Washington, Apr 30 : A new pill may soon replace the painful injections for multiple sclerosis treatment, say researchers.

The research team led by Professor Gavin Giovannoni of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry has shown that cladribine tablets just a few times a year can reduce the chances of a relapse by well over 50 per cent.

Cladribine tablets work by suppressing the immune system, reducing the risk of further damage to a patient''s nervous system.

In the new study, the researchers followed over 1,300 MS patients for nearly two years.

Washington, Apr 30 : Repeatedly going to work when ill significantly raises the chances of long-term sick leave later in life, according to a new study.

The trend, called "sickness presence", is becoming increasingly common as staff fear for their jobs during the recession.

In order to study the long-term impact of the behaviour, researchers randomly selected almost 12,000 Danes of working age, who had been in continuous employment for at least a year.

Lima - Peru's health authorities on Wednesday confirmed the country's first case of swine flu.

The victim was an Argentinian woman who was in Mexico only for a few hours on a layover when travelling from the United States to Argentina, Peru's Health Minister Oscar Ugarte said.

The 27-year-old was hospitalized with high fever, nosebleeds and a cough at a quarantine ward in Callao province near the capital Lima, he said.

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Tokyo - Japan will set up fever clinics across the nation to treat patients with swine flu if the disease reaches Japan, a ministry official said Thursday.

The government's plan to designate some medical facilities as fever clinics was intended to prevent in-hospital spread of flu infections, according to the Health, Welfare and Labour Ministry.

Beijing - China has launched a campaign to educate all schoolchildren in the symptoms and prevention of swine flu, the government said on Thursday.

Schools nationwide should educate children about swine flu as soon as possible to raise awareness and "avoid causing unnecessary panic among teachers and students," the education and health ministries said in a joint notice published on their websites.

The schools should teach children about good hygiene and the avoidance of contact with flu-infected people, the notice said.