Cognitive problems like more diminished attention, but better immediate recall and memory may help predict Lewy body dementia, according to a study.

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the most common neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer's Disease, yet is usually misdiagnosed, preventing affected people from accessing care better tailored to their prognosis.

To aid in early detection which may help improve outcomes, researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus gathered information from available studies and established a cognitive profile that can differentiate DLB from Alzheimer's before the dementia stage hits.

South Sudan's health ministry said that it has rolled out a week-long campaign aimed at vaccinating more than 300,000 people against cholera in Rubkona, a hotspot county in Unity State.

The ministry said the campaign, backed by the World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, Medecins Sans Frontieres and various other partners, is an important step to curb the ongoing outbreak and brings the total number of counties where the vaccination campaign has been conducted to four nationwide.

South Sudan's Vice President for Service Cluster Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, who spoke during the launch, expressed the government's commitment to fully combat the outbreak and ensure effective measures are implemented to stop the spread of the disease.

"The rollout of the cholera vaccine nationwide is part of the broader government efforts aimed at combating the cholera outbreak and saving lives," Akol said in a statement issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The number of influenza patients reported at designated medical institutions across Japan in the final week of December hit the highest level since the current record-keeping began in 1999, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

In the week through December 29,317,812 flu patients were reported across roughly 5,000 institutions, averaging 64.39 people per facility and surpassing the warning level of 30, the ministry said.

The record figure jumped from 42.66 the week before, marking the 10th consecutive week of increase.

All the country's 47 prefectures reported an increase from a week earlier, with 43 topping the warning level, according to the ministry.

South Korea reported two additional cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI), bringing the country's total number of outbreaks this season to 23, authorities said on Friday.

The new cases were detected on Monday at a broiler breeder farm in Dangjin, 79 km south of Seoul, and a meat duck farm in Buan, 204 km south of Seoul, according to the central disaster management headquarters for AI outbreaks, news agency reported.

Authorities are monitoring 69 poultry farms located within the quarantine zones of the two infected farms to prevent further spread, the anti-disaster office said.

In the recent past, the highly pathogenic bird flu virus has caused mass mortality in chickens and wild birds worldwide. The infections also spread to seals, cats, cattle, and even from cattle to humans -- increasing the threat of a potential next pandemic virus.

Men are three times more likely to die from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) than women, according to a study on Friday.

The study based on US mortality data in 2021 reveals the disproportionate impact of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) on older adults, males, and certain racial and ethnic groups.

The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain Injury, indicate that suicides remain the most common cause of TBI-related deaths. This was followed by unintentional falls, and specific groups are disproportionately affected by these tragedies.

Men were found to be most likely to die from a TBI – more than three times the rate of women (30.5 versus 9.4).

The diagnosed prevalent cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are projected to increase globally at an annual growth rate (AGR) of 0.90 per cent from 2.00 million in 2023 to 2.18 million in 2033, according to a report on Friday.

The report by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, showed that this rise in HIV cases will majorly be seen in the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Japan.

It estimates that in 2033, the US will have the highest number of diagnosed prevalent cases of HIV in these seven countries, with approximately 1.46 million cases.

On the other hand, Japan will have the fewest diagnosed prevalent cases with approximately 34,400 cases.

Greece has confirmed its first case of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) in a 71-year-old man, the national news agency AMNA reported on Wednesday.

The patient, who had pneumonia and underlying health conditions, is in intensive care in Thessaloniki, a northern port city. The National Public Health Organisation has advised medical staff to follow Covid-19 protocols and maintain strict hygiene measures.

Gkikas Magiorkinis, associate professor of epidemiology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, reassured the public, saying there is no need to panic as HMPV is a known virus that has circulated for decades and is not considered highly dangerous, news agency reported.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can significantly aid in early detection of autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus especially in high-risk patients, leading to better outcomes, finds a study.

In people with autoimmune diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks their body's healthy cells and tissues. Some well-known diseases include type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Early diagnosis is critical and may improve treatment and better disease management, said the team led by researchers from the Penn State College of Medicine.

Using machine learning, a type of AI, the team developed a new method that could predict the progression of autoimmune disease among people with preclinical symptoms.

These diseases often include a preclinical stage before diagnosis that's characterised by mild symptoms or certain antibodies in the blood.

The prevalent cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the eight major markets globally are set to register an annual growth rate (AGR) of 4.08 per cent from 15.99 million in 2023 to 22.51 million in 2033, according to a report on Monday.

China will have the highest number of total prevalent cases of AD (by DSM-IV criteria) at 10.4 million cases, whereas Spain will have the lowest number at 0.62 million cases in 2033, according to the report by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

“In 2023, women were more affected than men, accounting for approximately 73 per cent of the total prevalent cases,” said Antara Bhattacharya, associate project manager, epidemiology team.

One more case of the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) has been detected in Gujarat on Monday, taking the tally to three cases in the country.

A two-year-old child was reported to be infected from Chandkheda’s area of Ahmedabad.

The child, from Rajasthan, was admitted to a private hospital in Chandkheda after showing symptoms of cold and cough. The child is stable now, reports quoted civic officials as saying.

This comes after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday informed of two HMPV cases in two babies -- aged three- and eight-month-old -- in Bengaluru.

The HMPV infection was detected via routine surveillance in a 3-month-old girl and an 8-month-old boy in Bengaluru.