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Daily digest September 2 2015

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Daily digest

Babies born prematurely more likely to struggle at school and be in low paid jobs

Premature babies tend to be less intelligent and end up in lower paid jobs.

Findings from a study conducted by Warwick University show that premature babies had fewer qualifications and less wealth than the general population by the age of 42.

About 3.3% of premature babies were unemployed when their life progress was tracked in adulthood, compared to 2.5% of full-termers.

‘The study is important because it could be used to flag up the need for extra support at school for children who are born preterm,’ said research lead Dieter Wolke.

Read more on the Guardian website

Ebola returns to Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has experienced a setback in its drive to eliminate Ebola after a woman who died recently in the north of the country tested positive for the virus.

Health experts had last week discharged the last known Ebola patient from hospital and were hopeful that the crisis was over. But the new case means that Sierra Leone is no longer free of Ebola.

At the height of the outbreak Sierra Leone was reporting more than 500 new cases a week.

Read more on BBC Online

Wasp venom investigated as cancer treatment option

The venom from wasp stings could be used to treat cancer.

Scientists believe that a toxin called MP1 Polybia-MP1 interacts with lipids that are abnormally distributed on the surface of cancer cells, creating holes within a short time.

One of the researchers, Paul Beales, from the University of Leeds, said: ‘This could be useful in developing new combination therapies, where multiple drugs are used simultaneously to treat a cancer by attacking different parts of the cancer cells at the same time.’

Read more on the Mirror website