Drugs, vaccine scandal, swine flu: Health

People who take pills to lower their blood pressure often take other drugs that reduce the pills' effectiveness, a recent study suggests.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Many people take drugs that interfere with their blood pressure pills

People who take pills to lower their blood pressure often take other drugs that reduce the pills' effectiveness, a recent study suggests. Researchers studied data on 521,028 adults prescribed blood pressure pills for the first time and 131,764 people taking at least four different pills to lower their blood pressure.

China sacks six senior officials at food and drug regulator over vaccine scandal

China said on Saturday it has sacked six senior officials at its food and drug regulator after a safety scandal at vaccine maker Changsheng Biotechnology Co Ltd revealed failings at the government body including inadequate supervision. In a posting on its website, the State Administration for Market Regulation said that among officials dismissed were Ding Jianhua, who headed two departments at the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA). The same statement was posted on the CFDA's website.

Third African swine fever outbreak hits China's hog herd

China's Ministry of Agriculture said on Sunday 88 hogs had died from African swine fever in the eastern city of Lianyungang, the third outbreak this month, as the highly-contagious disease threatened to spread through the world's biggest pig herd. A total of 615 hogs have been infected since Aug. 15 with the swine fever in Lianyungang, in Jiangsu province, where authorities have banned the movement of hogs, related products and animals that are easily infected both into and outside the affected area, the ministry said.

Militia threat hampers Ebola fight in Congo as disease kills 47

Militia violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo has prevented aid workers from reaching some potential cases in an outbreak of Ebola that has so far killed 47 people, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Over 2,000 people have been potentially exposed to the virus that began in North Kivu province, but the violence means officials cannot be sure if they have identified all the chains by which it is spreading in the east of the vast country.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)