Health News Roundup: Measles vaccine drive aims to protect 45 million; China virus toll nears 500 and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Measles vaccine drive aims to protect 45 million children in Africa, Asia

Up to 45 million children in seven developing countries will be immunized against measles in a series of major vaccination campaigns to try to halt a global surge in the viral disease, the GAVI vaccine alliance said on Wednesday. Measles cases have risen dramatically in all parts of the world in recent years. The World Health Organization said in December that measles had infected nearly 10 million people in 2018 and killed 140,000, mostly children, in what it described as "an outrage."

U.S. government experts, industry spar over asbestos testing in talc

For the first time in nearly 50 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examined asbestos testing for talc powders and cosmetics at a hearing on Tuesday, after traces of the known carcinogen were found in several such products, including Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder. Citing those FDA findings, some U.S. lawmakers and consumer advocates have called for stricter safety regulations to protect public health.

China virus toll nears 500, airlines cut Hong Kong flights, cases found on the cruise ship

The death toll from a coronavirus outbreak in China passed 490 on Wednesday, as two U.S. airlines suspended flights to Hong Kong following the first fatality there and 10 cases were confirmed on a quarantined Japanese cruise ship. China's National Health Commission said another 65 deaths had been recorded on Tuesday, bringing the toll on the mainland to 490, mostly in and around the locked-down central city of Wuhan where the virus emerged late last year.

Mothers may pass coronavirus to unborn children, say Chinese doctors: state TV

Pregnant women infected with the new coronavirus may be able to pass it to their unborn children, doctors at the Wuhan Children Hospital said on Wednesday, according to state broadcaster CCTV. The doctors said it was possible after an infected coronavirus patient gave birth to a baby on Feb. 2. The newborn was given a test 30 hours later and confirmed to have the virus, the doctors said.

WHO: 'no known effective' treatments for the new coronavirus

The World Health Organization played down media reports on Wednesday of "breakthrough" drugs being discovered to treat people infected with the new coronavirus, which is causing an epidemic in China and has spread to at least 20 other countries. A Chinese TV report said researchers at Zhejiang University had found an effective drug for the virus, while Britain's Sky News said researchers had made a "significant breakthrough" in developing a vaccine. Oil prices jumped on the reports.

Merck to spin-off women's health and biosimilar products, keep Keytruda

Merck & Co Inc said on Wednesday it was planning to spin off its women's health, biosimilar drugs, and legacy products into a new publicly-traded company, a move that will allow the drugmaker to focus on key growth drivers like cancer drug Keytruda and vaccines. The company, which expects the transaction to be completed by the first half of 2021, forecast operating efficiencies of over $1.5 billion by 2024 related to the spinoff.

British scientist makes a breakthrough in the race for coronavirus vaccine: Sky

A leading British scientist has made a significant breakthrough in the race for a coronavirus vaccine by reducing a part of the normal development time from "two to three years to just 14 days", Sky News reported. Robin Shattock, Head of mucosal infection and immunity at Imperial College London, said he is now at the stage to start testing the vaccine on animals as early as next week with human studies in the summer if enough funding is secured, Sky said.

Data suggests virus infections under-reported, exaggerating fatality rate

Fatalities from the coronavirus epidemic are overwhelmingly concentrated in central China's Wuhan city, which accounts for over 73% of deaths despite having only one-third the number of confirmed infections. In Wuhan, the epicenter of the disease, one person has died for every 23 infections reported. That number drops to one on 50 nationally, and outside mainland China, one death has been recorded per 114 confirmed cases.

No box of chocolates: South Korea border town laid low by swine fever, not shells from North

For the first time in 10 years, Kong Ji-ye's chocolate-making machines sit idle in Paju city, near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas. Not because of shelling, nuclear tests or general saber-rattling from the North. Her business is at a standstill because an outbreak of a virus that kills pigs but can't harm humans triggered a ban on tours that bring hundreds of thousands of South Korean and foreign visitors to the border with the North.

WHO calls for improved data-sharing on the virus, says sending a team to China

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday urged all health ministers to improve data-sharing on coronavirus immediately and said he would send a team of international experts to work with Chinese counterparts. The U.N. agency was sending masks, gloves, respirators, and nearly 18,000 isolation gowns from its warehouses to some two dozen countries that need support, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told its Executive Board.