Staying true to its name, river blindness can lead to some permanent issues with your eyes.

Also known as onchocerciasis, river blindness is an eye and skin disease that is spread by blackflies. Also accurate in the name, these tiny flies live near fast-running streams and rivers in inter-tropical zones.

According to the World Health Organization, it is the world’s second leading infectious cause of blindness. Africa poses the greatest risk, with over 90 percent of cases found on the continent. Other areas like Yemen and some Latin American countries also pose a risk.

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While cholera outbreaks are still occurring today, these epidemics are nothing new. Most of the world’s cholera epidemics can actually be traced back to a single place: India’s Ganges delta.

Cholera is an intestinal infection spread through contaminated food and water. Symptoms of cholera usually include diarrhea, vomiting and leg cramps. The disease doesn’t always show those signs though. Sometimes cholera is present with no symptoms to speak of. If an individual does not seek treatment, the symptoms can quickly become severe and victims can die within hours.

Many of the world’s worst cholera outbreaks can be traced back to the Ganges delta. Due to the fact that cholera spreads through contaminated food and water, the Ganges is a perfect breeding ground for the disease. The Ganges delta provides a source of water for millions of people living in India, all of which could be using contaminated water to bathe or cook.

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We naturally want vaccines to be as safe as possible. What’s the point in getting vaccinated if you’re risking a different illness?

While many people worry about side effects from vaccines, others don’t know about the other risks: bacteria.

While a syringe is injected into a vial, the vaccine can develop dangerous fungus. To combat this, manufacturers started to use a preservative called thimerosal. Thimerosal would prevent the fungus in multi-dose vaccines and make the drugs far safer.

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Since the first vaccine centuries ago, immunizations have become more important. But, with mass vaccinations come high costs.

With less known diseases at the time, children only received two vaccines in the 1950s: smallpox and diphtheria. According to a report by Clinical Infectious Diseases, pediatricians were able to administer these shots for as little as a dollar.

The polio vaccine was administered for the first time in 1955 which became part of the immunization schedule for children. These three shots became the standard for quite some time. In the 1970’s and 1980s, only half of school-aged children were vaccinated.

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The Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival, is just a couple weeks away.

The Chinese New Year dates back nearly 4,000 years and originated to raise sacrifices to the agricultural gods and ancient ancestors. This was a way of honoring them for sustaining the Chinese people for another year. Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty set the date from the lunar calendar. More than celebrating a turn of the calendar, the event signifies the beginning of the planting season.

The celebration may only land on one day, but the new year’s festival is a massive event covering 15 days.

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