Healthy Me - At Home and Away: Seoul

Showing posts with label Seoul. Show all posts

Sunday, September 19, 2010

A healthier kimchi

South Korean firm to develop healthier kimchi

SEOUL: A South Korean firm said Wednesday it plans to develop a healthier, low-salt version of the country's signature dish kimchi in line with global trends.

Kimchi, a fiercely spiced mixture of pickled cabbage, radish and cucumbers, is prized for its healthy ingredients -- apart from the salt.

Daesang FNF said it would reduce the salinity rate to 1.6 grammes of salt for every 100 grammes of kimchi next year, compared to an average 2.0 grammes currently and 2.5 grammes over 20 years ago.

The government has been working to globalize Korean food including kimchi.

"In order for kimchi to appeal to foreigners as a healthy food, it is necessary to lower the level of salt," said a spokeswoman for Daesang FNF.

"The amount of sodium will differ but the taste will be the same as the original flavour."

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that Koreans consume more than double the World Health Organisation's recommended daily intake of salt, putting them at risk of ailments such as hypertension.

The Korea Food and Drug Administration is working to cut the sodium rate in food but kimchi is not a priority.

"Although kimchi can be salty, it is not considered unhealthy," an administration official told AFP. "The salty flavor is important, although it shouldn't be too much."

The side dish has its own museum in Seoul and an annual festival, and was even blasted into space with the country's first astronaut in 2008. - AFP/fa

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:

South Korean firm to develop healthier kimchi

-----

Sunday, June 28, 2009

South Korea's swine flu count tops 200

06/28/2009 05:25 PM

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean health authorities say six more people have been infected with swine flu, bringing to country's total to 202.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that the six tested positive for the virus Sunday, after arriving from the United States, Britain, and the Philippines last week.

Health Ministry official Kim Tae-yoon said earlier Sunday that five children at a Seoul day care center have also tested positive over the past several days.

The ministry statement says 138 people have been discharged from hospitals. The rest remain in quarantine. - AP

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

H1N1 flu cases in Singapore rise to 49

By Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 16 June 2009 2158 hrs

Health screening officers monitor passengers through a thermal scanner at the Changi International Airport

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Health Ministry (MOH) has warned that the risk of the H1N1 flu spreading in the community has risen with the detection of two new cases.

The total number now stands at 49.

All of the confirmed cases, except one who was a close contact of a confirmed case, are imported cases with a travel history.

The Ministry noted that unlike the earlier imported cases, a number of recent cases had engaged in extensive community activities such as working, shopping and participating in mass activities since their arrival in Singapore.

Some even travelled here, even though they were unwell prior to departure.

The 48th case is a 56-year-old German man who works in Singapore as a researcher at the Biopolis. He had gone to Philadelphia, USA on May 28 to attend a conference. He developed symptoms on June 4 while he was there. He returned from Philadelphia on SQ15 via Seoul on June 8. He came in contact with several people before he was quarantined a week later.

He was seated at row 52. He was not picked up by the thermal scanner at the airport as he did not have a fever then. He took a taxi home from the airport, and stayed at home for the rest of the day.

He went to work from June 9 to 12. On the evening of June 11, he went to a function at the French Ambassador's Residence attended by about 70 persons. On June 13, he went to a shopping mall and had social activities at Clarke Quay. On June 14, he attended a concert and did more shopping. On June 15, he did not go to work in the morning and called a 993 ambulance to send him to CDC2 around noon time. Laboratory results confirmed his infection at 2140 hours on June 15.

The 49th case is a 26-year-old Indonesian man who works in Singapore.
He returned from Melbourne on SQ228 on June 14.

He was seated at row 61, and was on the same flight as the 43rd, 44th and 45th cases who were seated at row 43. He was not picked up by the thermal scanner at the airport as he did not have a fever then.

He and his friend took a taxi home from the airport. On the morning of June 15, he sought medical attention at a GP clinic, and was given two days of medical leave.

Before he took a taxi to TTSH ED, he did some shopping first. Laboratory results confirmed his infection at 2140 hours on June 15.

Contact tracing is ongoing for the two cases. Passengers seated within rows rows 59-63 on SQ228 on June 14 who have not been contacted by MOH yet should call the MOH hotline at 1800-333 9999.

All close contacts identified will be quarantined and provided with antiviral prophylaxis.

----------
RESERVE for cleansing and prevention
----------

No contact tracing will be done for the close contacts on SQ15 on June 8 as the seven-day quarantine period from the last day of contact with the 48th case has passed.

The Ministry reminds travellers who have been to countries with sustained community transmission, or nearing community transmission, as well as countries that have exported cases, to call 993 for medical help if they feel unwell within seven days of arrival.

The list of affected countries can be found on the Ministry's website.

The World Health Organisation has also consistently advised against travel if one is unwell. Such behaviour has considerably increased the difficulty of contact tracing and significantly heightened the risk of community spread in Singapore.

For people who are planning to travel, they should check the MOH website for the latest update on the list of countries with confirmed cases of H1N1 so that they can make considered decisions on whether to proceed with their travel plans. - CNA/ms

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

South Korea confirms 47th case of swine flu

06/07/2009 | 04:50 PM

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's health ministry says it has confirmed one more case of swine flu, bringing the country's total to 47.

