Health News Summary: Kerala in India hit by "rat-fever"; Fatty liver disease boosts cancer

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Insurance tactic drags down U.S. drug prices in the second quarter: analyst

U.S. drug prices fell again in the second quarter, likely due to new tactic insurers are using to limit financial assistance drugmakers provide directly to consumers, according to research firm Sector and Sovereign Research (SSR). Real U.S. drug prices, which includes discounts and rebates drugmakers provide to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), fell 5.8 percent in the quarter, compared with a 0.7 percent increase a year earlier, SSR analyst Richard Evans said in a research note on Tuesday. That is in line with how far prices fell in the first quarter, he said.

A quarter of adults are too inactive, putting health at risk

More than a quarter of the world's adults - or 1.4 billion people - take too little exercise, putting them at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and cancers, according to a World Health Organization-led study. In 2016, around one in three women and one in four men worldwide were not reaching the recommended levels of physical activity to stay healthy – at least 150 minutes of moderate, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week.

India's flood-hit Kerala state faces shortages of 'rat fever' drug

India's flood-ravaged Kerala state is facing shortages of a drug that fights an infectious bacterial disease after the worst flooding in a century, forcing authorities to turn to other states to help ramp up supplies. Suspected cases of leptospirosis, a waterborne disease is known locally as 'rat fever', has climbed to 800 since mid-August, a health ministry spokesman said. Transmitted via the urine of infected animals, its symptoms include muscle pain and fever.

Severe fatty liver disease boosts the risk for liver cancer

People with advanced cases of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may need to be watched for liver cancer, a large U.S. study suggests. The fatty liver disease is known to be linked with a higher risk of a dangerous liver cancer called hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC. But doctors haven't known whether some patients are more at risk than others.

Lessons learned about children from war zones and refugee camps

What do children really need? The answers may be found in war zones and refugee camps, a psychiatrist and relief worker suggests. Although being shelled or living in a squalid refugee camp may seem like worst-case scenarios for children, they're not. But they do highlight what's actually most devastating, according to an article published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Agios names former Celgene executive Jacqualyn Fouse as next CEO

Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc on Tuesday said former Celgene Corp executive Jacqualyn Fouse would be its next chief executive officer, replacing longtime CEO David Schenkein. Fouse, who rose through the ranks at Celgene to become president and the chief operating officer before leaving the biotech company last year, is already a member of the Agios board. She will assume her new role on Feb. 1, 2019, the company said.

Chain pharmacies busted selling tobacco to minors

Over the past six years, several U.S. chain pharmacies have been caught numerous times by the Food and Drug Administration selling tobacco products to minors, a new study finds. The biggest offender: Walgreens, according to the report published in JAMA Pediatrics.

CDC reports 30 more cases of illnesses linked to Kellogg's tainted cereal

Thirty more people have reported sick after eating Kellogg Co's Honey Smacks cereal contaminated with Salmonella, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said, bringing the total to 130 cases in 36 states. So far 34 people have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported, CDC said on Tuesday, adding that three more states - Delaware, Maine, and Minnesota - have reported cases of illnesses.

Gene therapy breakthrough wins world's largest vision award

Seven scientists in the United States and Britain who have come up with a revolutionary gene therapy cure for a rare genetic form of childhood blindness won a 1 million euro ($1.15 million)prize on Tuesday, Portugal's Champalimaud Foundation said. Established in 2006, the annual award for work related to vision is one of the world's largest science prizes, more than the latest 9 million Swedish crowns ($987,000) Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Research needed on family-based stigma against LGBTQ youth

Although family relationships play a crucial role in the well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) adolescents, few programs tackle stigma and discrimination within families, in part because of a lack of evidence on what works, researchers say. Studies are "urgently" needed to address this question on the individual, interpersonal and community levels, the authors of a research review write in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

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