Only about 40 percent of children received a 2012-13 flu vaccine.

Byung-Kwang Yoo, UC Davis

Offering flu vaccines at elementary schools could expand vaccination rates and reduce costs, according to a new study reported in the scientific journal Vaccine by researchers from UC Davis Health System; the Monroe County, N.Y,, Department of Public Health; University of Rochester Medical Center; and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The best protection against flu for children at least 6 months of age is the seasonal vaccine, yet vaccination rates among children are low, according to the CDC. Only about 40 percent of children received a 2012-13 flu vaccine, which is typically provided in a primary care setting.

“Primary care practices may not have the capacity to vaccinate all U.S. children against seasonal influenza,” said Byung-Kwang Yoo, an associate professor of public health sciences at UC Davis and lead author of the study. “If the CDC’s recommendations were followed, primary care offices would have to accommodate 42 million additional patient visits during the five-month window for each flu season.”

The vaccine can be lifesaving, especially for children, who are among those most at risk for the flu and its complications. The CDC reports that 90 percent of children who died from flu during 2012-13 were not vaccinated. This is why public health experts have made it a priority to identify cost-effective ways to broaden access to flu vaccines for children.

“The flu is a disease with high probability of reaching epidemic levels even though we have an effective vaccine,” said Yoo, who was with the University of Rochester when the study was conducted. “Our goal is to find ways to ensure that the best prevention is as accessible as possible.”

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UCSF pediatrician: “The best thing to replace soda is water or milk.”

While there has been a steep decline in kids’ consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in California, African-American and Latino children may be replacing soda with 100 percent fruit juice while their white peers are not, according to a new study from UC San Francisco.

The study was the first to compare trends of sugar-sweetened beverages and 100 percent juice consumption in California.

“The decrease in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among kids is a promising public health trend,” said Amy Beck, M.D., M.P.H., lead author and pediatrician at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. “But it is concerning that minority children are increasing their consumption of 100 percent fruit juice, which often has just as much sugar as soda.”

Researchers examined data from the California Health Interview Survey, a telephone survey conducted every two years from 2003 to 2009, which asked parents how many servings of sugar-sweetened beverages and 100 percent fruit juice their children, ages 2 to 11, consumed the day before.

“Parents who are thinking actively about nutrition wouldn’t give their kids Coca-Cola, but might give apple juice,” said Beck. “But 8 ounces of Coca-Cola contains 27 grams of sugar, as does 8 ounces of apple juice. We need to make sure parents understand the best thing to replace soda is water or milk.”

The results are published in the June/July issue of journal of Academic Pediatrics.

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UC Irvine researcher urges targeted vaccination of those under 65 in comparable scenarios.

A UC Irvine employee participates in a 2012 flu vaccination clinic.

As the world prepares for what may be the next pandemic strain of influenza virus, in the H7N9 bird flu, a new UC Irvine study reveals that the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic was deadliest for people under the age of 65, while those 65 and over had greater immunity due to previous exposure to similar viruses.

Deaths from flu pandemics tend to skew younger than those from seasonal flu because of “antigenic recycling,” or the fact that some parts of flu viruses have already made the rounds. Between 1918 and 1957, all flu viruses in circulation fell into the H1N1 category, so in 2009, older adults had some protection stemming from their prior experience with viruses of this type, said Andrew Noymer, UC Irvine associate professor of public health and the study’s co-author.

“The swine flu pandemic was relatively mild in the extent to which flu-related deaths were above normal, seasonal levels,” he said. “Excess death rates were highest among 25- to 64-year-olds.” The findings appear in the journal PLOS ONE.

The bulk of pneumonia and influenza deaths typically occur in people older than 65, but when H1N1 became the dominant flu strain in 2009, the accompanying rise in pneumonia and flu deaths took place within age groups that usually have low mortality rates.

Overall, there were 53,692 pneumonia and influenza deaths in 2009, of which 2,438 were considered “excess,” or above the number expected. In 2010, there were about 50,000 deaths from pneumonia and flu, of which 196 were considered excess.

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First sequenced genomes include salmonella, listeria, other foodborne microorganisms.

Striking a blow at foodborne diseases, the 100K Pathogen Genome Project at the University of California, Davis, today announced that it has sequenced the genomes of its first 10 infectious microorganisms, including strains of Salmonella and Listeria.

“We are creating a free, online encyclopedia or reference database of genomes so that during a foodborne disease outbreak, scientists and public health professionals can quickly identify the responsible microorganism and track its source in the food supply using automated information-handling methods,” said professor Bart Weimer, director of the 100K Genome Project and co-director of BGI@UC Davis, the Sacramento facility where the sequencing is carried out.

Weimer estimates that the availability of this genomic information will cut in half the time necessary to diagnose and treat foodborne illnesses, and will enable scientists to make discoveries that can be used to develop new methods for controlling disease-causing microorganisms in the food chain.

The project is dedicated to sequencing the genomes of 100,000 bacteria and viruses that cause serious foodborne illnesses in people around the world.

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Fictional monsters could help educate public about rabies, Alzheimer’s.

Zombies have inspired countless horror films and graphic novels, but the fictional monsters have recently been used for a loftier goal: public health awareness. UC Irvine lecturer/researcher Brandon Brown, Ph.D., and public health grad student Melissa Nasiruddin published a paper (and podcast) in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases that advocates using zombies to educate the moviegoing masses about re-emerging infectious diseases such as rabies and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

“Rabies isn’t a problem in the United States, but China and Indonesia have recently had outbreaks of the disease,” Nasiruddin said. Rabies and zombiism are both transmitted through bites, and both cause foaming at the mouth.

