Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Epidemic group invests $34 million in potential vaccine printer tech

A coalition seeking to get ahead of the next pandemic has agreed a $34 million deal with German biotech CureVac to develop vaccine "printing" technology that aims to rapidly produce shots against multiple diseases. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)said its backing will help CureVac's work on a prototype of its RNA Printer product - a transportable, automated printing facility for types of a molecule known as messenger RNA. China reports new African swine fever outbreak in Shaanxi province

China on Wednesday said it had confirmed a new outbreak of African swine fever in Shaanxi province, as the highly contagious disease spreads through the world's largest hog herd. The outbreak in the city of Yulin in the northwestern province killed 62 animals on a farm of 11,334 pigs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement on its website. World's smallest baby boy goes home from Japan hospital

A baby boy weighing just 268 grams (9.45 oz) at birth was sent home after months in a Tokyo hospital, the smallest surviving male baby in the world, Keio University hospital said. The boy was born through Caesarean-section last August after he failed to gain weight during the pregnancy and doctors feared his life was in danger. Parkinson's drug trial offers glimmer of hope for brain cells

An experimental drug could offer hope for restoring damaged brain cells in Parkinson's patients, scientists said on Wednesday, although they cautioned that a clinical trial was not able to prove the treatment slowed or halted the neurodegenerative disease. The trial involved delivery of a protein therapy directly into the brains of Parkinson's patients. Scientists said some brain scans revealed "extremely promising" effects on damaged neurons of those who received the treatment. AstraZeneca's Lynparza meets main goal in late-stage pancreatic cancer study

British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said on Tuesday its cancer drug being jointly developed with U.S.-based Merck & Co met the primary goal in a late-stage study for a rare type of pancreatic cancer. The study showed that Lynparza was successful as a first-line maintenance treatment for adults with a form of genetically-mutated pancreatic cancer called germline BRCA -mutated metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas. U.S. senators tell drug company executives pricing is 'morally repugnant'

U.S. senators called drug pricing practices "morally repugnant" and told drug company executives they do not want to hear them blame others for the high prices, taking an aggressive stance at a Senate hearing on the rising costs of prescription medicines. Senators took aim in particular at Abbvie Inc Chief Executive Richard Gonzalez and his company's rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira - the world's top-selling prescription medicine. Rise of drug-resistant superbugs rings alarm bells in Europe

The spread of superbugs resistant to antimicrobial drugs shows no sign of slowing in Europe, health officials said on Tuesday, making food poisoning and other infections more difficult to treat. Releasing data on the growth of antimicrobial resistance, the European Union's commissioner for health and food safety said it should "ring alarm bells" across the region. China moves to halt swine fever with hog industry overhaul

China plans to divide its hog industry into five zones in an attempt to halt the spread African swine fever across the world's top pork producer and guarantee supplies. Beijing has reported more than 100 outbreaks of the disease, which is fatal to pigs but not harmful to people, in 28 provinces and regions since last August, causing turmoil in the $1 trillion industry and related sectors. U.S. House Democrats introduce sweeping 'Medicare for All' bill

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled an ambitious proposal on Tuesday to move all Americans into the government's Medicare health insurance program, tapping into public frustration over the rising cost of healthcare that has become a key issue for the party as it seeks to gain control of Congress and the White House in 2020. The bill, unveiled by Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal from Washington state, would transition the U.S. healthcare system to a single-payer "Medicare for All" program funded by the government in two years. The legislation is the party's most high-profile and ambitious single-payer proposal in the new Congress and has more than 100 co-sponsors, many from the party's progressive flank. Heat-related illness affects ethnic groups disproportionately

Health conditions related to heat are sharply rising and may affect ethnic populations disproportionately, California statistics suggest. The data were compiled by the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, which tracks emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to heat-related medical conditions such as exhaustion and heat stroke.