A round-up of this week's health news in brief
Call for 10% increase on alcohol
Alcohol Action Ireland, the national charity for alcohol-related issues, is calling for a 10 cent increase in excise duty on alcohol and the implementation of minimum pricing, “to reduce current high levels of alcohol-related harms and costs”. The proposals are contained in the lobby group’s pre-Budget submission which was published yesterday.
“Our high levels of alcohol use cost us, both in economic and human terms. Budget 2010 gives the Government an opportunity to cut these harms and costs, by introducing a small increase of 10 cent on the price of a drink,” said its acting director, Cliona Murphy. “The implementation of minimum pricing will further reduce the harms and costs of our drinking.
“A modest 10 cent increase will raise an estimated €140 million in much needed revenue, which may allow the Government to avoid cutting child benefit or teacher numbers,” Ms Murphy added.
Seasonal flu may help fight swine flu symptoms
Many people may be better able to fight off swine flu than they have been led to believe, new research suggests.
Previous seasonal flu infections could provide a surprising level of immunity against the virus and reduce the severity of symptoms, a study has shown.
When H1N1 swine flu first emerged, one of the biggest worries was that the strain was so unusual people would be defenceless against it. However, despite some high-profile cases, there has been no evidence so far that swine flu is causing more deaths or hospitalisations than seasonal flu.
The reason could be a particular kind of immune response not examined in the animal studies, according to the new research. Scientists made the discovery after scouring a huge database of immunity information called the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB).It suggested that while there was little immune defence against catching swine flu, its harmful effects may be dampened down by previous exposure to seasonal flu strains. The research appears in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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