Interesting, Non Political News

A bit of cotton left in the ear may sound harmless, but in this case, it wreaked havoc. The man developed a severe bacterial infection that started in his ear canal, progressed into the bone at the base of his skull and then moved upward, into the lining of his brain. While it didn't progress beyond the lining and enter his brain it was clearly causing neurological symptoms. The man was rushed to the emergency room after experiencing a seizure and collapsing, according to the case report.

But the problems in the man's ear were nothing new; he told doctors that he had experienced left ear pain and hearing loss over the past five years and had been treated twice for severe ear infections on the same side.

Doctors performed a minor surgery to explore his ear canal; during this operation, they located and removed the cotton swab tip that had gone missing. The swab was impacted and surrounded by wax and debris, suggesting that it had been there for some time, Charlton said, adding that it probably contributed to the man's recurrent ear infections over the years, culminating in the particularly severe episode.

The man spent nearly a week in the hospital and needed two months of intravenous and oral antibiotics to treat the infection, but he had no long-term hearing or thinking problems. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, he was advised to never use cotton swabs in his ears again. "They can only cause problems," Charlton said, noting that cotton swabs have been linked to ear infections, punctured eardrums and impacted ear wax.

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Last summer, Layane Dias, from the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia, started to be hit by pains across her body, she told BBC News. A few weeks later, she could no longer feel her legs. Eventually, she lost all feeling in her body from the chest down, she said. After several trips to the doctor, she was diagnosed with a Staphylococcus aureus infection caused by a bacteria which can lurk in the nasal passage. In June, a month before she began experiencing the debilitating symptoms, Dias had her nose pierced. Doctors believe this is how the bacteria entered her body.

Tests revealed Dias had a blood infection, while scans showed Dias had pus pressing against three of her spinal vertebra. It remains unclear if Dias will be able to walk again. She said she was at first “devastated” by this prospect, but has since met other men and women who do not have the use of their legs and is optimistic about life.

According to the CDC, the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria lives in the noses of around 30 percent of people. The resulting infection is often called a staph infection. In the majority of cases, carriers don’t fall ill. However, the bacteria can be dangerous if it enters the bloodstream. This can lead to the development of conditions including bacteremia; sepsis; pneumonia; a heart valve infection called endocarditis; and the osteomyelitis bone infection.

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An elderly Australian couple Wednesday signed for a package containing 10 million Australian dollars’ ($7 million) worth of methamphetamine, which had accidentally been shipped to their house, police said. The couple, who live outside Melbourne, called police after opening the parcel and discovering it contained bags of white substance. The authorities determined the substance to be 20 kilograms of the illegal drug.

“(It’s) quite incredible to comprehend that someone could be that sloppy,” Kershaw added.

Hours after the couple’s alarming discovery, a 21-year-old man was arrested in the nearby town of Bundoora. A further 20 kilograms of methamphetamine were found at the address where he was arrested. Zhiling Ma, who appeared Thursday in Melbourne court, was charged with trafficking and importing a marketable quantity of a border patrol drug, CNN affiliate Nine News reports.

“It’s quite a large find to take off the streets, really,” Kershaw said of the drug haul. “That’s 800,000 hits off the street that we’ve intercepted yesterday which is quite significant.”

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A baby in the United Kingdom died after being kissed by many people at a community event and possibly also being held by someone who had just used the toilet and not washed their hands. On that fateful day before she died the baby had a healthy temperature and no trouble eating, said Vandenbrouck. “There was not a single thing wrong. She never woke up.” Fleur’s father Ashley Edwards was first to discover her lifeless body. Vandenbrouck said she tried CPR but Fleur had already died.

Baby Edwards’s death was a mystery for doctors because the medical reports didn’t show any infection. However, a post mortem later at a children’s hospital found that she died of a Group B Strep infection. Group B streptococcus (GBS) is a bacterial infection caused by microorganisms found in a pregnant woman’s vagina or rectum. 25 percent of all healthy woman have this bacteria and most of them have no symptoms, according to the American Pregnancy Association.

It’s not a sexually transmitted disease and a baby can get this infection during birth from the mother’s genital tract. It can cause grave illness—including sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis or seizures. In baby Fleur’s case, the bacteria may have been transferred by a woman who had used the toilet and not washed her hands before holding the baby at the fundraiser.

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