BEIJING - Two new vaccines to combat the H5N1 bird flu virus have been developed, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Laboratory studies show that the new vaccines can produce highly intensified antibodies that target the H5N1 virus and remain effective within an animal's immune system for as long as 10 months, much longer than other vaccines of its kind available anywhere in the world, scientists said. Due to the safety and efficiency demonstrated by the vaccines in small-scale trials, they have been put into large-scale production and are expected to be used widely on poultry and birds.

Size is appetite

NEW YORK - Although bigger people tend to have bigger appetites, the size of the stomach - and not just the size of the body - appears to affect the feeling of fullness, or satiation, during and after a meal. Recent research suggests that factors that control stomach volume, independent of body size, are potential targets in fighting obesity.

AIDS the killer

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa's adult death rate has jumped by almost 50 per cent over the past six years and the country's devastating AIDS epidemic is probably the primary cause, researchers said last week. "There is a distinct rise in deaths in the younger, sexually-active age groups. It is our view that this is mainly due to AIDS," said Ria Laubscher, a statistician at South Africa's independent Medical Research Council.

(Star/Agencies)