The Health Ministry said in a statement Sunday that a 25-year-old South Korean woman tested positive for the virus on Saturday following a recent trip to China.

It says she took the same flight on Monday from South Korea to China as an American man who later tested positive for swine flu and has been quarantined in China.

The statement says that of the country's 47 cases, only six remain quarantined. - AP

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Australia braced for H1N1 flu, as Asia cases rise

Posted: 27 May 2009 1639 hrs

Health screening officers monitor passengers through a thermal scanner at the Changi International Airport in Singapore

HONG KONG: The A(H1N1) influenza toll in Asia grew as Australia's infections more than doubled and Japan and South Korea announced new cases, helping to push the global total to almost 13,000.

Singapore confirmed its first case while Hong Kong, where Asia's first infection from the A(H1N1) virus sparked a week-long quarantine of around 300 guests and staff at a city hotel, announced a fresh total of 10.

In Australia, Health Minister Nicola Roxon warned that the nation faced "a changing situation" and said she expected "some significant increasing numbers (of cases) over the next couple of days."

Authorities defended a decision to let 2,000 passengers off a cruise ship where there was a suspected flu outbreak, as the number of confirmed nationwide cases more than doubled in 24 hours to 59.

Despite suspicions a number of people on board the Pacific Dawn liner docked in Sydney were suffering from the virus more than 2,000 passengers were allowed to return to the community Monday and told to self-quarantine for seven days.

A total of 14 passengers have since been diagnosed with H1N1 flu, with 172 people on board showing flu-like symptoms or reporting contact with someone who did.

New South Wales state Health Minister John Della Bosca said quarantine officials did "exactly the right thing" but conceded that screening criteria would have to change to account for person-to-person transmission.

"What I think is important to realise is that (infected passengers) weren't presenting as suspect cases according to the criteria at the time," Della Bosca told state radio.

"The criteria is going to have to change ... now we do have evidence of community transmission."

Meanwhile, Japan has seen a rapid rise in confirmed cases, saying Wednesday it had over 350.

The figure included eight people who had tested positive at Narita international airport near Tokyo, the health ministry said.

Two children who last week flew to Japan from the Philippines have also tested positive since their arrival.

The seven-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister live in the Philippines but have been in the central Japanese city of Shizuoka since last week, municipal officials said.

They arrived at Chubu international airport Friday with their parents -- a Japanese father and a Filipina mother -- and another sister. The nationalities of the infected children could not immediately be confirmed.

In neighbouring South Korea two more cases of H1N1 flu were confirmed, raising the country's total number of people infected with the virus to 29.

The new cases were found in a 22-year-old Korean woman who arrived from Texas last week and in a South African teacher, a health ministry spokesman said.

The teacher was from a language institute where a total of 19 teachers had been infected before Wednesday, he said.

The virus has caused 92 deaths and infected 12,954 people in 46 countries since it was first uncovered last month, according to the WHO's latest figures.

With the continued spread of the disease, the WHO enlisted scientists to help clear up the criteria needed for declaring a pandemic, amid concern the response of the Geneva-based body may have caused undue fear and disruption.

"We are trying to see what kind of adjustments must be made to make sure that the definitions really meet the situation," said World Health Organization interim Assistant Director General Keiji Fukuda.

The move follows appeals by several countries for more caution before moving up a step from the current phase five alert to declaring a pandemic for the new virus.

Authorities in Mexico, the epicentre of the outbreak, said the death toll had risen to 85, and infected cases rose to 4,721 with scientists advancing through a backlog of samples.

- AFP/vm

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Japan reports 292 H1N1 flu cases, PM urges calm

Posted: 22 May 2009 0352 hrs

Japanese school girls wearing facemasks are pictured in Kyoto.

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Thursday again urged the public to stay calm as a total of 292 H1N1 flu cases were reported, including the third in greater Tokyo, the world's largest urban area.

Railway staff on some train lines in and around the capital were asked to wear face masks and passengers were urged to do the same.

Public broadcaster NHK reported that the total number of A(H1N1) cases in Japan had reached 292, slightly ahead of the latest official health ministry tally of 282 cases by late Thursday.

Authorities in two western prefectures have closed more than 4,800 schools, colleges and kindergartens at least for the rest of the week to slow the spread of the virus, the education ministry said.

A 16-year-old girl from Hachioji, west of Tokyo, became the first confirmed case in the capital area, which is home to around 36 million people, followed by a second female student hours later, the metropolitan government said.

The city confirmed another case late Thursday in a woman in her 30s who recently visited the US city of San Francisco. She lives in the central Tokyo ward of Meguro.

The two girls from the same Kawasaki school were among a school group who travelled to New York from May 11 to 18 to join a mock United Nations conference with 2,300 international students, officials said.

East Japan Railway (JR East) required its employees at 26 stations in the Hachioji and Kawasaki areas to wear masks and called on passengers to follow suit, wash their hands often and gargle.

There have been no fatalities from the virus in Japan and most cases have been mild, health officials have stressed.

In a government television advertisement, a female voice says "we do not have to fear this influenza if we receive early treatment." Premier Taro Aso then faces the camera and says: "I ask for your calm response."

Masato Tashiro, a Japanese virologist on the WHO emergency panel, told reporters in Geneva that it was "no surprise" to see flu cases in Tokyo, adding that "quarantine control cannot be 100 percent perfect." - AFP/de

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.