Researchers have found a genetic mutation that can worsen iron deficiency and anaemia in patients with Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can affect the small intestine and the large intestine.

While it is characterised by chronic inflammation, leading to symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fatigue, and weight loss, it can also cause anaemia.

Iron-deficient anaemia is most common among Crohn's patients and leads to chronic fatigue, reducing the quality of life, particularly during disease flare-ups.

Biomedical scientists at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine found that mutation in the gene PTPN2 (protein tyrosine phosphatase non-receptor type 2) -- found in 14-16 per cent of the general population and 19-20 per cent of the IBD population -- is responsible for this.

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education has issued instructions to prevent the spread of dengue and Chikungunya in schools across the country, local media reported.

According to the new instructions, school principals could face legal action if mosquito breeding sites are found on school premises during inspections.

The ministry on Sunday said that each school must develop and implement its programme to eliminate mosquito breeding sites while continuing educational activities without disruption.

The ministry has sent notices to principals of all public and government-approved private schools, heads of religious schools, deans of national colleges of education, and heads of other educational institutions and provincial offices to inform them about the new measures.

The ministry said there would be periodic inspections of schools, news agency reported.

People can improve their health through dietary and lifestyle changes even if they do not lose weight, according to an international study.

The research, conducted by the universities of Ben-Gurion (Israel), Harvard (US), and Leipzig (Germany), focused on individuals described as "weight loss resistant" -- those who adopt healthy habits but struggle to shed pounds, news agency reported.

“We have been conditioned to equate weight loss with health, and weight loss-resistant individuals are often labeled as failures,” said lead author Anat Yaskolka Meir, postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School.

“Our findings reframe how we define clinical success. People who do not lose weight can improve their metabolism and reduce their long-term risk for disease. That’s a message of hope, not failure,” Meir added.

Australian researchers have pioneered a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool to assess the risk of developing type 1 diabetes (T1D).

The tool, developed by researchers at Western Sydney University, predicts treatment responses, potentially changing how the disease is diagnosed and managed.

The tool utilises an innovative risk score -- Dynamic Risk Score (DRS4C) which can classify individuals as having or not having T1D.

It is based on microRNAs -- small RNA molecules measured from blood -- to help accurately capture the changing risk of T1D.

"T1D risk prediction is timely, with therapies that can delay T1D progression becoming recognised and available. Since early-onset T1D before the age of 10 years is particularly aggressive and linked to up to 16 years of reduced life expectancy, accurately predicting progression gives doctors a powerful tool to intervene sooner," said Professor Anand Hardikar, lead investigator from the University's School of Medicine and Translational Health Research Institute.

New Zealand is experiencing a significant surge in Covid-19 and other respiratory infections, with recent data showing a sharp jump in hospitalisations and outbreaks across the country.

Healthline, the national medical advice service, reported an uptick in calls related to influenza-like illnesses, although the volume remains lower than the same period last year, reported on Friday.

The country is facing its coldest winter temperatures of the year, with some regions recently recording temperatures below zero and fresh snowfall covering parts of the South Island.

A daily dose of a commonly used, safe, and inexpensive antibiotic may help reduce preterm births (born at 37 weeks’ gestation or before), in women with HIV, according to a study of almost 1,000 pregnant women in Zimbabwe.

An international group of researchers, from the UK and Zimbabwe, found that women living with HIV who took the antibiotic trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole during their pregnancy had larger babies who were less likely to be preterm.

Trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent with anti-inflammatory properties that are widely used in sub-Saharan Africa.

The study showed that for babies born to a small group of 131 women with HIV, the reduction in premature births was especially marked, with only 2 per cent of births in the trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole group preterm, as compared with 14 per cent in the placebo group.

Women with early onset of periods, and later menopause -- which means a longer reproductive span -- can have a healthier brain ageing in life, according to a study.

The study showed how a woman’s reproductive years may shape brain health later in life and also reduce the risk of dementia.

It also suggested the role of oestradiol (or the lack thereof) in the development of dementia.

Oestradiol levels rise at puberty, remain high during most of a woman’s reproductive life, and then decline sharply around menopause. This drop in oestradiol has been linked to an increased risk of dementia and other age-related brain conditions.

US researchers have identified a mechanism that SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes Covid-19 -- uses to protect itself inside the body as it works to replicate and infect more cells.

Without this protective mechanism, viral infection is dramatically reduced, said the team from the Texas Biomedical Research Institute and the University of Chicago.

The finding, published in the journal Nature Communications, not only provides a potential target for new Covid therapies but also offers insights that could inform future vaccine and antiviral development.

The study builds on earlier work from Texas Biomed that identified ORF3a, a type of viral protein most important for the virus's pathogenicity, or ability to cause disease.

Statins, typically used to lower blood pressure may also help lower the risk of death among patients suffering from deadly sepsis by 39 per cent, according to a study on Friday.

Sepsis occurs when the immune system overreacts to an infection, causing such a strong inflammatory response that vital organs begin to shut down. It is life-threatening, as in about 15 per cent of cases, sepsis worsens into septic shock, characterised by dangerously low blood pressure and reduced blood flow to tissues.

The risk of death from septic shock is even higher, between 30 per cent and 40 per cent.

In response to the surge of new Covid-19 variant cases in neighbouring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto summoned Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin to the State Palace in Jakarta.

The meeting discussed strategic measures to prevent the entry of the new variant into the archipelago and to strengthen the national healthcare system, Sadikin said

"There is no need for the public to worry or panic. These new variants are relatively milder, but it is important to stay vigilant," Sadikin said after leaving the Palace.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Indonesia from January to May 2025 was 72 out of a total of 2,160 specimens tested, according to Aji Muhawarman, head of the Bureau of Communication and Public Information at the Ministry of Health.