Health News Roundup: U.S. firms in China report staff shortages; Americans return to U.S. after two weeks and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. firms in China report staff shortages, say coronavirus hitting global operations: AmCham

Nearly half of the U.S. companies in China say their global operations are already seeing an impact from business shutdowns due to the coronavirus epidemic, according to a poll by Shanghai's American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). Some 78% of the respondents also said they do not have sufficient staff at their Chinese plants to resume full production, as public health restrictions make it harder for workers to return to their jobs after an extended holiday.

Americans return to U.S. after two weeks on coronavirus-affected cruise

More than 300 U.S. citizens including 14 infected with the coronavirus were in the United States and under quarantine on Monday after spending two weeks stuck on a cruise ship off Japan that had the largest cluster of cases outside China. The 14 people who tested positive were isolated in specialized containment areas aboard two chartered jets that flew to U.S. military bases, the State Department said in a statement.

Virus deals new blow to Cambodian city bound to China

An influx of Chinese that some Cambodians resented for bringing noise, dust and chaos to the port of Sihanoukville, is the cause of more pain now that it has gone into reverse. The new coronavirus has meant yet another setback for Sihanoukville after the government last year banned the online gambling that had helped fuel the spectacular growth of a once listless city into a major Chinese population center.

Chinese doctors using plasma therapy on coronavirus, WHO says 'very valid' approach

Doctors in Shanghai are using infusions of blood plasma from people who have recovered from the coronavirus to treat those still battling the infection, reporting some encouraging preliminary results, a Chinese professor said on Monday. A top emergency expert at the World Health Organization (WHO) said later that using convalescent plasma was a "very valid" approach to test, but that it was important to get the timing right to maximize the boost to a patient's immunity.

'Cancer does not wait': Children's medicine shortage stokes anger in Mexico

Hermes Soto, who turned 5 on Monday, will not be celebrating his birthday with friends. Instead, he is bracing for his 15th chemotherapy session to tackle a rare but aggressive form of cancer that threatens to kill him. For his mother, Esperanza Paz, the ordeal is compounded by fears of another round of shortages in the supply of the life-saving vincristine drug needed to treat soft-tissue cancer in her son's forearm.

Rise in coronavirus infections prompts Japan to limit public crowds

Japan canceled the emperor's birthday celebrations next week as it moved on Monday to limit crowds to contain the spread of the coronavirus, and said it will close the Tokyo Marathon to all but elite professional runners. The widening fallout of the virus outbreak, which began in China in December and has already killed over 1,700 people, is damaging output and tourism in Japan, which is preparing to host the Olympic Games from late July.

Young cancer survivors have higher risk of severe health problems later

People who survive cancer during childhood and early adulthood are more likely to experience severe, life-threatening health problems and die prematurely, a recent study suggests. Researchers followed almost 12,000 young cancer survivors and roughly 5,000 of their healthy siblings for around two decades until many of them were in their 40s. Even though all of the cancer survivors were tumor-free for at least five years at the start of the study, they were still roughly six times more likely to die during follow-up than their siblings.

Hundreds of Americans flown home from cruise ship, 14 with coronavirus

More than 300 American cruise liner passengers, including 14 who tested positive for coronavirus, were flown home to military bases in the United States after two weeks under quarantine off Japan. The cruise ship Diamond Princess, which with more than 400 cases has by far the largest cluster outside China, has become the biggest test so far of other countries' ability to contain an outbreak that has killed 1,772 people in China and five elsewhere.

Nonprofit hospitals with healthiest finances offer little charity care

Among nonprofit hospitals, those with the highest net incomes tend to devote the smallest proportion of their earnings to providing free care to uninsured patients and low-income people who struggle to pay their bills, a U.S. study suggests. Overall in 2017, the study found, nonprofit hospitals nationwide generated $47.9 billion in net income, provided $9.7 billion in charity care to uninsured patients and spent another $4.5 billion in charity care for people with insurance who couldn't afford their bills.

Unregulated sales of insulin common on Craigslist

Unregulated and deeply discounted sales of insulin are common on Craigslist, a new study finds. During a two-week period, researchers turned up 327 ads from private parties selling insulin at a fraction of the retail price, according to a report in JAMA Internal Medicine.

(With inputs from agencies.)