" on Doctors Without Borders operations there, the humanitarian group...

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World Bank funding for Ebola fight hits $500 million

People sit near a banner reading ''The Ministry of Agriculture, Dixinn Commune, Together to defeat Ebola,'' in Conakry, Guinea October 26, 2014. GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Bank pledged $100 million on Thursday to help recruit more foreign health workers in the fight against Ebola, taking its funding for the three worst-hit countries to more than half a billion dollars over the past three months. The biggest recorded...

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To stop Ebola's spread in West Africa, target funerals: study

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As the global health community ramps up its efforts to treat Ebola patients and curb its spread in West Africa, a new analysis finds that the greatest impact would come from insuring safe burials for victims, scientists reported on Thursday. The need for safe burials has been known from the beginning of the epidemic last spring, when people who attended the funeral of a faith healer in Guinea became infected. U.S. guidelines call for workers wearing full protective gear to wrap the remains of Ebola victims, which have an...

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Bike-riding nurse defies Ebola quarantine, on collision course with governor

CAPE ELIZABETH Maine (Reuters) - A nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone but has tested negative for the virus went for a bike ride on Thursday, defying Maine's order that she be quarantined in her home and setting up a legal collision with Governor Paul LePage. Attorneys for Kaci Hickox, 33, said they had not yet been served with a court order to enforce the 21-day quarantine - matching the virus's maximum incubation period - but remained prepared to fight such an order if necessary.The quarantine showdown between Hickox and Maine...

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In Guangdong, nervy Chinese ramp up Ebola watch

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have identified the southern province of Guangdong, home to Asia's biggest African population, as a frontline in their efforts to prevent the deadly Ebola virus from entering mainland China. The province bordering Hong Kong has proven susceptible to infectious diseases in the past, shouldering a large share of SARS and bird flu cases, prompting local authorities to take no chances with Ebola.Local authorities say they have expanded testing procedures at provincial entry ports and 27 hospitals have been...

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Why do some survive Ebola? Sierra Leone study offers clues

Survivors of the Ebola outbreak attend a discharging ceremony at a health clinic in Freetown October 6, 2014. CHICAGO (Reuters) - An analysis of the first Ebola cases in Sierra Leone helps draw a clearer picture of why some people survive the disease, while others do not, including their age and the pace at which the virus replicates within their body. The study published Wednesday is based on data gathered from 106...

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Ebola appears to be slowing in Liberia: WHO

World Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director General Bruce Aylward gestures during a news conference at the organization's headquarters in Geneva October 29, 2014. GENEVA (Reuters) - Liberia, the country worst-hit by the Ebola epidemic, may be seeing a decline in the spread of the virus, although the battle to contain the outbreak is far from won, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. WHO Assistant...

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U.S. attends Ebola meeting in Cuba called by leftist bloc

HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. government officials joined health experts from throughout the Americas at an Ebola conference in Cuba on Wednesday, the latest show of cooperation between the historic adversaries on fighting the disease. The meeting organized by ALBA, a bloc of leftist-governed countries, aims to coordinate a regional strategy on the prevention and control of Ebola, which has killed about 5,000 people in West Africa but in the Americas has only reached the United States. U.S. military personnel and Cuban medical specialists are already...

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Saying she will not be bullied, nurse fights Maine Ebola quarantine

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying she will not be bullied by politicians, a Maine nurse is giving the state an ultimatum: lift her Ebola quarantine by Thursday or she will disregard the restrictions and go to court. The saga of nurse Kaci Hickox illustrates how U.S. states are struggling to protect against the virus without resorting to overzealous and useless precautions or violating civil rights. Hickox, 33, tested negative for Ebola after returning from treating patients in West Africa. She previously blasted New Jersey Governor Chris Christie...

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As debate rages, GMO labeling votes loom in Oregon, Colorado

(Reuters) - With less than a week before voters in two U.S. states weigh measures to require labeling of foods made with genetically modified ingredients, labeling supporters were hoping for victory but planning for defeat. Fresh polling showed support for the Oregon GMO labeling law waning in the face of a well-funded onslaught of advertising from labeling opponents, and pro-labeling Colorado campaigners still could not muster enough money for television ads to counter thousands of ads by labeling opponents.In both states, the bid for votes...

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Baby sleep cycles you should understand

Baby sleep cycles are quite different from yours, starting from the amount of time each of you spend sleeping. As you probably already know, your baby needs much more sleep than you do!   Here's a guide for a 24 hour period, depending on age: Newborns need around 16 hours 3 month olds need around 15 hours 2 month olds + need around 12 hours Of course, your baby will not take all this...

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Smiles, movies cheer Ebola patients in Liberian bush unit

GBARNGA Liberia (Reuters) - Deep in a Liberian bush, two U.S. nurses are taking a break after spending two hours wearing protective suits in stifling temperatures to care for patients suffering from Ebola, the viral killer that has ravaged three West African countries. Well behind them in the treatment unit's "red zone" two young boys, Solomon and Joe, who is wearing SpongeBob SquarePants pajama pants, stand at a neon orange fence waving. Solomon is on day 13 of his treatment and Joe is on day 8. The nurses - Bridget Mulrooney, 36, and Kelly...

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Obama sees different Ebola rules for U.S. military than for civilians

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the U.S. response to Ebola from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington October 28, 2014. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday appeared to back more rigorous procedures for dealing with soldiers returning from missions to Ebola-hit West African countries, even as he criticized moves by some U.S. states to quarantine returning civilian health workers....

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In Ebola response, Obama's 'czar' stays behind the curtain

U.S. President Barack Obama holds a meeting with Ebola Response Coordinator Ron Klain (R) and members of his team coordinating the government's Ebola response in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington October 22, 2014. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It's not often that a White House official gets mocked on both Saturday Night Live and a major daily newspaper before he makes his first public appearance. But Ron Klain's...

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Independent Kids - When Can You Let Go? When Do Children Become Independent? Should You Let Your Children Exercise Independence? How to Coach Your Child to Be More Independent

It's tough to know when to give your children their independence, as well as how much to give. Here are some tips for parents.  When can you start leaving your child home alone, letting them go out alone, or play out on the street without supervision? It's a tough question, and one that doesn't have a "one size fits all" answer.   The truth is that every child becomes independent at a different age. First...

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