The World Health Organisation (WHO) certified Egypt as malaria-free, an achievement which took 100 years to complete. WHO called this milestone "truly historic".

"Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilisation itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Malaria And Its History With Egypt

In ancient Egypt, malaria occurred in the lowlands areas. The enlarged spleen of some Egyptian mummies are also evidence of the presence of this widespread mosquito-borne disease. Pharaoh Tutankhamun, who was the king of ancient Egypt from 1333 to 1323 BCE was also afflicted by the disease. In 2010, scientists recovered traces of malaria parasites from the mummified remains of his blood. The team of scientists also found the DNA of the malaria parasite in several other mummies, some of which were the oldest to be ever isolated.

The first effort to eradicate this disease was started around 100 years ago, in the 120s, when it banned rice cultivation and agricultural crops near homes. Finally, the certification is granted for Egypt as a malaria-free nation based on its proof that the transmission chain is interrupted for at last the previous three consecutive years.

Annually, in Africa, at least 6,00,00 people are killed because of this disease. With the eradication of this disease, Egypt has now become the third country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, following the United Arab Emirates and Morocco to be malaria-free. Globally, 44 countries and one territory have received this certification.

What Is Malaria?

It is caused by a parasite that spreads to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. As per WHO, when an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites a human, the human shows symptoms of malaria. Once the parasites enter your body, they travel to the liver and mature. After a few days, the parasites enter the bloodstream and start to infect the red blood cells. Within 48 to 72 hours, parasites multiply and cause the infected cells to burst open.

Common Signs And Symptoms

• Shaking chills
• High fever
• Sweating
• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal Pain
• Diarrhoea
• Anemia
• Muscle Pain
• Convulsions
• Coma
• Bloody Stools

How to Prevent?

There is yet no vaccination available to treat malaria, however taking precautions like sleeping under a mosquito net, using mosquito repellent, covering your skin or using bug sprays can help.

Nasal spray warnings are given by doctors and experts as the long use of it could lead to worsening of condition. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) advised the public to not use nasal decongestant for more than seven days, as it contains xylometazoline or oxymetazoline. Its prolonged use can cause 'rebound congestion' or increased dependency on these sprays to breathe easily.

A recent poll, reports the Independent found out that almost six in 10 pharmacists report patients were unaware of the dangers of its extended use. Due to the increased number of flu activity, symptoms like blocked nose has increased, which has lead to a high usage of nasal spray.

Is Rebound Congestion Preventable?

It is a preventable condition, and is scientifically known as rhinitis medicamentosa, which causes the symptoms to worsen. Patients become depended on the sprays to breathe more easily.

RPS survey of 300 pharmacists found that 59% think the public is not aware of the risks, while 75% said packaging should be clearer about the seven-day limit. 63% said they had intervened in cases of suspected overuse.

Professor Amira Guirguis, chief scientist at RPS told the ITV News, "Nasal decongestant sprays can be helpful for short-term relief, but using them for longer than seven days can make your congestion significantly worse. Our research shows that many people are unaware of this risk, which means they may continue using these sprays without realizing they could be prolonging their symptoms. We'd like to see clearer warnings on the packaging which you can't miss and greater awareness of the seven-day limit. If your congestion lasts more than a week, speak to your pharmacist. There are safe and effective alternative options to help you manage your symptoms."

Another survey by ITV News suggests that more than a fifth of adults have used the products for longer than seven days. This means 5.5 million people in the UK may have risked developing a dependency.

Read: Bristol Hospitals Under Severe Strain as Flu and Cold Weather Hit the Region

As ITV News reported, Charlotte Johnstone, who is 30, had been using nasal spray multiple times a day since she was seven years old. She realized that the impact of this so-called addiction has caused her anxiety and left her "dreaming about not being able to breathe". She told ITV News, “I can’t sleep without having it, I wake up and the first thing I do is have my nasal spray. I don’t like eating if I’ve got a blocked up nose, it just makes me feel claustrophobic. I wouldn’t put myself in a situation where I don’t have it. “I go through stages of losing my sense of smell. I know it’s doing something but I don’t know what. But for the sake of having a clear nose, I’ll just take it,” she said.

A spokesperson from PAGB, the consumer healthcare association representing the manufacturers of these products, said: “The patient information leaflet which accompanies all nasal decongestant sprays, includes these instructions and outlines the risks of taking the medication for longer than its indicated use. As explained on the information supplied with the nasal decongestant sprays, OTC medicines manufacturers provide comprehensive accessible information to support people to make responsible informed decisions about the right product to self-care for their self-treatable condition," reported ITV News.