Zombies and people with Parkinson’s disease both experience muscle rigidity, tremors, a shuffling gait and slowness. If conflating public health and zombies sounds familiar, it’s probably because of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s successful campaign linking reports of zombie infestations to disaster readiness. “If you can prepare for a fictional zombie apocalypse, you can prepare for the outbreak of any disease or global pandemic,” Brown said.

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UC San Diego research supports calls for advocacy and action.

Countries in which girls are commonly married before the age of 18 have significantly higher rates of maternal and infant mortality, report researchers in the current online issue of the journalViolence Against Women.

The study, by Anita Raj, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Medicine in the UC San Diego School of Medicine and Ulrike Boehmer, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Boston University School of Public Health, is the first published ecological analysis of child marriage and maternal mortality. The study demonstrates that a 10 percent reduction in girl child marriage could be associated with at 70 percent reduction in a country’s maternal mortality rate.

“Our analyses accounted for development indicators and world region, and still documented that nations with higher rates of girl child marriage are significantly more likely to contend with higher rates of maternal and infant mortality and non-utilization of maternal health services,” said Raj.

“Though child marriage is not highly common in the United States,” said Raj, “these findings are meaningful because they hold true for adolescent pregnancy, regardless of marriage. Young age at childbirth increases risk for both maternal and infant mortality.”

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They consume nearly as many calories at Subway as at McDonald’s, UCLA study finds.

Lennard Lesser

Subway may promote itself as the “healthy” fast food restaurant, but it might not be a much healthier alternative than McDonald’s for adolescents, according to new UCLA research.

In a study published May 6 in the Journal of Adolescent Health, the researchers found that adolescents who purchased Subway meals consumed nearly as many calories as they did at McDonald’s. Meals from both restaurants are likely to contribute toward overeating and obesity, according to the researchers.

“Every day, millions of people eat at McDonald’s and Subway, the two largest fast food chains in the world,” said Dr. Lenard Lesser, who led the research while a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar in the department of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “With childhood obesity at record levels, we need to know the health impact of kids’ choices at restaurants.”

The researchers recruited 97 adolescents ages 12 to 21 to purchase meals at McDonald’s and Subway restaurants at a shopping mall in Carson. The participants went to each restaurant on different weekdays between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., and paid for the meals with their own money. Researchers used the participants’ cash register receipts to record what each customer ate and estimated calorie counts from information on the chains’ websites.

The researchers found that the participants bought meals containing an average of 1,038 calories at McDonald’s and an average of 955 calories at Subway.

“We found that there was no statistically significant difference between the two restaurants, and that participants ate too many calories at both,” said Lesser, who is now a researcher at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute.

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UC Berkeley researchers find troubling levels of toxic metals in cosmetics.

S. Katharine Hammond, UC Berkeley

A new analysis of the contents of lipstick and lip gloss may  cause you to pause before puckering.

Researchers at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health tested 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses commonly found in drugstores and department stores. They detected lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and five other metals, some of which were found at levels that could raise potential health concerns. Their findings were published online today (May 2) in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Prior studies also have found metals in cosmetics, but the UC Berkeley researchers estimated risk by analyzing the concentration of the metals detected and consumers’ potential daily intake of the metals, and then comparing this intake  with existing health guidelines.

“Just finding these metals isn’t the issue; it’s the levels that matter,” said study principal investigator S. Katharine Hammond, professor of environmental health sciences. “Some of the toxic metals are occurring at levels that could possibly have an effect in the long term.”

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May 1 symposium to be Blum Center’s inaugural event.

UCLA has formed the UCLA Blum Center on Poverty and Health in Latin America, where faculty and students from multiple disciplines will work with other institutions to conduct research, develop training programs and promote innovative policy solutions aimed at addressing key social and health-related issues in the region.

“As a public university, UCLA has a duty to address the world’s challenges, and our cross-disciplinary strengths in medicine, public health, humanities, social sciences, research and public policy position us to make a difference,” said UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Scott Waugh. “We have strong ties to Latin America and welcome the opportunity to strengthen our collaborations with other academic institutions, nonprofit groups and nongovernmental organizations in the region. The UCLA Blum Center is a team effort that draws faculty and students from across campus who are committed to redressing issues of poverty and health in Latin America.”

Dr. Michael Rodriguez, professor and vice chair of research in the department of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, will serve as the center’s director.

“The programs of this new center reflect our mission to work collaboratively with a wide range of UCLA disciplines, as well as Latin American partnering institutions, to identify and promote solutions in health policy and practice,” Rodriguez said. “We expect to build the center into a preeminent authority in our three focus areas — research, policy and training on the social determinants contributing to health inequalities in Latin American populations.”

“Instant Recess” creator championed national fitness, health equity.

Antronette Yancey, UCLA

Dr. Antronette (Toni) Yancey, a professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health who dedicated much of her career to promoting health and fitness and to eliminating health disparities, died April 23 of lung cancer. She was 55.

“Toni was an extraordinary life force who made an impact on everyone she knew — from those who only met her once, to those who considered her a lifelong friend,” wrote Fielding School dean Jody Heymann and professor Roshan Bastani in a letter announcing Yancey’s passing. “A true renaissance woman, Toni was a physician and a public health researcher and activist; she was also a poet and author, a former model and, at 6’2″, a Division 1 basketball player during her undergraduate years at Northwestern.”

Yancey was perhaps best known as the creator of “Instant Recess“, an award-winning program dedicated to “making America healthier 10 minutes at a time” by promoting short exercise breaks at offices, schools and places of worship. She also served on the board of directors of the Partnership for a Healthier America, the nonprofit that guided first lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign.

Passionate about improving the health of vulnerable populations, Yancey was a co-founder of the Fielding School’s UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity, through which she championed the cause of of health and social justice.

Read the Fielding school’s announcement

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‘Instant recess’ at UCLA honors legacy of Antronette (Toni) Yancey (photos)