Guinea-Bissau has recorded three cases of Zika, becoming the second country in West Africa where the dangerous viral disease has been detected, the government said on Saturday. “Three cases of contamination by Zika virus have been confirmed,” a statement quoted Health Minister Domingos Malu as saying. The cases occurred in the Bijagos archipelago, a group of 88 islands of which 23 are inhabited, Malu told a cabinet meeting on Friday.
(Reuters) – South African Lee-Anne Pace, citing Zika concerns, became the first women's golfer to withdraw from the 2016 Rio Olympics on Wednesday, joining a growing exodus on the men's side that includes the world's top-ranked player. Pace, a nine-times winner on the Ladies European Tour who is ranked 38th in the world, said she was eager to represent South Africa at the Aug 5-21 Olympics but felt Zika was too big a risk to take. “After weighing up all the options and discussing it with my family and team, I have decided that due to the health concerns surrounding the Zika virus, I will not be participating,” Pace, 35, said in a statement.
(Reuters) – The U.S. government said on Monday it has agreed to help fund two pathogen reduction technologies to help reduce the risk of Zika virus and other infections from being transmitted through the blood supply. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the funding will flow through its Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) unit, which will provide initial funding of $30.8 million to Cerus Corp and $17.5 million to the U.S. division of Japan's Terumo Corp. Cerus's Intercept technology has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to reduce pathogens in platelets and plasma. It is conducting a trial to show it can also reduce pathogens in red blood cells.
A federal appeals court will consider on Monday whether a U.S. congressional committee and one of its former staff are immune from having to cooperate with an insider-trading investigation. A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals plans to hear arguments on enforcing two subpoenas that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent to Congress as part of its investigation. The SEC is investigating the trading of Humana Inc stock in 2013 ahead of a government announcement about physician reimbursement rates, which affect the revenue of Humana and other health insurers.
By Caroline Humer NEW YORK (Reuters) – Anthem Inc Chief Executive Officer Joseph Swedish said on Tuesday the health insurer was pushing for approval from antitrust regulators reviewing its $51 billion acquisition of Cigna Corp and expects to hear a decision in July. Anthem's bid for Cigna followed closely after Aetna Inc's proposed $34 billion purchase of Humana Inc last July. Swedish said antitrust regulators have asked many questions about how it and Cigna manage healthcare benefits for large employers, but that the overall review was moving forward as expected.
By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two senior Obama administration officials wrote congressional leaders on Tuesday to urge legislation be passed to fund the fight against the Zika virus, as concerns mount the United States will soon face locally transmitted cases of the disease. U.S. health officials concluded this month that the virus, spreading rapidly in the Americas, was a cause of microcephaly, a rare birth defect defined by unusually small head size that can hamper development. Zika is also linked to other health problems.
To see which e-cigarette ad formats were most persuasive to teens, researchers analyzed data from a recent nationwide survey of about 22,000 middle school and high school students from grades 6 through 12, when youth are typically about 12 to 18 years old. When middle school kids said they routinely viewed e-cigarette ads online, they were almost three times more likely to use the devices than their peers who never saw ads. “E-cigarette ads use many of the same themes used to sell cigarettes and other conventional tobacco products, such as independence, rebellion and sex,” said lead study author Dr. Tushar Singh of the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
U.S. consumer health giant Procter & Gamble’s India unit said on Tuesday it had stopped manufacture and sale of its cough-and-cold medicine Vicks Action 500 Extra with immediate effect, after regulators banned it citing potential health risk. The product is a fixed dose combination of paracetamol, phenylephrine and caffeine, which was banned by India’s health ministry in a notice issued over the weekend, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd informed the stock exchange. The drug was one of 344 drug combinations including several antibiotics and analgesics that India ordered to be prohibited saying a government-appointed panel of experts had found the combinations lacked “therapeutic justification.” P&G said all its products, including Vicks Action 500 Extra, were backed by research to support their quality, safety and efficacy.
By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – People with type 1 diabetes are more likely than the general population to develop cancers of gastric organs and the kidneys, as well as endometrium and ovaries for women, according to a large new analysis. Diabetes has been tied generally to increased cancer risk in the past, but studies have relied mostly on data from people with type 2 diabetes, which develops slowly, usually in adults who are overweight or obese, and affects about 28 million Americans. Type 1 diabetes, typically diagnosed in children and young adults, affects about 1.25 million Americans, according to the American Diabetes Association.
The pilot program, which aims to enroll 79,000 U.S. participants by the end of this year, is the first phase of an ambitious program to mine medical data, including genetics, environmental factors and lifestyle, to develop better ways to treat or even prevent a wide range of diseases. Vanderbilt and Verily are slated to test approaches for engaging and enrolling volunteers through a web portal. The NIH plans for the “cohort program” to recruit by 2019 one million or more U.S. volunteers – including a wide spectrum of diverse participants from all age, economic and racial groups.