Health News Roundup: Teens breathe less secondhand smoke; Trump admin resolves fentanyl dispute and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Teens breathe less secondhand smoke after car smoking ban

A law in the UK banning smoking in cars carrying children has been associated with a reduction in secondhand smoke exposure among teens, a new study suggests. England banned smoking in vehicles carrying kids in 2015, and Scotland followed suit in 2016, researchers note in Thorax. To assess how the first smoking ban impacted secondhand smoke exposure, they examined survey data collected in 2012, 2014 and 2016 from 15,318 teens in England and 822 in Scotland.

Trump administration resolves fentanyl dispute but congressional support needed for broader crackdown

The Trump administration has resolved an internal dispute over how to handle new variants of fentanyl that it believes can beef up the fight against the deadly synthetic painkiller without hindering research to ease the opioid crisis. The administration had hoped the deal, a copy of which was turned over to the House of Representatives and the Senate in the fall and discussed during a congressional hearing on Tuesday would pave the way for Congress to pass their draft legislation, but so far it has failed to do so.

Weight-loss surgery may improve breathing problems

Obese people who have bariatric surgery may have an easier time breathing afterward, a small study suggests. To assess changes in lung function associated with the surgery, researchers examined results from lung CT scans for 51 obese individuals before their operations and again six months later.

Man in Germany contracts coronavirus in one of first cases of transmission outside China

Germany has declared its first confirmed case of the coronavirus after a 33-year-old man contracted it from a colleague visiting his workplace from Shanghai, in one of the first cases of person-to-person transmission outside China. The case raises concerns about the spread of the flu-like virus that broke out in the central Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of last year and has killed 106 people and infected more than 2,800 people.

China vows to beat 'devil' virus as countries rush to evacuate citizens

President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China was sure of defeating a "devil" coronavirus that has killed 106 people, but international alarm was rising as the outbreak spread across the world. The United States said it was expanding screening of arrivals from China from five to 20 airports and would consider imposing further travel curbs.

WHO weighs science and politics in global virus emergency decision

Most of the World Health Organization's (WHO) criteria for declaring a global emergency have been met, but it is awaiting clear evidence of a sustained spread of the new coronavirus outside China before doing so, some experts and diplomats said. The U.N. agency is seeking to balance the need to ensure China continues to share information about the virus while also giving sound scientific advice to the international community on the risks, according to several public health experts and a Western diplomat who tracks the WHO's work.

As baseball loosens grip on CBD, former football players urge NFL to follow

In the bone-crunching, muscle-wrenching sport of football, staying on the field when injured is a challenging priority for NFL players. And with another major U.S. sports league opening the door to allow players to use marijuana and associated compounds like CBD, a debate is heating up about the way football players manage pain.

Heavy traffic pollution may affect kids' brain development

High levels of exposure to traffic-related air pollution at a very young age may lead to structural changes in the brain, a new imaging study suggests. Brain scans of 12-year-old children show reduced thickness of the cortex and decreased gray matter volume in those who lived less than a quarter of a mile (400 meters) from a major highway at age 1, according to a report in PLoS ONE.

Mouthguards may reduce concussion risk in youth ice hockey players

Youth ice hockey players who wear mouthguards to protect their teeth and jaws may also have significantly lower odds of concussion, a Canadian study suggests. Concussions are the most common injury in youth ice hockey, and while Hockey Canada has a policy requiring mouthguard use, it's not universally enforced, said senior study author Brent Hagel. The new evidence that mouthguards may reduce concussion risk adds to the case for making them mandatory, Hagel and his colleagues write in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

U.S. reports no new deaths tied to vaping, lung illness cases rise to 2,711

U.S. health officials on Tuesday reported no new deaths from the mysterious respiratory illness tied to vaping after their last update on Jan. 16, keeping the total deaths at 60. As of Jan. 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 43 more cases from the illness associated with use of e-cigarettes or vaping products. The number of people hospitalized now stood at 2,711.

(With inputs from agencies.)