Jo Adnitt/BBCOne of Leah’s most painful memories of her former school is the time she was held down for so long by members of staff, that blood vessels burst in her face.

Getty ImagesHealth experts have welcomed proposals for tougher regulations on outdoor smoking, but leading figures in the hospitality sector worry restrictions could hinder some businesses, particularly pubs.

The country at the center of a global health emergency is struggling even to diagnose cases and provide basic care.Health officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of a shape-shifting mpox outbreak, say they lack even the most basic tools necessary to contain and treat the virus.The country has limited capacity to diagnose cases of mpox, even as transmission and the presentation of the disease are changing. That is complicating efforts to trace contacts and establish the true scale and spread of the outbreak.There is no effective antiviral treatment for mpox in Congo. The country is also short on the medications necessary to treat people with painful mpox lesions. Its fragile public health system is struggling to provide those infected with basic care, which has been shown to improve survival rates even in the absence of antiviral drugs.And the country is still waiting for vaccines to begin a campaign to protect health workers and close contacts of those infected and to try to check spread of the virus.“We thought when there was an emergency declaration from the World Health Organization in 2022 that then we would get help with surveillance and really understanding this disease,” said Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, the director of the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Kinshasa.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

Barrett familyHealth officials are urging parents in England to ensure their children are up to date with any missed vaccinations before they return to school.

Getty ImagesAmbulance crews are wasting “significant” amounts of time being called out unnecessarily to prisons across England, the health safety watchdog has said.

Getty ImagesMinisters are considering tighter restrictions on smoking outdoors as part of a drive to phase out tobacco.

Recent infections from the Eastern equine encephalitis virus are worrying health officials. Severe cases can be deadly or leave lasting injuries.Residents of 10 communities in Massachusetts have been warned to stay indoors from dusk to dawn. Some local parks are closed at night. A person in New Hampshire has died. Pesticides are being sprayed from trucks and aircrafts.What’s causing all of the alarm? A mosquito-borne virus called Eastern equine encephalitis, which is so rare that most infectious disease experts might never see a case. This year, at least four states have reported human E.E.E. infections.Here’s what you should know.Is this an unusually bad year for E.E.E.?The virus is endemic in North America, which means that it’s consistently present on the continent. The United States sees a handful of infections every year, mainly along the East Coast and around the Great Lakes. In 2019, there were a record 38 cases, the largest U.S. outbreak in recent history.As of Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had reported four human cases, in Wisconsin, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont. In addition, officials in New Hampshire have reported one death.But experts say it’s too soon to know whether this will turn out to be a particularly severe year. Mosquito-borne illnesses usually spread widely until around October, or when it’s cold enough for water to freeze, said Dr. Jonathan Abraham, a clinical infectious disease specialist at Harvard Medical School.Until then, health officials in the affected areas are urging residents to take precautions.Who should worry?The main risk factor for contracting the virus is exposure to mosquitoes, said Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a professor of infectious diseases at the Duke University School of Medicine.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

The nationwide outbreak that started in May has been connected to eight deaths. The C.D.C. is advising people not to eat any recalled products.Five more people have died after consuming products tainted with listeria that have been linked to Boar’s Head deli meats over the last three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths in a nationwide outbreak to eight.In total, 57 people have been hospitalized because of the bacteria in the outbreak that started in May, the C.D.C. said. As a result of the outbreak, the company has recalled millions of pounds of meat. The recall includes about 70 products — including those made from ham, beef and poultry — that were manufactured at its plant in Jarratt, Va. The recall mostly affects products that are sliced at the deli counter, the company said in a statement on its website.The five new deaths are one person from Florida, one person from Tennessee, one from New Mexico and two people from South Carolina, according to health officials.The numbers make it the largest outbreak of listeriosis since 2011, when at least 13 people in eight states died eating cantaloupe contaminated with listeria.The C.D.C. is warning people not to eat the recalled deli meats. Health officials are telling consumers to check their fridges for any recalled Boar’s Head products. (The C.D.C. is telling people to look for “EST. 12612” or “P-12612” inside the USDA mark of inspection on the product labels. Some of the products have sell-by dates that last until October 2024.)Listeria can live on surfaces, like meat slicers, and foods, even at refrigerated temperatures. Symptoms usually start within one to four weeks after ingesting the bacteria, but can take up to 10 weeks to show up, according to the C.D.C.Mild symptoms of listeriosis include a fever, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More severe symptoms include headache, a stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance and convulsions, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.Every year, about 1,600 people in the United States develop serious listeria infections, according to the C.D.C. The bacteria are naturally found in soil and can contaminate foods such as dairy products, leafy greens and fruits. Most people who ingest the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes don’t get sick, but certain high-risk individuals, including pregnant women and people who are over 65 or immunocompromised, can become seriously ill.

With his wife, Dr. Jean Carruthers, he conducted hundreds of studies on the wrinkle-erasing properties of the neurotoxin that causes botulism. The work revolutionized beauty care.“Pretty Poison,” newspapers called it in the mid-1990s, when the deadly neurotoxin that causes botulism began to make headlines as a temporary wrinkle-eraser.Botulinum toxin was 100 times more virulent than cyanide. For years beginning in World War II, the Defense Department had hoped to develop it as a chemical weapon. But decades later, when Dr. Alan Scott, an ophthalmologist, refined it into a pharmaceutical after discovering its potential to cure conditions like strabismus (crossed eyes) and blepharospasm (involuntary eyelid twitching and clenching), an unlikely byproduct of his treatments was cosmetic: brows as smooth as a child’s.Yet it was not Dr. Scott who pioneered Botox, as it would later be called, as a panacea for aging. It was Dr. Alastair Carruthers, a Canadian dermatologist, and his wife, Dr. Jean Carruthers, an ophthalmologist, who joined forces to investigate its cosmetic use in hundreds of peer-reviewed studies.While Dr. Scott would come to be known as the “Father of Botox,” the Carrutherses were considered its godparents. Dr. Alastair Carruthers died on Aug. 19 at his home in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was 79.Dr. Carruthers, who had advanced Parkinson’s disease, died with the help of Canada’s medical assistance in dying law, his wife said.Dr. Carruthers, right, with Dr. Alan Scott and his wife, Ruth Scott, in 2009. Dr. Scott, who first refined the botulinum toxin into a pharmaceutical, was known as the “Father of Botox.”via Carruthers familyWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

BBCA woman who used her life savings to have vaginal mesh removed in the United States said she could no longer wait for surgery in Northern Ireland after passing blood and debris.