Mississippi is reporting the fourth death from mosquito-born West Nile virus this year out of 100 cases of the disease.

While not identifying the latest victim by name, state Department of Health officials said the individual was a resident of Panola County. The other three deaths were in Hinds, Forrest and Leflore counties

An eighth grader from Houston died Friday from meningitis prompting city health officials to set a medical exam for students who rode with the victim on a bus to see if they were infected.

The City Health Department will also examine the bus driver of the Revere Middle School as a precaution to contain a possible outbreak of bacterial meningitis

One of every four teenage girls took the medically prescribed vaccine for four types the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer last year, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed.

The ratio was based on the agency's 2007 phone survey of 1,500 girls aged 13 to 17, though the health officials' recommendation is for girls to start the Gardasil vaccination as early as age 11 or 12, before sexual activity starts

African health ministers signed here Thursday a declaration to use a new meningitis vaccine to immunize 250 million people in Africa.

The Yaounde Declaration was signed by the ministers on the fourth day of the five-day 58th session of the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa. Under the document, health authorities in 25 countries composing the "meningitis belt" in Africa will introduce the new meningococcal A conjugate vaccine (MenAfriVac) from 2009 to 2015 to control the brain disease epidemic in the region

Inferior medical care for HIV-positive immigrant detainees threatens their health, and ultimately their lives, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Tuesday at the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.

HRW told conferees that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - the agency charged with providing health care services to detainees - fails to ensure timely HIV prevention and treatment services, putting many at risk of infection, resistance to treatment, and even death