Vaccination to Prevent Cancer.

Vaccines stimulate the immune system, mimicking infectious attacks and thereby promoting the development of protective antibodies and/or cellular immunity so that the body is immune to infection when live native infections attack. Some of these infections are associated with cancer-causing changes in the body; thus some vaccines may help prevent cancer.

Nutritional quality of foods marketed to children in Honduras.

Evidence suggests that exposure to advertising of unhealthy foods may contribute to increased rates of obesity in children. This study examined the extent to which television stations marketed unhealthy foods to children during after-school programming aired over one week in La Ceiba, Honduras. Content analysis was performed on four television stations, including one broadcast station and three cable networks. Eighty hours of programming were recorded and analyzed. Advertised products were categorized as food or non-food items, with food items further classified as healthy or unhealthy. Advertisements were coded as those aimed at children, adults, or both, and chi-square tests were used to compare the proportion of unhealthy advertisements by target audience. A total of 2271 advertisements aired during the observation period, with 1120 marketing products (49.3%). Of those, 397 (35.4%) promoted foods-30.2% were for healthy foods and 69.8% for unhealthy foods. The unhealthy foods were all advertised on cable networks and not the broadcast station. Children appeared to be targeted more than adults in advertisements for unhealthy foods (92.1%, p<0.001). Cable television programming during after-school hours advertised primarily unhealthy foods. Exposure to these advertisements may promote consumption of unhealthy foods by children, increasing their risk of obesity.

Tooth Eruption and Early Childhood Caries: A Multisite Longitudinal Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the number of teeth present at 12 months and decayed, missing, or filled surfaces (dmfs) at 30 and 48 months. Methods: Data are from a longitudinal, multisite study with clinical dental examinations conducted at 12, 30, and 48 months of age. Spearman correlation and chi-square tests assessed relationships between teeth present at 12 months and dmfs at 30 (n equals 1,062) and 48 months (n equals 985). Results: Spearman correlations were weak but significant for both 30- and 48-month time points (R equals 0.066, P=0.032; R equals 0.093, P=0.004, respectively). Mantel-Haenszel chi-square analyses of categories of teeth present at 12 months (zero, one to four, five to eight, and greater than or equal to nine) and categories of dmfs at 30 and 48 months (zero, one to two, three to five, six to 15, and greater than or equal to 16) revealed nonsignificant (P=0.326) relationship with 30-month dmfs but a significant (P=0.013) relationship with 48-month dmfs. Conclusion: Results suggest that early tooth eruption is weakly associated with an occurrence of early childhood caries.

Large injection site reactions after a second dose of varicella vaccine.

A second dose of varicella vaccine is routinely recommended. We report 2 cases of large local reactions after receipt of a second dose of varicella vaccine administered in the thigh. The reactions resolved with symptomatic therapy. Clinicians should continue to administer the second dose of varicella vaccine, but should use the preferred site in the arm.

Open-Label Pilot Study to Compare the Safety and Immunogenicity of Pentavalent Rotavirus Vaccine (RV5) Administered on an Early Alternative Dosing Schedule with Those of RV5 Administered on the Recommended Standard Schedule.

This study compares the safety and immunogenicity of pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5) administered on an alternative schedule (initiated at 2-5 weeks of age) with those of RV5 administered on the recommended standard schedule. Our findings support the future conduct of larger clinical trials to confirm the safety and efficacy of rotavirus vaccination in the neonatal period.

