Flu jabs during pregnancy lower virus risk to baby

Monday 7 October 2013

Islamabad, Oct 8 (Newswire): Babies whose mothers have the flu jab during pregnancy are less likely to catch the virus themselves, finds a recent study.

A flu jab protects youngsters in the first six months of life and makes them 40 per cent less likely to need hospital treatment for respiratory illnesses, according to a US research.

Research shows that pregnant women are at higher risk of serious complications from swine flu as compared to the general public, and have a higher rate of hospital admissions, according to the journal Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Experts say a substantial proportion of children will have already immunity to swine flu either from being vaccinated last year or after exposure to the virus.

The authors of the study said: "Influenza virus infection in infants is generally more frequent among those aged six to 12 months than in the first six months of life, potentially owing to the protection conferred by maternal influenza antibodies acquired transplacentally or through breastfeeding."

However, during severe influenza seasons, morbidity and mortality rates among infants younger than six months have been reported to exceed those of older infants.

The study was carried out by Angelia Eick of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Centre in Maryland, US.

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Traffic pollution can double breast cancer risk

Islamabad, Oct 8 (Newswire): Believe it or not, traffic pollution can double a woman's chances of getting breast cancer.

Breast cancer incidence was clearly higher in areas with increased levels of nitrogen dioxide, researchers said.

Mark Goldberg from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in Canada said:"We found a link between post-menopausal breast cancer and exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a marker for traffic-related air pollution."

Across Montreal, levels of nitrogen dioxide varied between five parts per billion to over 30 parts per billion, he said, according to the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

We found that risk increased by about 25 per cent with every increase of nitrogen dioxide of five parts per billion, Mr Goldberg said.

Another way of saying this is that women living in the areas with the highest levels of pollution were almost twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those living in the least polluted areas, he added.

Goldberg warned that the disturbing results should be interpreted with great caution. First of all, this doesn't mean nitrogen dioxide causes breast cancer.

This gas is not the only pollutant created by cars and trucks, but where it is present, so are the other gases, particles and compounds we associate with traffic - some of which are known carcinogens.
The study by researchers from McGill University and the University of Montreal combined data from several studies.

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Stressed-out moms likely to worsen child's asthma

Islamabad, Oct 8 (Newswire): Mums who are often angry or irritated and those who suppress their emotional expressions can worsen the severity of their children's asthma symptoms, especially when the children are younger.

Researchers studied 223 mothers for a year, investigating how their stress levels, coping styles and parenting styles were associated with their children's disease status.

Jun Nagano from the Kyushu University Institute of Health Science, Fukuoka, Japan, worked with a team of researchers to carry out the study, reports the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine.

Mothers tendencies to reject, dominate, overprotect and indulge their children were assessed by questionnaire as were their specific kinds of chronic stress and coping styles.

Over-interference stemming from excessive protectiveness was found to be associated with worsening asthma of older children (over seven years).

For those under seven, a mother's chronic irritation and anger or the tendency to suppress her emotional expressions was predictive of a more severe disease in the subsequent years.

According to Nagano: "A mother's stress (or wellbeing) may be verbally or non-verbally conveyed to her child and affect the child's asthmatic status."

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