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CDC Recommends Against Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine
Breastfeeding and Brain Development In a study published online July 29 in The Journal of Pediatrics, preterm infants who were fed more breast milk in the first 28 days of life had larger brain volumes and fared better in cognitive and motor testing at 7 years of age. Researchers followed 180 preterm infants born before 30 weeks gestation and calculated the number of days on which the newborns received breast milk as more than 50% of their nutritional intake from birth through 28 days of life. Study authors adjusted for age, sex, social risk, and neonatal illness in linear regression. More human milk ingestion was associated with better outcomes including greater deep nuclear gray matter volume at term equivalent and better IQ score, academic achievement, working memory, and motor function by age 7 years.
Obesity Trends The prevalence of obesity in 2013 to 2014 was 35% among men and 40% among women, and between 2005 and 2014, there was an increase in prevalence among women, but not men, according to a study appearing in the June 7 issue of JAMA.
Photos © top: Jonas Unruh, bottom: iStock Signature Collection / both from iStockphoto.com
Moderate Exercise to Prevent Gestational Diabetes Norwegian researchers have found that exercise alone may help prevent gestational diabetes in obese pregnant women, according to a study published July 26 in PLOS Medicine. The study included 91 women who were divided randomly into an exercise group or a control group. Women in the exercise group were invited to three weekly supervised sessions of 60 minutes throughout the course of their pregnancies. The training consisted of 35 minutes of moderate-intensity treadmill walking and 25 minutes of strength training. The control group was given standard prenatal care. Only two women in the exercise group developed gestational diabetes, compared with nine in the control group. The women in the exercise group also had lower blood pressure toward the end of their pregnancies. The researchers noted that
October | November 2016
the intensity of the training for the exercise group was not very high and that not all women in the exercise group met for all sessions. “That meant that even a little training during pregnancy can be beneficial,” said Kirsti Krohn Garnæs, the PhD candidate who was responsible for all the training sessions in the trial.
Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Wellcome Trust of London, AMR Centre of Alderley Park (Cheshire, United Kingdom), and Boston University School of Law are joining forces to fight antimicrobial resistance. The Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, or CARB-X, brings together domestic and international partners to focus on preclinical discovery and development of new antimicrobial products. Made possible through a cooperative agreement, the partnership promotes innovation and could provide hundreds of millions of dollars over 5 years to increase the number of antibiotics in the drug-development pipeline. CARB-X will review applications for subawards to determine the most promising products to support. Visit the CARB-X page on phe.gov or www.carb-x.org for more information.
CDC Recommends Against Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted that live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), also known as the “nasal spray” flu vaccine, should not be used during the 2016– 2017 flu season. Preliminary data on the effectiveness of LAIV among children ages 2 years through 17 years during the 2015–2016 season showed an estimated 3% vaccine effectiveness for LAIV among study participants (compared with the 63% effectiveness estimated for flu shots); this estimate means no protective benefit could be measured. ACIP continues to recommend annual flu vaccination, with either the inactivated influenza vaccine or recombinant influenza vaccine, for everyone ages 6 months and older.
Nursing for Women’s Health
453
Obesity Trends The prevalence of obesity in 2013 to 2014 was 35% among men and 40% among women, and between 2005 and 2014, there was an increase in prevalence among women, but not men, according to a study appearing in the June 7 issue of JAMA.
Photos © top: Jonas Unruh, bottom: iStock Signature Collection / both from iStockphoto.com
Moderate Exercise to Prevent Gestational Diabetes Norwegian researchers have found that exercise alone may help prevent gestational diabetes in obese pregnant women, according to a study published July 26 in PLOS Medicine. The study included 91 women who were divided randomly into an exercise group or a control group. Women in the exercise group were invited to three weekly supervised sessions of 60 minutes throughout the course of their pregnancies. The training consisted of 35 minutes of moderate-intensity treadmill walking and 25 minutes of strength training. The control group was given standard prenatal care. Only two women in the exercise group developed gestational diabetes, compared with nine in the control group. The women in the exercise group also had lower blood pressure toward the end of their pregnancies. The researchers noted that
October | November 2016
the intensity of the training for the exercise group was not very high and that not all women in the exercise group met for all sessions. “That meant that even a little training during pregnancy can be beneficial,” said Kirsti Krohn Garnæs, the PhD candidate who was responsible for all the training sessions in the trial.
Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Wellcome Trust of London, AMR Centre of Alderley Park (Cheshire, United Kingdom), and Boston University School of Law are joining forces to fight antimicrobial resistance. The Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator, or CARB-X, brings together domestic and international partners to focus on preclinical discovery and development of new antimicrobial products. Made possible through a cooperative agreement, the partnership promotes innovation and could provide hundreds of millions of dollars over 5 years to increase the number of antibiotics in the drug-development pipeline. CARB-X will review applications for subawards to determine the most promising products to support. Visit the CARB-X page on phe.gov or www.carb-x.org for more information.
CDC Recommends Against Nasal Spray Flu Vaccine The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted that live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), also known as the “nasal spray” flu vaccine, should not be used during the 2016– 2017 flu season. Preliminary data on the effectiveness of LAIV among children ages 2 years through 17 years during the 2015–2016 season showed an estimated 3% vaccine effectiveness for LAIV among study participants (compared with the 63% effectiveness estimated for flu shots); this estimate means no protective benefit could be measured. ACIP continues to recommend annual flu vaccination, with either the inactivated influenza vaccine or recombinant influenza vaccine, for everyone ages 6 months and older.
Nursing for Women’s Health
453