Efficacy of iron-supplement bars to reduce anemia in urban Indian women: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Background: India's high prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia has largely been attributed to the local diet consisting of nonheme iron, which has lower absorption than that of heme iron.Objective: We assessed the efficacy of the consumption of iron-supplement bars in raising hemoglobin concentrations and hematocrit percentages in anemic (hemoglobin concentration <12 g/dL) Indian women of reproductive age.Design: The Let's be Well Red study was a 90-d, pair-matched, cluster-randomized controlled trial. A total of 361 nonpregnant women (age 18-35 y) were recruited from 10 sites within Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, India. All participants received anemia education and a complete blood count (CBC). Random assignment of anemic participants to intervention and control arms occurred within 5 matched site-pairs. Intervention participants received 1 iron-supplement bar (containing 14 mg Fe)/d for 90 d, whereas control subjects received nothing. CBC tests were given at days 15, 45, and 90. Primary outcomes were 90-d changes from baseline in hemoglobin concentrations and hematocrit percentages. Linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations were used to model continuous and binary outcomes, respectively.Results: Of 179 anemic participants, 136 (76.0%) completed all follow-up assessments (65 intervention and 71 control participants). Baseline characteristics were comparable by arm. Mean hemoglobin and hematocrit increases after 90 d were greater for intervention than for control participants [1.4 g/dL (95% CI: 1.3, 1.6 g/dL) and 2.7% (95% CI: 2.2%, 3.2%), respectively]. The anemia prevalence at 90 d was lower for intervention (29.2%) than for control participants (98.6%) (OR: 0.007; 95% CI: 0.001, 0.04).Conclusions: The daily consumption of an iron-supplement bar leads to increased hemoglobin concentrations and hematocrit percentages and to a lower anemia prevalence in the target population with no reported side effects. This intervention is an attractive option to combat anemia in India. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02032615.

Economic analysis of influenza vaccination and antiviral treatment for healthy working adults.

BACKGROUND: Physicians have several treatment options for influenza, including vaccination and various antiviral therapies. However, the optimal influenza prevention and treatment strategy is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare the relative health values of contemporary treatment strategies for influenza in a healthy sample of working adults. DESIGN: Cost-benefit analysis using a decision model. DATA SOURCES: Previously published data. TARGET POPULATION: Healthy employed adults 18 to 50 years of age. TIME HORIZON: A complete influenza season. PERSPECTIVE: Societal. INTERVENTIONS: Eight treatment options (yes or no) based on the possible combinations of vaccination and antiviral therapy (rimantadine, oseltamivir, or zanamivir or no treatment) should infection develop. OUTCOME MEASURES: Cost in U.S. dollars, including the value of symptom relief and medication side effects, which was assigned a monetary value through a conjoint analysis that used a "willingness-to-pay" approach. RESULTS: In the base-case analysis, all strategies for influenza vaccination had a higher net benefit than the nonvaccination strategies. Vaccination and use of rimantadine, the most cost-beneficial strategy, was $30.97 more cost-beneficial than nonvaccination and no use of antiviral medication. The health benefits of most antiviral treatments equaled or exceeded their costs for most scenarios. The choice of the most cost-beneficial antiviral strategy was sensitive to the prevalence of influenza B and to the comparative workdays gained by each antiviral therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination is cost-beneficial in most influenza seasons in healthy working adults. Although the benefits of antiviral therapy for persons with influenza infection appear to justify its cost, head-to-head trials of the various antiviral therapies are needed to determine the optimal treatment strategy.

Virulence associated with outbreak-related strains of Burkholderia cepacia complex among a cohort of patients with bacteremia.

The Burkholderia cepacia complex includes 9 genomovars. The relative virulence of each is unknown. Host and pathogen features associated with mortality were evaluated among patients with B. cepacia complex bacteremia. Cases were ascertained through review of blood culture results for the period of May 1996 through May 2002. Isolates were identified to species level with 16S rDNA and recA-based species-specific polymerase chain reaction analyses and recA restriction fragment-length polymorphism. Strain typing was performed with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Fifty-three patients with B. cepacia complex bacteremia were identified; only 9 (17%) had cystic fibrosis. Twenty-five patients (47%) died within 14 days of bacteremia. After controlling for comorbid conditions and therapeutic interventions, 2 outbreak-related strains of Burkholderia cenocepacia (genomovar III) were associated with 14-day mortality (odds ratio, 5.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.20-25.02). B. cenocepacia is an emerging nosocomial pathogen. Certain strains are associated with an enhanced capacity for interpatient spread and poor outcome.