Open AI launched a new ChatGPT feature in the US, called the ChatGPT Health. As of now, this is launched only in the United States, which can analyze people's medical records and give them better answers. However, it has also drawn attention of critics, who raise concerns regarding the privacy, as well as safety of diagnosis and treatment.

What Is ChatGPT Health?

As per the Open AI website, "Health is a dedicated space in ChatGPT where you can ask health and wellness questions and choose to connect your health data (like medical records and wellness apps) so responses can be grounded in that context. It is designed to support, not replace, medical care."

One can access Health from the sidebar and can ask health-related questions in a main chat. OpenAI has said that the conversations in ChatGPT Health would be stored separately to other chats and would not be used to train its AI tools. The feature will also not be used for "diagnosis or treatment".

However, Andrew Crawford, of US non-profit the Center for Democracy and Technology, as reported in the BBC said, it was "crucial" to maintain "airtight" safeguards around users' health information. "New AI health tools offer the promise of empowering patients and promoting better health outcomes, but health data is some of the most sensitive information people can share and it must be protected," Crawford said.

Why Is This Feature Being Introduced?

OpenAI notes that more than 230 million people ask its chatbot questions related to health and wellbeing, at least every week. Thus the feature is being launched, while ChatGPT Health will have "enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data".

Open AI also noted that users can connect it with third party wellness apps to get the data, for instance Apple Health, Peloton, and MyFitnessPal. These apps can provide the medical records to OpenAI's new feature to generate relevant responses.

In a blogpost, Open AI noted: "You can securely connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations in your own health information, so responses are more relevant and useful to you. Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness—while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians."

Will This Feature Replace Doctors?

OpenAI claims that ChatGPT Health is not launched to replace medical care, rather to help one navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time. OpenAI claims that the tool was developed in close collaboration with physicians.

In the last two years, OpenAI said that it was able to work with more than 260 physicians across 60 countries and dozens of specialities, who have provided feedback on model outputs more than 600,000 times.

While the feature is only launched in the United States, however, the company said that it plans to make Health available to all users on web and IOS "in the coming weeks" as the experience is refined.

Flu cases are rising in the US, with the virus exploding across the country. Like many experts have earlier pointed that that this would be the 'worst season' and that 'it is not over yet'. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC data too tells us that records are reaching all time highs in some cases.

What Does CDC Data Say About Increased Flu Activity In US?

For the first time since 1997, when flu data was first tracked, 8% of visits to doctors related to flu or flu-like illness and symptoms the week ending with December 27 has increased. Hospitalization too increased by 48% week over week, which has now amounted to 120,000 hospitalization and 5,000 deaths so far in this season.

The CDC data shows that just under 33% or 23,350 of the 70,757 fly tests were reported positive to the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System. This was also up by 9% during the first week of December.

Regions like Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming reported numbers as high as over 45%. CDC also noted "very high" activity in the Northeast, the week ending with December 27, including in New York, Massachusetts, and North Carolina.

Wastewater data by WasterWaterSCAN, a Stanford University-led tool also tracked the spread of the disease and said that the flu activity was "high". It noted that the activity increased by 146%.

Why Is This Season's Flu The Worst One Yet?

This year's flu came after the flu vaccination was made, which means the current vaccination does not align with the mutation, however, experts have pointed out that it still continues to offer protection against the illness. This season's flu is a mutation of H3N2 or influenza A, called the subclade K, or what people are calling 'super flu'.

This is the culprit in rising flu cases, globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) on its website said that K variant marks "a notable evolution in influenza A (H3N2) viruses". Some are also questioning the effectiveness of this season's influenza vaccine against the strain.

Read: Unique Symptoms Of Flu In 2026 And How Long Infection Now Last

The flu virus is highly contagious and spreads easily in crowded places, especially during the colder months.

In some cases, the infection can progress to the lungs, which could lead to complications like bronchitis or pneumonia. Yale Medicine too notes that this virus could attack the respiratory system, including throat, nose, and lungs.

What Are The Common Symptoms This Season For The Flu?

K variant causes more intense flu symptoms, they include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Cough
• Sore throat
• Runny nose

Are The Old Vaccines Effective Against This New Variant?

"The vaccine remains the most effective means to prevent disease. We still want to encourage people to get the vaccine," said Professor Antonia Ho, Professor and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases at the University of Glasgow. Experts have stressed enough on the immunity that one can receive from the vaccine that that these flu jab remain the best defense against the flu, even though the current strain circulated may have drifted away from the strain included in this year's jab.

Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also show that vaccines is performing as expect, despite the emergence of subclade K.