The Canadian Pediatric Society is reviewing its position on lindane-based anti-lice products and its current recommendation that they not be used on infants and children under 17.

This as environmentalists urge parents of children battling head lice to avoid over-the-counter treatments that contain the pesticide outlawed for agricultural use in dozen of countries - including Canada - because of its adverse effects on humans and the water supply

A team of researchers from the University of Turku in Finland say a mix of bacteria in a baby's gut may predict whether that infant will become overweight or obese later in life. The babies with high numbers of bifidobacteria and low numbers of Staphylococcus aureus may not become obese when they grow up, new study shows.

Since bifidobacteria are prevalent in the guts of breast-fed babies, the findings also explain why breast-fed babies are at lower risk for later obesity. The study was published in the March issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

The federal government has conceded that vaccines contributed to a Georgia child developing autism, however, that does not mean the government is conceding that there is a link between vaccinations and autism, observers say.

The Georgia girl developed an autism-like symptoms after becoming sick within 19 hours of being vaccinated when she was 19-months-old. Further tests showed she had an underlying genetic mitochondrial disorder

A recent study concluded that about 10 percent of Americans have not been getting appropriate amounts of sleep in the past month; the figure adds up to about 50-70 million people. Surveys done by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (DCD) revealed that the amount of sleep for people varies by age, and younger people are getting the least amount of sleep among the tested age groups.

With subjects coming from Delaware, Hawaii, New York and Rhode Island, 13.3 percent of people between ages 18 and 34 reported that they were not getting the appropriate amounts of sleep. The figure showed higher than the 7.3 percent for adults over the age of 55

he recent, worst-ever outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza in the India's state of West Bengal seems to have been brought under control by the swift and comprehensive measures taken by the country's authorities, though continued vigilance was crucial, the United Nations agricultural agency says on Wednesday.

"Intensive culling in the predominantly backyard poultry sector appears to have stopped the disease in its tracks," Mohinder Oberoi, an expert of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said after a recent field trip to the affected areas, where no new outbreaks have been seen since February 2, 2008