Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

AstraZeneca’s Enhertu wins keenly-anticipated U.S. breast cancer nod

AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo on Friday secured U.S. approval that broadens the use of their therapy Enhertu, for patients with breast cancer, and paves the way for billions in sales. This is the first-ever U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a medicine specifically targeting patients with so-called HER2-low breast cancer, the agency said.

Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

North Korea said on Friday all of its fever patients have recovered, its first such claim since the outbreak of the pandemic in the isolated economy, according to state media KCNA.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

Russia’s official toll of COVID-related deaths exceeds 820,000

Russia has registered a total of 820,307 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic in the country in April 2020, the state statistics service Rosstat said on Friday. It said 4,991 people had died of COVID-19 or related causes in June, down from 7,098 in May.

U.S. FDA declines to approve expanded use of Acadia’s antipsychotic drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve expanded use of Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc’s antipsychotic drug for treating psychosis related to Alzheimer’s disease, the company said on Thursday. The health regulator concluded there were limitations in the interpretability of Acadia’s antipsychotic drug study and an additional study would be required, according to the company.

U.S. declares monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency

The United States has declared monkeypox a public health emergency, the health secretary said on Thursday, a move expected to free up additional funding and tools to fight the disease. The U.S. tally topped 6,600 on Wednesday, almost all of the cases among men who have sex with men.

U.S. administers over 7,300 Novavax vaccine doses – CDC

The United States has administered more than 7,300 doses of Novavax Inc’s COVID-19 shot, which health officials hope will convince more people to opt for vaccinations as it is based on a technology that has been in use for decades. Over 330,000 doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed in the United States, and more than 2,300 people have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated on Thursday.

China’s Sanya holiday hotspot shuts duty-free malls, venues to curb COVID

Sanya, a top tropical holiday destination on China’s southern Hainan island, began closing its duty free malls on Friday in response to a worsening COVID-19 outbreak. Since China shut its international borders in early 2020 to curb the spread of COVID-19, Hainan’s duty-free industry has boomed, becoming a vital channel for global brands from Gucci to Coach, La Mer to L’Oreal to reach Chinese shoppers.

Chinese tourist hot spot Sanya imposes COVID lockdown

The southern Chinese resort city of Sanya imposed a lockdown on Saturday and restricted transport links to try to stem a COVID-19 outbreak that comes as some 80,000 visitors were enjoying its beaches at peak season. The curbs came into force at 6 a.m. (2200 GMT) after authorities said the COVID situation was “very severe” and people’s movements were being restricted.

‘Early signs’ monkeypox outbreak plateauing in UK, health authority says

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday there were “early signs” that the monkeypox outbreak is plateauing across the country and that its expansion has slowed.

“While the most recent data suggests the growth of the outbreak has slowed, we cannot be complacent,” Dr Meera Chand, director of clinical and emerging infections at UKHSA, said.

South Africa reports first death causally linked to COVID vaccine

South Africa’s health regulator reported on Thursday a causal link between the death of an individual and Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine, the first time such a direct link has been made in the country. The person presented with rare neurological disorder Guillain-Barre Syndrome soon after being given J&J’s Janssen vaccine, after which the person was put on a ventilator and later died, senior scientists told a news conference.

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