Every year, World Toilet Day is observed to raise awareness about the global sanitation crisis and encourage action to solve it. The goal set by the United Nation is to achieve safe toilets for all by 2023, as a part of their Sustainable Development Goals.

The UN also states that 3.5 billion people live without proper sanitation and many children also lose their lives due to poor sanitation and unsafe water. This is why World Toilet Day is observed to raise awareness on this issue.

Theme

This year, the theme for World Toilet Day 2024 is "Toilets - A Place for Peace'. This focuses on the growing threat to sanitation that is caused by conflict, climate change, disaster and neglect. When there is a threat to using toilets, it can lead to many health risks.

Not using toilets for too long may lead to Urinary Tract Infection or UTI. For many who do not have access to clean toilets do not drink enough liquid or hold pee for too long. Doctors suggest that holding in pee for too long can cause bacteria to multiply and lead to UTI. By not drinking enough water, your bladder fails to tell the body to pee often, and can cause the bacteria to spread through the urinary tract, which can lead to infection.

Symptoms of UTI:

• Burning or stinging feeling while urinating
• Pain in pelvis or lower abdomen
• Constant urge to empty the bladder
• Strong or foul smelling urine
• Consistently dark urine
• Blood in urine

Holding in pee for too long can also cause your bladder to stretch, making it difficult or even impossible for the bladder to contract and release pee normally. It can also damage your pelvic floor muscles or could lead to kidney stones.

World Toilet Day History And Significance

To prevent such conditions, it is important that everyone has access to clean and safe toilets. In terms of history, the day was established in 2001, by the World Toilet Organization (WTO), which was founded by Jack Sim. However, it was officially recognised by the UN in 2013. The Government of Singapore worked with WTO to create the first UN resolution called Sanitation for All.

India too promotes safe and hygiene toilet through its Swachh Bharat Yojna.

Tick bites are becoming a huge health care issue, as they can cause diseases like Lyme. Due to the recent surge in tick bites throughout the United States, it has become more important to know everything about the situation and the disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has already issued a warning about a surge in tick bite cases and possible Lyme disease in the Northeastern states, where tick-related emergency room visits have risen. The Midwest is the second most affected region.

Harvard Health states that about 90% of cases have been reported in 14 states: Connecticut, Maine, Virginia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

CDC reports ER visits related to tick bites hit their highest levels for spring since 2017. The United States has been fighting with tick-related issues for decades. The nation sees an estimated 476,000 people treated for Lyme disease each year.

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What Is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. This infectious disease is spread by infected ticks. The most common cause of these diseases in humans is bites from blacklegged ticks, though other variants can also be carriers. The Harvard Health says that most patients do not remember being bitten by a tick.

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Unique Symptoms Of Lyme Disease

Heart Problems

Lyme can impact the cardiac, neurologic, and rheumatologic systems. The CDC says that 1 out of 100 patients has Lyme bacteria in their heart tissues. The condition is also called Lyme carditis.

Brain Fog

Advanced brain imaging shows that Lyme disease brain fog is real. It can lead to various effects, including difficulty focusing, thinking, reading, and absorbing information.

Bell's Palsy

There are 12 essential nerves, also known as the cranial nerves, that originate in the brain and play a crucial role in sensory functions and movements in the different parts of the head, face, neck, and torso. Lyme disease can also affect those nerves, leading to Bell's Palsy.

Eye Problems

Lyme can cause sudden vision loss, damage to the optic nerve, and neurotrophic keratitis. Other symptoms include blurry vision, eye floaters, tearing, and extreme sensitivity to light.

Hearing Problems

The most common Lyme-related hearing issues are tinnitus, vertigo and dizziness, headache, and unilateral sensorineural hearing or hearing loss in one ear.

Arthritis

The disease can cause swollen knees, a low-grade fever, or a limp. It usually starts in the fourth week after being bitten.

Fatigue

This is not just any fatigue, but a weakness that is debilitating. People with a history of Lyme were 8 to 15 times more likely to report severe or moderate fatigue than those who have never had the disease.

President Donald Trump's recent physical examination has been in the news, and now it is about a drug that was omitted in the test, which is making headlines. This very drug is raising questions about the health condition of President Trump, as he has been taking this drug for years. This medication is finasteride, a generic name for Propecia, which is a hair loss drug.

