Reuters Health News Summary

09/02/2016 8:55

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Merck scraps development of osteoporosis drug due to stroke risk

Merck & Co Inc said it would stop developing its experimental osteoporosis drug after an independent analysis confirmed the treatment raises the risk of stroke. While the drug, odanacatib, reduces the risk of osteoporotic fractures, the increased risk of stroke in a late-stage study in postmenopausal women does not support further development or regulatory approval, the company said on Friday.

Cannabis booths torn down in Danish free town Christiania

Residents of the 'free town' of Christiania in Copenhagen began tearing down cannabis-selling booths on its main street on Friday, two days after a shooting incident rocked one of Denmark's favorite tourist attractions. Known to Danes as "the town," Christiania was founded on abandoned military grounds by squatters in 1971 and is known for its rainbow-colored hippie houses and its cannabis trade, which generates approximately 1 billion Danish crowns ($150 million) a year, according to police.

Florida finds first local mosquitoes with Zika virus

Florida officials on Thursday said they have trapped the first mosquitoes that tested positive for the Zika virus in the Miami area, further confirming reports of local U.S. transmission of the illness that can cause severe birth defects. Three mosquito samples tested positive from a small area in Miami Beach where increased trapping and intensified mosquito control measures are being implemented, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said.

Hurricane Hermine will complicate Florida's Zika fight: experts

Hurricane Hermine, set to cause flooding and damage when it hits Florida overnight, will make it harder for the state to fight Zika, a mosquito-borne virus shown to cause birth defects, experts in infectious diseases and mosquitoes said on Thursday. Forecasters are warning of potentially life-threatening storm surges and as much as 20 inches of rain. Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in most of Florida's 67 counties ahead of the first hurricane to strike the state in more than a decade.

Weak Mylan board fosters EpiPen 'debacle': New York comptroller

New York City's comptroller on Thursday criticized what he said are "exorbitant" price increases for Mylan NV's allergy auto-injector EpiPen and said weak board oversight of management decisions had undermined the company's reputation and its stock price. Scott Stringer said the price hikes, six times what the device cost when Mylan took it over in 2007, have prompted a public backlash and are partly responsible for a nearly 10 percent decline in Mylan's share price in the past month alone. Stringer manages about $163 billion in pension funds for the city, including 1,059,357 shares of Mylan common stock worth about $45 million, he said.

Singapore Zika cases top 150; China steps up arrivals checks

China intensified its checks on people and goods arriving from Singapore on Thursday, as an outbreak of the Zika virus in the small city-state was confirmed to have spread to at least one person in neighboring Malaysia. Authorities in Singapore, a leading regional financial center and busy transit hub for people and cargo, said they had detected 151 people with the Zika virus, including a second pregnant woman, as of midday Thursday. The first locally-transmitted Zika infection was reported on Saturday.

Singapore reports 38 new cases of Zika virus

Singapore reported 38 new cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection on Friday. Authorities in Singapore, a regional financial center and transit hub, said they had detected 189 people with the Zika virus in total, including two pregnant woman.

U.S. fights Zika mosquitoes with limited arsenal

Over Wynwood, the Miami neighborhood where Zika gained a foothold in the continental United States, low flying planes have been spraying naled, a tightly controlled pesticide often used as a last resort. It appears to be working, killing at least 90 percent of the target mosquitoes. Across the Biscayne Bay in Miami Beach, wind and high-rise buildings make aerial spraying challenging. So, the effort in the popular tourist destination has focused on ground-sprayed pyrethroids - pesticides that are safer but don't always work.

Cover up, stay in: Singaporeans wary as Zika spreads

Many of Singapore's five million people are covering up and staying indoors to avoid mosquito bites as health experts warned that the outbreak of the Zika virus in the tropical city-state would be difficult to contain. One of the world's leading financial hubs, Singapore is the only Asian country with active transmission of the mosquito-borne virus, which generally causes mild symptoms but can lead to serious birth defects in pregnant women.

Dogs use same parts of brain to process speech as humans, Hungarian study says

"Super, well done," her trainer says, and Maya, a Hungarian golden retriever, happily holds up her left paw, responding to the praise. Maya works with a group of Hungarian researchers at the Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest, who have scanned the brains of 13 dogs, finding that dogs process words and intonation to work out messages similarly to humans.

09/02/2016 8:55