Reuters Health News Summary

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. Exclusive: OxyContin maker Purdue is 'Pharma Co X' in U.S. opioid kickback probe - sources

OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is the unnamed company that surfaced in criminal charging documents filed earlier this week in a probe of illegal kickbacks from drugmakers, according to people familiar with the matter. Purdue Pharma, which faces U.S. Justice Department probes and sprawling litigation over allegations that it played a central role in the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic, faces new scrutiny in connection with a case Vermont federal prosecutors unveiled on Monday against a San Francisco electronic health records vendor. 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. Four co-workers in Germany contract coronavirus after Chinese colleague visits

Four people who work at the same company in southern Germany have been infected with the coronavirus, and one of them contracted it from a colleague visiting their workplace in China, officials said on Tuesday. The cases raise 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. It spreads in droplets from coughs and sneezes and has an incubation period of up to 14 days. 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. China virus toll passes 130; Japan evacuates citizens

The death toll from a new coronavirus in China rose sharply to 132 on Wednesday with nearly 1,500 new cases, as Japan said it flew citizens out of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus. Several countries are trying to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. A U.S. charter plane departed Wuhan on Wednesday, said a U.S. official, but it was unclesar who was onboard. 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.