President Trump's recent test report at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center contains a list of drugs that he takes, but in that list, one important name was missing, and that is his hair loss drug, Propecia. According to The Washington Post, when they asked officials if the president still takes that drug, the White House said it was not obligated to reveal the full range of medications the president was taking.

The White House said, “The current report reflects all medications deemed clinically relevant to disclose at this time.” It added, “No additional undisclosed conditions or procedures materially affecting his health status were omitted from this report.”

Though even after the statement of the White House, experts are still questioning his health condition and the hair loss drug. Robert Klitzman, a psychiatrist who leads Columbia University’s master’s program in bioethics, said, “It raises significant questions of what else is possibly not being revealed.”

Steve Joffe, a physician and bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, said to the Post, “There’s a certain level of openness and disclosure that people have a right to expect from someone in whom they place such profound trust.”

President Trump's mysterious drug list, with many omissions, concerns experts as it lacks what matters the most.

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Why is Trump's Boasting About Cognitive Test Score Making Experts Question?

President Donald Trump is saying that he has achieved a full score in a very difficult test. He said, “Unlike other US Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered ‘extreme intelligence.’”

“In fact, this is my fourth such test, all PERFECT or 120 correct answers out of 120 questions asked! Anyone rarely gets a Perfect Score, especially when achieved four times in a row.” He wrote in his post.

He also demanded that the candidates for president and vice president should also go through this kind of test by saying, “In fact, this is my fourth such test, all PERFECT or 120 correct answers out of 120 questions asked! Anyone rarely gets a Perfect Score, especially when achieved four times in a row.”

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Why Did Experts Question Repeated Testing?

Trump’s claims were immediately questioned by experts like Dr. Jonathan Reiner and Abby Phillip of CNN. They argued that repeated tests may not provide the same value. According to them, as the president had taken the test several times and the questions didn't change that much, it was easy. Other than that, the test is not designed to calculate intellect; it is more of a dementia screening test.

The recent hantavirus outbreak aboard the luxury ship MV Hondius, which drew global attention and raised concerns about the potential for wider spread, has highlighted the need for better therapeutics and vaccines.

The outbreak claimed three lives and infected 13 people. While those affected recovered from the infection, they had contracted the Andes strain, which carries a risk of human-to-human transmission. There is currently no specific antiviral drug or vaccine for the Andes virus.

Now, researchers writing in The Lancet Infectious Diseases have reported early promising results for tocilizumab as a treatment for severe hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).

The researchers said tocilizumab warrants further evaluation as a treatment for severe hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

What Did The Study Find?

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The study is based on a case series involving 10 hantavirus patients treated at Hospital Zonal de Bariloche, Argentina, between June 1, 2024, and May 6, 2026.

Tocilizumab is an immunosuppressive medication used to treat severe inflammatory conditions, including severe COVID-19 and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Researchers from San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, said that under an ethical framework allowing the emergency use of unproven medications outside clinical trials when no satisfactory alternatives exist, tocilizumab was administered to five eligible patients with laboratory-confirmed severe hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.

Five other patients received standard supportive care without Tocilizumab because they were too sick or the medication was unavailable when treatment was being considered. The case series represents the first descriptive report from a larger ongoing study.

Four of the five patients treated with Tocilizumab survived and were discharged from intensive care, whereas all five patients who did not receive Tocilizumab died shortly after admission to intensive care.

There is currently no approved vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for the Andes strain, underscoring the importance of further research into potential therapies such as tocilizumab.

However, the authors said, "the findings should not be interpreted as evidence for the implementation of routine use of Tocilizumab to treat severe hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, but they do support the need for urgent further research".

What Is Hantavirus?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that naturally infect rodents and are occasionally transmitted to humans.

Globally, an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 hantavirus infections occur each year. The majority of cases are reported in Asia, particularly China. Most infections are sporadic or occur in small clusters linked to contact with infected rodents.

In humans, hantavirus infection can cause severe illness and death, although disease severity varies depending on the virus strain and geographical region.

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is a severe viral disease caused by the Andes virus, a type of hantavirus endemic in several regions of the Americas, including Argentina and Chile. In recent years, parts of Argentina have seen an increase in hantavirus cases.

The severe respiratory illness can rapidly become fatal. Reported fatality rates range from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, depending on the outbreak setting, quality of medical care, and surveillance capacity.

How Does Hantavirus Spread?

Hantavirus is primarily spread through contact with infected rodents, including exposure to:

• Urine
• Droppings
• Saliva
• Less commonly, scratches or bites from infected rodents