Health Headlines - August 13

Vampire Bat-Related Death First in U.S., CDC Says

The death of a migrant farm worker who was infected with rabies after being bitten by a vampire bat is the first such case in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 19-year-old victim was bitten on the heel by a vampire bat in Michoacan, Mexico on July 15, 2010, 10 days before he left to pick sugar cane at a plantation in Louisiana,Agence France-Presse reported.

He became ill in late July and died a few weeks later.

"This case represents the first reported human death from a vampire bat rabies virus variant in the United States," said the article published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Vampire bats are currently limited to Latin America but they could move into the southern U.S. as a result of climate change, according to the CDC, AFP reported.

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Parents Have Dead Daughter's Eggs Frozen

The Israeli parents of a 17-year-old traffic accident victim were granted permission by an Israeli court to have their daughter's eggs extracted and frozen.

Chen Aida Ayash was struck by a car and died 10 days later on Aug. 3. Her parents donated her organs and received court permission to remove and freeze her eggs, according to the Israeli English-language website Haaretz, ABC News reported.

The parents also wanted their daughter's eggs to be fertilized, but the court said the family would first have to prove that Chen had wanted to have children.

The court decision to allow the family to have their daughter's eggs removed and frozen is the first of its kind in Israel and possibly the world, according to ABC News.

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Behavioral Therapy Won't Curb Premature Ejaculation: Review

There's not enough evidence to support behavioral therapy for premature ejaculation, according to researchers who reviewed four previously published studies involving a total of 253 men.

The cause of premature ejaculation, which affects up to 30 percent of men worldwide, is unknown, ABC News reported.

Only four studies were included in the Cochrane Review because 13 others were too small or failed to meet certain standards.

Despite the findings, some experts believe that behavioral therapy meant to ease the anxiety about the condition can be helpful when used with medication, ABC News reported.