Following the outbreak of hand-foot-mouth disease in parts of China, Bahrain authorities say they will provide health advisories to its 11 athletes participating in the Beijing Olympics.

"We will be advising the athletes on good hygiene practice, in addition to precautionary measures like drinking bottled water and not eating outside," Dr.Adel Al Sayyad, head of the Communicable Disease Control Section, told AHN

Around 5,000 families who believe that a mercury-based preservative, thimerosal, found in many vaccines causes the development of autism have filed claims with the U.S. Court of Claims. The families allege vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children.

Autism is a developmental disability which usually appears in children during their first 36 months. Once an uncommon disorder in the United States, the incidence of autism is now occurring at epidemic rates

Twenty infants and young children have died in eastern China amid a hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) outbreak caused by an enterovirus infection. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of cases still may not peak for another two months.

All 20 deaths occurred in the city of Fuyang in Anhui, the WHO confirmed in an update, with a total of 1,884 cases of enterovirus (EV-71) infection reported worldwide as of Tuesday

The U.S. will soon have the largest measles outbreak in more than seven years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday.

In 2008, measles outbreaks in several states have led to more than 70 cases so far, the worst in six years, health officials added

Around 400 people in Nordic countries will get the first shots-literally-of an anti-nicotine vaccine developed by Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute. The test run of the vaccine will be conducted over the next year.

According to Lena Wikingsson, head of Independent Pharmaceutica, which is running the experiment, people taking part in the study - heavy smokers who would like to quit - would undergo counselling prior to the treatment. Participants will receive one injection every month for four months