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The battle against Ebola now underway in central Africa is like no other. It is the first for which doctors have both a promising vaccine and treatments to offer. These medical innovations are experimental, but the vaccine seems to work well, the four new treatments have given preliminary hints of curative powers and a clinical trial of them began Monday. (McNeil, 11/27)

The deeply conservative Muslim country is estimated to have one of the highest rates of abortion in the world, based on a 2012 study by the New York-based Population Council, a nonprofit that advocates family planning. The rate that year was 50 abortions for every 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 — roughly four times higher than in the U.S.According to family planning researchers, abortion provisions in the country's penal code are vague. (Hadid and Sattar, 11/28)

More than 130,000 people were newly diagnosed with HIV last year in Eastern Europe, the highest rate ever for the region, while the number of new cases in Western Europe declined, global public health experts said on Wednesday. European Union and European Economic Area countries saw a reduction in 2017 rates, mainly driven by a 20 percent drop since 2015 among men who have sex with men. That left Europe's overall increasing trend less steep than previously. (11/27)

Six researchers from Australia and the United Kingdom swallowed yellow Lego heads and kept track of how long it took to poop out the little plastic buggers. And right about now you’re probably asking yourself: Why? The answer: To reassure parents that whenever their kids swallow most small things such as coins - or Lego figurine heads - this too shall pass. (Gutierrez, 11/27)