Health News Roundup: Zimbabwe doctors strike; Samoa measles toll hits 42 and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Fired Zimbabwe state doctors reject offer to return to work

Zimbabwe state doctors who were fired for going on strike have rejected a government offer to return to work, their union said on Friday. The doctors went on strike on Sept.3 to protest against poor wages, in some cases less than US$100 a month.

Four killed in attacks against Ebola response centers in Congo

Militia fighters in eastern Congo killed four people and injured several others in attacks on two Ebola response centers on Thursday, in what responders described as a serious setback to efforts to contain the epidemic. Violence and unrest have hampered the health authorities' response to the second worst Ebola outbreak on record, which has killed 2,199 people since it was announced in August 2018.

Massachusetts adopts tough ban on flavored vaping, tobacco products

Massachusetts on Wednesday adopted the country's toughest ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol cigarettes, in response to a rise in youth vaping and an outbreak of vaping-related serious lung injuries. Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, signed into law legislation passed by the state's Democrat-controlled legislature earlier this month that also places a 75% excise tax on e-cigarettes.

Samoa measles toll hits 42 as nations dispatch medical teams, supplies

More nations were flying medical staff and supplies to Samoa on Friday to battle a measles outbreak that prompted the Pacific island nation to declare a state of emergency this month, as the death toll rose to 42, most of them children younger than four. A significant drop in immunisation over the last few years has made Samoa highly vulnerable to outbreaks of the disease, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) saying vaccine coverage is just about 31% there.

AstraZeneca's Imfinzi gets speedy FDA review for small cell lung cancer

British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said on Friday its immunotherapy cancer treatment Imfinzi has been granted a speedy review by the U.S. medicines watchdog for the treatment of a particularly aggressive type of lung cancer. The company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted its supplemental application and granted priority review to Imfinzi for the treatment of previously untreated late-stage small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Inducing labor at 41 weeks safer than 'wait and see' approach

For late-term pregnancies, inducing labor at 41 weeks may be safer than waiting until week 42, a large Swedish study suggests. The randomized trial across 14 hospitals was halted early because stillbirths and newborn death were markedly higher with "expectant management" until the 42nd week of pregnancy compared to inducing labor at 41 weeks, the researchers report in The BMJ.

ImmuPharma licenses lupus drug Lupuzor to Avion in the United States

British pharmaceutical firm ImmuPharma said on Thursday it had signed a licensing and development agreement for Lupuzor, a first-in-class treatment for auto-immune disease Lupus, with U.S. company Avion Pharmaceuticals. Avion and ImmuPharma will co-develop Lupuzor, including a new Phase III trail, and Avion will commercialize the drug exclusively in the United States, ImmuPharma said.

No evidence stretching prevents running injuries

It's a common and persistent myth that static stretching improves running performance and decreases the risk of injuries, researchers say. Instead, an active warm-up can help with running performance, and progressive training can reduce injury risk, they write in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. There's evidence stretching can help keep joints flexible and that it won't harm performance, but it won't help either, they write.

Large waist in normal-weight elderly tied to higher dementia risk

Older adults with normal weight but a wider waist may be at a higher risk of developing dementia, a Korean study suggests. Doctors should consider an older person's waist circumference in assessing their risk for dementia, the research team advises.

Novartis's $90 million Swiss factory to help solve cell therapy bottleneck

Swiss drugmaker Novartis's new $90 million cell and gene therapy factory in northern Switzerland is on track to begin commercial production of its cell therapy Kymriah for cancer in 2020. The new factory, expected to employ 450 people, will allow the drugmaker to make its Kymriah treatment for European patients without first having to fly their immune cells across the Atlantic Ocean.