Health News Roundup: H5N8 bird flu; Coronavirus outbreak and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Suicide rates fall among sexual-minority youth but still outpace heterosexual peers

Youth suicide rates are dropping in the U.S., but the proportion of teens who have suicidal thoughts or make an attempt remains consistently higher among sexual minorities than among heterosexual young people, two new studies in Pediatrics suggest. One study looked at suicide rates among teens between 2009 and 2017 and found young people who didn't identify as heterosexual were more than three times as likely as those who did to attempt suicide. A second study looked at this same connection from 1995 to 2017 and found suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts were all more common among sexual-minority youth.

China reports record daily virus death toll, but new cases fall

China reported 108 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, a daily record, bringing the total number of people killed in the country to 1,016, but the number of new cases fell. There were 2,478 new confirmed cases on the mainland on Feb. 10, down from 3,062 on the previous day, bringing the total to 42,638, the National Health Commission said.

Some elderly with illnesses cut back on driving, but others don't

Some older drivers with chronic health problems may cut back on driving but still be at increased risk of crashes, a recent study suggests. Meanwhile, other drivers with medical issues may also be at higher risk yet not cut back on how often they drive or how far, the study also found.

Germany reports outbreak of H5N8 bird flu in backyard poultry: OIE

Germany has reported an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu virus in a backyard in the southwestern part of the country, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Monday. The virus killed 44 birds out of a flock of 69 in Bretzfeld, in the Baden-Wurttemberg region, the Paris-based OIE said, citing a report from Germany's food and agriculture ministry.

Advance team of WHO experts arrives in China to probe coronavirus

An advance team of World Health Organization medical experts arrived in China on Monday to help investigate the coronavirus outbreak, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Tedros, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month, returned with an agreement on sending an international mission. It took nearly two weeks to get the green light from the Chinese government on the team, led by Canadian emergency expert Dr. Bruce Aylward.

Many in U.S. worry about affording healthcare in retirement

Nearly half of Americans aged 50 to 64 worry they won't be able to afford healthcare when they retire, while more than two-thirds are concerned that federal policy changes will affect their current health insurance, a new survey finds. Survey participants who worried about the cost of health insurance now or during retirement were nearly three times more likely to avoid medical care or filling a prescription than those with more confidence in their ability to pay for healthcare, researchers report in JAMA Network Open.

Countries rush to build diagnostic capacity as coronavirus spreads

A week ago, only two laboratories in Africa could diagnose the novel coronavirus that originated in China and is rapidly spreading around the world. As of Sunday, the World Health Organization (WHO) expected every nation in Africa to be able to diagnose the disease. The rush reflects a global push for diagnostic capabilities, particularly in developing countries, in hopes of averting a global pandemic. But it is being slowed by a desperate need for virus samples necessary to validate the tests.

Pregnant women with Medicaid less likely to get recommended vaccines

Pregnant women who rely on state-administered Medicaid health insurance programs are far less likely to receive recommended vaccines that could protect them and their babies, compared to those with private coverage, a study from Florida suggests. Researchers at the University of Florida analyzed vaccination data from 341 adult women randomly selected from nearly 7,000 whose healthcare costs were covered by Medicaid or private insurance and who gave birth between from 2016 through 2018.

Here is what WHO experts are watching on the coronavirus' spread

The World Health Organization (WHO) is tracking the epidemic of the new coronavirus in China and how it is spread abroad, as its advance team of international experts travel there to help investigate the outbreak. Here are some issues that WHO epidemiologists are probing to deepen understanding of the virus, believed to have jumped the species barrier at a seafood market in Wuhan in December, to help accelerate development of drugs, diagnostics and vaccines.

China's Wuhan aims to test all suspected cases of coronavirus by tomorrow

China's Wuhan city, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, has not been able to confirm all existing suspected cases of the coronavirus despite a rush to speed up testing, the city's Communist Party Secretary told a news conference on Monday. Ma Guoqiang said the Wuhan government would, however, aim to test all suspected cases by Tuesday. There have been growing complaints that many patients in the city of 11 million have not been tested or admitted for full-time treatment due to the pressure on medical resources.