Health Highlights: May 6, 2008

The FDA said consumers who've received the mouthwash from a health care provider should check the lot number,UPIreported. If it's a recalled bottle, contact the company for instructions at 800-292-9332.

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Flu Pandemic Threat Still Strong

The threat of a flu pandemic remains strong, and nations must hasten preparations to deal with a global outbreak, experts warned Tuesday at a meeting to update the World Health Organization's pandemic influenza preparedness plan.

"We can't delude ourselves. The threat of a pandemic influenza has not diminished," Keiji Fukuda, coordinator of the WHO's Global Influenza Program, said at the meeting, theAssociated Pressreported.

More than 150 countries have some form of national preparedness plan, but some of those are just a piece of paper than acknowledges the risk of a global pandemic, said Fukuda, who added that all levels of society need to be involved in the preparations and that all people need to know where to go for information.

"If somebody is sick in the family, for example, and it's difficult to get to hospital, they need to know what sort of advice might be available," Fukuda told theAP.

While most human cases of H5N1 bird flu have been caused by direct contact with infected birds, experts fear the virus may mutate into a form that's easily transmitted between people.

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Treatable Ailments Kill Nearly 10 Million Children Each Year

An estimated 9.7 million children worldwide under the age of 5 die each year from easily preventable or treatable health problems such as pneumonia and diarrhea, says a report released by the U.S.-based charity Save the Children.

Most of the deaths occur in developing nations, and poor children are twice as likely to die as rich children, theAssociated Pressreported.