Reuters Health News Summary

08/01/2016 16:59

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Virus hits Australian women water polo team

Four members of the 'Aussie Stingers', Australia's women's Olympic water polo team, face 48 hours in medical isolation after suffering an attack of gastroenteritis on their way to Rio. The team of 13 players were due to land in Brazil on a delayed flight from Rome, where they had been training for the Games, later on Monday.

Omega-3 fatty acids may aid heart attack healing

(Reuters Health) - Omega-3 fatty acid supplements may help the heart heal itself after a heart attack, according to a new study High doses, derived from fish oil and taken daily for six months after a heart attack, helped reduce scarring in the heart muscle and increase its ability to pump blood, researchers found.

McDonald's USA completes move to chickens free of human antibiotics

McDonald's Corp has removed chickens raised with antibiotics that are important to human medicine from its U.S. supply chain months ahead of schedule, part of its drive to target increasingly health-conscious consumers. The fast food company also said it is removing artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets and several breakfast items and rolling out new hamburger buns that do not contain high fructose corn syrup.

Experimental vaccine could provide rapid response to diseases

A type of experimental vaccine that can be made in just a week and has protected mice against influenza, Ebola and Zika viruses may offer promise for quick responses to disease outbreaks in people, according to Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers. MIT scientists said their vaccines, still in early developmental stages, harness messenger RNA, a genetic material that can be programmed to fight any viral, bacterial or parasitic disease by provoking an amplified immune response in the body. The messenger RNA is put into a molecule that delivers it into cells to generate an immune response against a particular pathogen.

U.S. health officials warn pregnant women on Zika in Florida

U.S. health officials on Monday recommended pregnant women avoid traveling to a 1-square-mile (2.6 square km) area of Miami with active Zika virus transmission after the state of Florida identified 10 more cases caused by local mosquitoes. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a conference call with reporters said local mosquito control efforts have not worked as well as hoped.

Plant protein may help offset unhealthy habits

People who eat more protein from plants and less from animals may live longer even when they have unhealthy habits like heavy drinking or smoking, a large U.S. study suggests. The findings suggest that when it comes to protein, where it comes from may be just as important as how much people eat, said lead study author Dr. Mingyang Song, a researcher at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

GSK and Google parent forge $715 million bioelectronic medicines firm

GlaxoSmithKline and Google parent Alphabet's life sciences unit are creating a new company focused on fighting diseases by targeting electrical signals in the body, jump-starting a novel field of medicine called bioelectronics. Verily Life Sciences - known as Google's life sciences unit until last year - and Britain's biggest drugmaker will together contribute 540 million pounds ($715 million) over seven years to Galvani Bioelectronics, they said on Monday.

Biogen exercises option to develop muscle drug after trial success

Biogen Inc said it would exercise an option to develop and commercialize an experimental genetic muscle-disorder drug after an interim analysis of late-stage data showed patients experienced statistically significant improvement. The drug, nusinersen, was being developed by Biogen in collaboration with Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc, to treat spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

Pfizer acquires Bamboo Therapeutics to beef up gene therapy arsenal

Pfizer Inc said it had acquired privately held gene therapy developer Bamboo Therapeutics Inc in a deal worth up to $645 million to boost its presence in the treatment of rare diseases. Research into gene therapy, which aims to insert corrective genes into malfunctioning cells, goes back a quarter of a century but the field has experienced multiple setbacks and been plagued by safety concerns.

Trampoline parks tied to jump in emergency room visits

(Reuters Health) - As trampoline parks are becoming more common in the U.S., so are emergency room visits for injuries that happen at these recreational facilities, a new study suggests. "I don't think trampoline park injuries are increasing because they are especially dangerous compared to home trampolines, but rather because of their growing popularity and the increasing number/availability of these facilities," said lead study author Dr. Kathryn Kasmire, a researcher at Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford.

08/01/2016 16:59