This site is intended for health professionals only


Stomach bug risk from flooding, crackdown on gender selective abortions and cocaine use raises stroke risk

The Independent reports that public health chiefs in flood-hit areas are bracing themselves for a spike in vomiting and diarrhoea due to bacteria from overflowing sewers.

The public in affected areas were urged to wash their hands regularly before eating and keep wounds clean, but Dr Ben Neuman, a microbiologist from the University of Reading, said: ‘I think there will be a big spike in diarrhoea, but people may not up end up reporting it to the public health authorities. It will be unpleasant, but not deadly. The water is dirty rather than dangerous.’

Abortion clinics have been issued with fresh guidance to make it ‘abundantly clear’ that terminating a pregnancy on the basis of a child’s gender is illegal, reports The Telegraph.

An earlier investigation by the paper found evidence of doctors being prepared to sanction ‘female infanticide’, but the crown prosecution service ruled in September that it wouldn’t be in the ‘public interest’ to prosecute them.

Finally,The Express reports that young cocaine users are as much as seven times more likely to suffer an ischaemic stroke in the 24 hours after using the drug.

The study compared 1,001 stroke patients aged 15 to 49 years and found that though there was no increased risk from historic drug use, risk was greatly increased in the short term. Professor Yu-Ching Cheng from the University of Maryland School of Medicine told the Express: ‘With few exceptions, we believe every young stroke patient should be screened for drug abuse at the time of hospital admission.’


          

Visit Pulse Reference for details on 140 symptoms, including easily searchable symptoms and categories, offering you a free platform to check symptoms and receive potential diagnoses during consultations.