Top health stories from around the web this week.
International health news
- Bats are a “disease reservoir” – Fruit bats harbour more deadly diseases than previously thought, several deadly outbreaks can be traced back to bats.
- Amazon workers “increased mental illness risk”– Employee stress levels in an Amazon warehouse over the Christmas period raise the risk of illness.
- Cataracts leading blindness cause in poor countries – In high-income countries cataracts were reported as being the least common cause of blindness.
Health advice
- Eat nuts, live longer – A handful of nuts a day could reduce your risk of dying by 20% over three decades, compared to people who don’t eat them.
Country health alerts
- Canada: Obesity and diabetes dent global ranking – A global study has ranked Canada poorly in both Type 1 and 2 diabetes, and male obesity.
- SE Asia: Drug-resistant malaria global threat – Drug-resistant malaria is increasingly being seen in countries along the Mekong River.
- Philippines: Mass immunisation begins – 33,000 children are to be vaccinated against polio and measles in the typhoon-hit city of Tacloban.