Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. FDA approval may not be as rigorous as it once was

Changes in U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) procedures meant to speed approvals for medications may have resulted in less exacting standards, a new analysis suggests. Congressional acts that changed the way the FDA evaluates drugs have led to less rigorous evaluations, with drug approvals being based on fewer and/or earlier-stage clinical trials that may not be randomized, controlled, blinded or based on traditional measures of efficacy, experts noted in the article published in JAMA. Thailand on high alert for China virus ahead of Lunar Near Year

Thai health officials are stepping up monitoring and inspection at its airports for the new mystery virus from China ahead of Lunar New Year, when Chinese visitors flock to the Southeast Asian country, a health official said on Wednesday. The procedures comes days after a Chinese woman was quarantined in Thailand with the mystery strain of the coronavirus, in the first instance of its detection outside of China. Brazil police investigate craft brewer after two poison deaths

Two men in Brazil are believed to have died from drinking local craft beer contaminated with a chemical compound used in antifreeze and other products, police in the state of Minas Gerais said on Wednesday. Police investigating Brazilian craft brewer Backer found traces of diethylene glycol (DEG), a sweet-tasting solvent, in a beer vat used at the brewery in Minas Gerais state as well as in bottles of the brewer's Belorizontina lager. Japan confirms first case of infection with new China coronavirus

Japan confirmed the first case of infection from the new China coronavirus that has killed one person and prompted a travel alert from the U.S. State Department. A man in his 30s from Kanagawa prefecture, next to Tokyo, tested positive, Japan's health ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The man had been to the Chinese city of Wuhan, where there has been an outbreak of pneumonia believed to be caused by the new coronavirus strain, it said. Serbia reports outbreak of African swine fever in boars

Serbia has seen an outbreak of the pig disease African swine fever (ASF) in wild boars in the east of the country, close to the country's borders with Bulgaria and Romania, the state Tanjug news agency said on Wednesday. ASF is harmless to humans but it is highly contagious and deadly in pigs. It spread from Africa to Europe and Asia and has already killed hundreds of millions of pigs, affecting global meat markets. Sleep problems in older adults linked to cognitive decline and dementia

People who have trouble falling asleep may be at increased risk of developing cognitive problems or dementia than their counterparts who sleep well, a research review suggests. Researchers examined data on 51 previously published studies that followed middle-aged and older people in North America, Europe and East Asia for at least several years to see if sleep issues were associated with cognitive health over time. U.S. warns citizens in China about pneumonia outbreak

The U.S. State Department warned Americans in China about an outbreak of pneumonia in the central city of Wuhan believed to be caused by a new strain of coronavirus, which has killed one person. The outbreak comes ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday in late January, when many of China's 1.4 billion people will be travelling to their home towns or abroad. The World Health Organization and Chinese authorities are taking steps to ensure the disease does not spread further. Probiotics information online often inadequate, misleading

Most websites that provide information about probiotics are unreliable and often tout unproven health benefits, a new study finds. After examining the first 150 websites turned up by a Google search, researchers concluded that the vast majority were run by companies advertising products or news outlets that offered incomplete information, often leaving out potential side effects, according to the report in Frontiers in Medicine. UnitedHealth bets on government health plan growth in 2020

UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, reported a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday, and said it expects strong sales of its government health plans this year. The company also reported solid sales growth in its pharmacy benefits business. Safe-sexting advice could help keep teens safe online

Advocating abstinence to teens hasn't proven very effective with regard to sex, and the same is likely to be true for sexting, researchers say. So it may be time to at least arm teens with information about how to protect themselves. Writing in the Journal of Adolescent Health, researchers point out that sexting - sending or receiving sexually-explicit images and messages - may not be as epidemic as some popular media would suggest. But there are teens who are doing it, and thereby exposing themselves to dangers ranging from criminal liability to cyberbullying or victimization by adult predators.