Scientists have developed an implant that inserts a cancer vaccine into the skin to destroy tumours without causing damage to any other part of the body.

Researchers from Harvard University said, it is the first "cancer vaccine" delivered in the form of a plastic implant that can attack and destroy tumours.

According to the study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the implant, a tiny disk, works by releasing chemicals that attract a specific type of immune cells called dendritic cells which are encouraged to fight and kill cancer cells.

Cancer cells are good at evading the immune system because the body does not recognise them as "foreign".

This study provides some useful insights into how we can effectively train the immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells but most other studies have looked at removing immune cells from the body, reprogramming them to recognize the individual's cancer and then returning them.

Once inside, the immune cells are exposed to proteins found on the surface of the cancer cells to be targeted.

With this information, the dendritic cells move on to the lymph nodes where they tell another type of immune cell, known as T cells, to hunt down and kill the cancer cells.

In mice with skin cancer, the implant was shown to successfully eliminate the tumours, BBC reported.

The researchers believe such implants could one day be used alongside chemotherapy and surgery to eliminate melanoma tumours, the most serious form of skin cancer.

Scottish researchers have made a breakthrough as they identified a gene that could help explain the causes of mental illness.

The international team of scientists, led by experts at Edinburgh University, discovered the gene ABCA13 that may help create drugs to restore mental health in patients with psychiatric illness.

Lead researcher Douglas Blackwood, Professor of Psychiatric Genetics at Edinburgh University found that the gene was faulty more frequently in patients with mental illness, when compared to healthy people.

"This is an exciting step forward in our understanding of the underlying causes of some common mental illnesses. These risk genes could signpost new directions for treatments," the Scotsman quoted him as saying.

Dr Ben Pickard, part of the Edinburgh team, now of Strathclyde University, also said: "This study is the first to identify multiple points of DNA damage within a single gene that are linked with psychiatric illness.

"It strongly suggests that this gene may regulate an important part of brain function that is linked with these devastating disorders."

He continued: "There are several very interesting things that come from this work. The first is that we have got a gene and an inkling about what it might do.

"It seems to be responsible for transporting lipids - various types of fat molecules - around and we suppose that if it fails to transport one particular type, it could have a knock-on affect on a particular aspect of cell function or the way that cells communicate with one another.

"The second thing is the fact that we find these mutations in this gene cropping up in people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression."

The viral infection Japanese encephalitis has claimed more than 500 lives in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar so far this year, with children facing the brunt of the disease.

According to a union health ministry document, Uttar Pradesh is the worst affected with 23 of its districts having been declared endemic.

'Twenty-three districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh are endemic to Japanese encephalitis,' the document said, adding that till Nov 16 this year, 476 people have died due to the disease in the state.

In Bihar, the number of deaths is at least 30 this year. Over 140 are still undergoing treatment for this viral disease in the state. Besides Japanese encephalitis, both these states contribute over 90 percent of India's polio burden.

Domestic pigs and wild birds are reservoirs of the Japanese encephalitis virus. The virus is transmitted by infective bites of female mosquitoes, mainly belonging to culex tritaeniorhynchus, culex vishnui and culex pseudovishnui group.

The disease gets its name as the virus was first detected in Japan.

The ministry document said that seven districts in Gorakhpur and Basti division in Uttar Pradesh - Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, Basti and Siddarth Nagar - contribute over 90 percent of the Japanese encephalitis deaths in the state.

Official statistics said that last year 537 people lost their lives due to the disease in the state. The ministry also believes that it is children in the age bracket of one and 15 years who are facing the maximum difficulty due to the disease.

To curb the spread, the health ministry claims that it has vaccinated 83 percent of the children belonging to the high risk group in 21 of the 23 endemic districts of Uttar Pradesh.

One of the major problems facing Uttar Pradesh is wastage of vaccine due to its over-exposure to heat. This year alone, the state refused to use over a million doses of such vaccines due to the same problem.

As World AIDS Day (1 December) approaches, AIDS Accountability International is releasing the first-ever global scorecard analysing country responses to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women in the context of the AIDS epidemic: The AIDS Accountability Scorecard on Women 2009 - Are governments keeping their promises?

This independent assessment and rating is developed through a comprehensive consultative process with global health experts and civil society representatives from across the world, and evaluates data on women that all governments provide as part of the 2001 United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS.

UNIFEM, represented by Ms. Nazneen Damji, Programme Specialist, Gender and HIV and AIDS, was on the development team for the creation of the scorecard.

