Prague  - An Austrian pharmaceutical firm sent a flu vaccine, which it had accidentally contaminated with the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, for testing in the Czech Republic, a report said Tuesday.

The Austrian firm Baxter said it contaminated the vaccine with the dangerous virus by accident, likely during packaging in Austria, the Mlada Fronta Dnes daily reported, citing Baxter's representative.

Baxter shipped the infected vaccine to the Czech biomedical firm Biotest for testing on ferrets in late January.

Washington, Feb 17: It's the local climate and short-term changes in temperature and precipitation that affects dengue transmission in a region, according to a new study.

Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health confirmed the finding in Puerto Rico.

Researchers at the University of Chicago have disclosed that loneliness can be as injurious to one’s health as smoking and obesity.

The study scientists found that loneliness not only makes people sad but have a negative effect on their mind as well as heath. In fact, it may lead to high blood pressure and stress levels, general wear and tear, and the chances of having Alzheimer's disease.

Humans can have bad or good memories. Good memories give us happiness whereas bad memories can torture sometime. Recent study has shown that a drug, used for treating for high blood pressure can be used to remove bad memories.

In the last five days in Modassa taluka of Sabarkantha region, the lethal hepatitis D virus has taken lives of 12 people and left 26 hospitalized.

According to officials, out of 26 admitted to various hospitals in the region, five been rushed to the civil hospital in Ahmedabad.

Dr. H F Patel, chief district health officer, on Friday, said, “A central team from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases and Director General of Health Services (NICD & DGHS) will arrive soon to take stock of the situation.”

British and U.S. researchers said on Friday that passive smoking can significantly raise a person’s risk of dementia and other cognitive problems to the extent that people who live with a smoker stand a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s.