Health News Roundup: UK's health agency approves Roche's antibody test; Cases of rare COVID-linked syndrome impacting children in 15 states and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

UK's health agency approves Roche's antibody test - The Telegraph

Public Health England (PHE) has given approval to Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG's coronavirus antibody test kit, The Telegraph reported late on Wednesday, making it the first such kit approved by Britain's public health agency. The accuracy of the test was given approval by experts at PHE's Porton Down facility last Thursday, the newspaper said https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/05/13/exclusive-first-coronavirus-antibody-test-given-approval-public.

Cases of rare COVID-linked syndrome impacting children in 15 states: New York governor

At least 15 states are investigating cases of a rare inflammatory syndrome impacting children that is believed to be linked to the novel coronavirus, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. Cuomo said New York's health officials were investigating 102 cases of the syndrome, which is linked to three deaths in the state, and that 14 additional states including California and Connecticut had reported cases.

UK rejects calls to publish detailed data of care-home deaths from COVID-19

Campaigners for the welfare of elderly people and their relatives are calling on the UK government to be more transparent after authorities declined to disclose the number of COVID-19 deaths in individual care homes. Citing the need to protect privacy and to avoid "creating confusion," among other reasons, the agencies that separately regulate care homes in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each rejected requests by Reuters that they disclose the death tolls at specific facilities.

'This virus may never go away,' WHO says

The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a "massive effort" to counter it. "It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just another endemic virus in our communities, and this virus may never go away," WHO emergencies expert Mike Ryan told an online briefing.

Sanofi to accelerate European COVID-19 vaccine access after CEO prioritizes U.S. preorders

French drugmaker Sanofi SA said on Wednesday that it is working with European regulators to speed up access to a potential coronavirus vaccine in Europe after its chief executive suggested Americans would likely get the vaccine first. The company said in a statement that it is currently in talks with the European Union and the French and German governments to expedite regional vaccine development.

Spanish antibody study points to 5% of population affected by coronavirus

Preliminary results from a nationwide coronavirus antibody study show that about 5% of the overall Spanish population has been affected, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday, adding that results varied widely from region to region. The study, carried out by the Carlos III institute for health and the National Statistics Institute, began on April 27 and aimed to test 90,000 people across 36,000 households for the presence of antibodies generated to fight off the virus.

Trump to tap ex-Glaxo executive, U.S. general to spearhead coronavirus vaccine effort

President Donald Trump is expected to tap a former GlaxoSmithKline executive and a U.S. general to spearhead the government's effort at developing a coronavirus vaccine on an accelerated schedule, officially called "Operation Warp Speed," an administration official said on Wednesday. The former head of Glaxo's vaccines division, Moncef Slaoui, will serve as chief adviser on the operation and U.S. General Gustav Perna will act as its chief operating officer. Trump has previously said he would be the top boss on the effort to develop, test and produce on a shortened timeline a vaccine against the deadly coronavirus that has caused a global pandemic.

CDC reports 1,364,061 coronavirus cases, 82,246 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reported 1,364,061 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 21,467 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,426 to 82,246. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on May 12, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2SGLijD)

Moscow says it ascribed over 60% of coronavirus deaths in April to other causes

The city of Moscow said on Wednesday it had ascribed the deaths of more than 60% of coronavirus patients in April to other causes as it defended what it said was the superior way it and Russia counted the number of people killed by the novel virus. At 242,271, Russia has the second-highest number of confirmed cases in the world after the United States, something it attributes to a massive testing program which it says has seen almost 6 million tests conducted.

Twin antibodies may help fight coronavirus; normal speech may spread virus

The following is a brief roundup of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Normal speech sprays droplets with contagious coronavirus