Globally, HIV and AIDS is the leading cause of death and disease in women of reproductive age worldwide. Women and girls are particularly vulnerable to, and disproportionately affected by, HIV and AIDS in the global context. Lack of accountability for addressing women's needs hampers efforts to measure the impact of different approaches, reward effective efforts, adjust or stop ineffective ones and ensure good use of resources. Without better monitoring, the international community will be unable to assess whether the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed targets are being met for a better response to women and girls in the context of HIV and AIDS.

If you think the worst of the influenza A H1N1 is now a thing of past, you are mistaken.

We are still in the midst of the first wave of the pandemic and experts warn that a second wave may be coming any time soon as winter sets in.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that countries in the region - particularly India and Thailand - could see a second wave of the pandemic influenza this winter, which could be much more severe than the first attack.

"We have learnt from experience that influenza pandemics have a tendency to attack populations in periodic waves and that the second or third wave may cause more severe morbidity and mortality than the first," Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, the South-East Asian regional director of the WHO, warned countries in the region.

The influenza cases are already seeing a rising trend across India in the past two weeks. The number of laboratory- confirmed cases - which is a fraction of the actual number of cases in Delhi - have risen from 20 to 25 a day in the beginning of November to 65 to 70 cases a day now.

One of the reasons for this rise is attributed to the influx of cases referred from neighbouring states to Delhi, officials said. "There are no signs of a second wave as yet. Even in cold Scandinavian countries, there is no second wave till now. But the level of alertness continues," a health ministry official said.

"We are still in the middle of the first wave. The actual impact of the pandemic has not been fully determined," said Dr Jai P. Narain, director of communicable diseases at the WHO. "We must anticipate and prepare for the second wave, which may come soon." The experience of the first wave so far has given important insights into the nature of the virus and the pandemic. The first is communicability or transmissibility. It has now been established that the novel influenza virus is highly communicable and spreads fast. The second factor is virulence or the severity of the illness the virus causes.

"This is one area where we are still not very sure. So far, we have seen that the illness the virus causes is mild to moderate - one to two per cent patients need hospitalisation and fatalities are even less. But this may change in the future," said Narain. The third critical factor is the health systems' capacity to be able to respond.

Even if the current pattern of normally mild illness continues, the impact of the pandemic during the second and third waves could worsen as larger numbers of people could get infected and more severe symptoms might appear.

People who become severely ill will require intensive care, creating huge burden on health services, pressures could overwhelm ICUs and disrupt care for other diseases. That's why it is necessary to improve 'surge capacity' of hospitals.

The winter surge would be different from the situation in the ongoing first wave, needing a different strategy to tackle it. "The first wave was mostly imported, so airport vigilance was good enough. Now, the virus is circulating in the community and it would be much more difficult to control its spread," a health official said.

"Now that the infection is widespread within the country, the role of airport screening is not relevant anymore," said Narain.

Also, testing may not be necessary for everyone coming with the symptoms, as it puts a huge burden on the health system. Narain felt the decision whether a patient should be put on antiviral treatment, without testing, should be left to the judgment of the doctor.

While measures such as personal hygiene, hand washing and social distancing still need to be taken with vigour, the focus is now going to be on the availability of a vaccine to prevent H1N1 infection.

As far as treatment of those infected is concerned, Oseltamivir (sold under the brand name of Tamiflu) remains the first choice.

The WHO has revised its guidelines for the use of this drug.

The UN agency, in its latest communication to the health ministry, recommended that all those in 'at-risk' groups should be treated with antivirals as soon as possible if they have flu symptoms. This includes pregnant women, children under two years old, and people with underlying conditions such as respiratory problems.

Secondly, people who are not in the 'at-risk' group but who have persistent or rapidly worsening symptoms should also be treated with antivirals. These symptoms include difficulty in breathing and high fever lasting more than three days.

Thirdly, people who have developed pneumonia should be given both antivirals and antibiotics, as it has been observed that in many severe cases of H1N1 cases bacterial infection also develops.

Most developed countries have begun vaccination and want to immunise people before the second wave comes. Indian vaccine manufacturers have indicated they will have the vaccine ready for use by March or April 2010.

But enough doses of vaccine would not be available for everyone to be immunised nor does the country have resources to do that. So, India would have to prioritise which set of population it should be given to. Healthcare workers would be the first to be vaccinated. Then it could be given to population groups which are vulnerable - very young, very old and those with underlying conditions.

Till the indigenous vaccines become available, the WHO has promised to make available imported vaccine for frontline health workers in India. All foreignmanufactured vaccines will be allowed to be used in India only after they undergo necessary 'bridging' clinical trials in the country, the health ministry clarified.