China govt under fire over new food bacteria rule

China's state-run media and web users criticised the government after it ruled that small amounts of a potentially lethal bacterium were permissible in frozen food.

The health ministry ruling followed a series of recalls of products, including dumplings made by Synear Food -- one of China's largest frozen food producers -- because they contained traces of staphylococcus aureus bacterium.

The bacterium, also known as golden staph, can cause a range of mild to severe infections and diseases, including life-threatening pneumonia and meningitis.

Under the existing rules, food products must be recalled if any of the bacteria are discovered. But new rules announced Thursday will allow a small amount of staphylococcus aureus in frozen rice or dough products.

A commentary in the People's Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece, on Friday urged authorities to "address public anxiety" after the revision, which follows a series of food safety scandals in China.

"Authorities cannot attempt to fudge public concerns over food safety," said the article, written by Jiang Yun.

"In order to rebuild the credibility of food safety standards, they should... consider whether the making of the standards is open and transparent."

Chinese Internet users went further, accusing authorities of deliberately lowering food safety standards to pander to big business.

"According to the new standard, ... toxin is allowed in foods as long as the amount is not to the lethal level," wrote one blogger under the name Tianxiaqimou.

China's food industry remains plagued by safety scandals, despite sporadic government crackdowns.

One of the biggest emerged in 2008 when huge amounts of the industrial chemical melamine were found to have been illegally added to dairy products to give the appearance of higher protein content.

In September last year, authorities including China's top court and the public security ministry called for tougher penalties, including the death sentence in serious food safety cases.

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Britons to take part in Cuban lung cancer vaccine trial

British patients will soon take part in a trial of a Cuban-designed therapeutic lung cancer vaccine, the first of its kind, a company executive announced.

"A new clinical study of the therapeutic lung cancer vaccine (called Cimavaz-EFG)" will begin "in a matter of days with a group of patients in the United Kingdom," said Erik D'Hondt, scientific director for the Malaysian drug company Bioven, who is in charge of European distribution of the drug.

D'Hondt did not say how many patients were taking part in the study.

The vaccine was developed by scientists at the Molecular Immunological Center (CIM) in Havana.

Its tests in Cuba found promising results in more than 1,000 patients.

CIM researcher Zoraida Acosta said scientists are encouraged because the drug has shown benefits in terms of extending life span and improving quality of life even in late-stage lung cancer patient.

They say their goal is for the cancer to become an illness that does not progress even if it cannot be cured. The vaccine's potential also is being looked at for treatment of uterine, breast and prostate cancers, Cuban officials said.

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British women top EU obesity chart

British women and Maltese men topped European obesity ratings according to data released Thursday that also undermined popular belief that all French women are thin.

The figures released by the European Union's statistics agency showed the proportion of obese adults ranging from eight percent to 23.9 percent for women and 7.6 percent to 24.7 percent for men.

Though a worry for public health, the rates are well below those in the United States, where the corresponding figure was 28.8 percent for women and 27.6 percent for men in 2009, Eurostat said.

The lowest shares were recorded in Romania, with eight percent for women and 7.6 percent for men, Italy, with 9.3 percent and 11.3 percent, Bulgaria, at 11.3 and 11.6 percent, and France, 12.7 and 11.7 percent.

Highest proportions for women were in Britain, with 23.9 percent, Malta with 21.1 percent, Latvia with 20.9 percent and Estonia at 20.5 percent.

While men in the former British colony of Malta topped the chart at 24.7 percent, they were closely followed by Britain at 22.1 percent, Hungary with 21.4 percent and the Czech Republic at 18.4.

"There is no systematic difference in obesity between women and men," said Eurostat, adding that the proportion for women was higher in eight EU nations, higher for men in 10 and equal in one.

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Healthy foetus terminated in Australia hospital error

An Australian hospital was investigating Thursday after a woman carrying 32-week-old twins had the wrong foetus terminated in a botched procedure it called "a terrible tragedy".

Doctors had advised the woman that one of the boys, whom she had already named, had a congenital heart defect that would require years of operations, if he survived at all, the Herald Sun reported.

She made the heartbreaking decision to abort the child but on Tuesday the wrong baby was terminated.

The woman then endured a lengthy caesarean section at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne during which the life of the sick foetus was also ended.

"The Royal Women's Hospital can confirm a distressing clinical accident occurred on Tuesday," the hospital said in a statement.

"This is a terrible tragedy and the hospital is deeply sorry for the loss suffered by the patient and her family.

"We are conducting a full investigation and continue to offer the family and affected staff every support."

Two independent investigators from The Canberra Hospital will help conduct a Root Cause Analysis for the health department, the hospital added.

A friend of the woman told the newspaper the family was struggling to cope.

"She went to the hospital with two babies and now she has none. And she had the heartache of giving birth to her sick baby. She's traumatised," she said.

"The hospital said it had followed correct procedure, but how could this happen?"

The family later issued a statement requesting privacy.

"We appreciate the public interest in what has happened but we would have preferred the Herald Sun journalist involved in breaking the news of our tragedy had respected our request that he not run this story," they said.

"The significant media attention triggered by this article has added to our stress and has put our privacy at risk at what has been a very difficult time for us."

Victorian state Premier Ted Baillieu told reporters it was a tragedy for everyone involved.

"I don't think it's appropriate for anybody to draw any conclusions other than this is a horrible tragedy," he said."We'll make sure that the investigation is as thorough as it can be."

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Rare strain of AIDS virus moves beyond Cameroon

A very rare strain of AIDS virus previously found only among a few people in Cameroon has most probably spread outside the West African country, according to a case reported by The Lancet on Friday.

The first identified infection with the so-called "group N" strain of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was found in 1998 in a Cameroonian woman who had progressed to AIDS.

Since then, more than 12,000 HIV-infected patients living in Cameroon have been tested for group-N infection, but only 12 cases, including two couples, have ever been found.

The new case, reported by French doctors, involves a 57-year-old man who was admitted to the Saint Louis Hospital Paris in January suffering from fever, rash, swollen lymph glands and genital ulceration.

The patient had high levels of a virus in the HIV-1 family, but tests to pinpoint the particular strain proved inconclusive.

On February 9, the patient developed facial paralysis.

The French team then carried out further tests on blood samples, which were found to react in an antibody essay of the N strain.

Tracing his sexual history, the researchers believe the infection was "probably" acquired from intercourse with a partner in Togo, from which he had just returned.

"This case of HIV-1 group-N primary infection indicates that this rare group is now circulating outside Cameroon, which emphasises the need for rigorous HIV epidemiological monitoring," says the doctors, led by Professor Francois Simon.

The finding is important because the patient suffered not only severe symptoms but also a fast-track decline in his immune system, as shown in the number of his CD4 white blood cells.

He was given a powerful five-drug combination of antiretrovirals, to which he responded, but needs close monitoring in the future, the letter said.

Group N may have leapt to humans from chimpanzees, possibly through the handling of bushmeat infected with the simian equivalent of HIV, scientists say.

It is one of four sub-types of virus gathered in the HIV-1 family, the others being M, which is by far the most prevalent, O and P. The P strain, like O and N very rare, may have jumped to humans from gorillas, according to a study published in 2009.

There is also a minority viral family called HIV-2, which also may have passed to humans from animal primates.

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