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Purpose of reviewAs of 2019, four rotavirus vaccines have been prequalified by the WHO for use worldwide. This review highlights current knowledge regarding rotavirus vaccines available, and provides a brief summary of the rotavirus vaccine pipeline.Recent findingsData generated from use of currently available products supports their effectiveness and impact in diverse settings. Rotavirus vaccines have a favorable risk–benefit profile, but previous associations of rotavirus vaccination with intussusception necessitate continued monitoring for this rare but serious adverse event. Implementation of rotavirus vaccines was jeopardized in late 2018 and 2019 by a shortage of vaccine supply. Fortunately, with the prequalification of two additional vaccines in 2018, countries have increased choice in products with different characteristics, pricing, and implementation strategies. Other vaccines currently in development may open up further immunization strategies, such as neonatal vaccination schedules or parenteral administration.SummaryRotavirus vaccines have demonstrated impact in reducing diarrheal morbidity and mortality worldwide. As countries begin to introduce the newly prequalified vaccines, additional data will become available on the safety and effectiveness of those products. Products in the pipeline have distinct profiles and could be an essential part of the expansion of rotavirus vaccine use worldwide.

and Prevention with either clinical or radiographic evidence of pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome, without an alternative more likely diagnosis. Sixteen participating states § submitted case investigation forms containing data collected during January 19-June 3, 2020, for 199 COVID-19 patients. Among those patients, 192 (97%) reported experiencing any symptoms, six (3%) reported experiencing no symptoms, and one (<1%) had unknown symptom status. Sufficient symptom data for § States that submitted data include Alaska,

Iron deficiency is a global problem across the life course, but infants and their mothers are especially vulnerable to both the development and the consequences of iron deficiency. Maternal iron deficiency during pregnancy can predispose offspring to the development of iron deficiency during infancy, with potentially lifelong sequelae. This review explores iron status throughout these “first 1000 days” from pregnancy through two years of age, covering the role of iron and the epidemiology of iron deficiency, as well as its consequences, identification, interventions and remaining research gaps.

Background Reaching young adults with health messages has been a documented challenge in public health. Public health researchers have initiated studies to assess how social media are changing health communication. In 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched social media-based health education initiatives on Facebook to increase knowledge of breast health and breast cancer among women under age 45 and those at higher risk for developing the disease. The current study used digital analytics and metrics to describe the impact of these social media efforts on health communication. Methods Engagement rate was calculated by taking the average engagement rate for 574 posts published by the CDC Breast Cancer Facebook page in multiple categories, including CDC campaign specificity, content type, time of day, and year posted. Linear regression was used to model the effect of campaign content. Results Engagement rate (ER) was highest for content shared for the Know:BRCA campaign posts (ER=6.4), followed by the non-campaign related posts (ER=5.5), and the Bring Your Brave posts (ER=4.6). Overall engagement rate decreased from 2014–2016. Photos consistently produced the most significant engagement rate overall. Conclusions We found that users were more likely to click, share, comment, or like the content of the post that had photos. These data suggest that that branded, visual content is more effective in facilitating engagement. These findings will be used to adjust both free and paid social media efforts for the CDC Breast Cancer Facebook page.

Noroviruses evolve by antigenic drift and recombination, which occurs most frequently at the junction between the non-structural and structural protein coding genomic regions. In 2015, a novel GII.P16-GII.4 Sydney recombinant strain emerged, replacing the predominance of GII.Pe-GII.4 Sydney among US outbreaks. Distinct from GII.P16 polymerases detected since 2010, this novel GII.P16 was subsequently detected among GII.1, GII.2, GII.3, GII.10 and GII.12 viruses, prompting an investigation on the unique characteristics of these viruses. Norovirus positive samples (n = 1807) were dual-typed, of which a subset (n = 124) was sequenced to yield near-complete genomes. CaliciNet and National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) records were matched to link outbreak characteristics and case outcomes to molecular data and GenBank was mined for contextualization. Recombination with the novel GII.P16 polymerase extended GII.4 Sydney predominance and increased the number of GII.2 outbreaks in the US. Introduction of the novel GII.P16 noroviruses occurred without unique amino acid changes in VP1, more severe case outcomes, or differences in affected population. However, unique changes were found among NS1/2, NS4 and VP2 proteins, which have immune antagonistic functions, and the RdRp. Multiple polymerase-capsid combinations were detected among GII viruses including 11 involving GII.P16. Molecular surveillance of protein sequences from norovirus genomes can inform the functional importance of amino acid changes in emerging recombinant viruses and aid in vaccine and antiviral formulation.

Although neither female sex nor age were associated with an increased prevalence of ZIKV infection, both were associated with symptomatic infection. Further investigation to identify a potential mechanism of age- and sex-dependent differences in reporting symptomatic ZIKV infection is warranted.

BackgroundOver the past 30 years, obesity in the United States has increased twofold in children and threefold in adolescents. In Georgia, nearly 17% of children aged 10 – 17 are obese. In response to the high prevalence of child obesity in Georgia and the potential deleterious consequences that this can have, HealthMPowers was founded in 1999 with the goal of preventing childhood obesity by improving health-enhancing behaviors in elementary schools, utilizing a holistic three-year program. This study measures the effectiveness of the HealthMPowers program in improving the school environment, student knowledge, behavior, cardiovascular fitness levels, and Body Mass Index (BMI).MethodsThe present analysis utilizes data from 40 schools that worked with HealthMPowers over the course of the 2012 – 2013 school year (including schools at each of the three years of the intervention period) and provided information on demographics, student knowledge and behaviors, BMI, performance on the PACER test of aerobic capacity, and school practices and policies (measured via school self-assessment with the HealthMPowers-developed instrument “Continuous Improvement Tracking Tool” or CITT), measured at the beginning and end of each school year. Paired two-sample T tests were used to compare continuous variables (e.g., student knowledge scores, BMI-for-age Z scores), while chi-squared tests were used to assess categorical variables (e.g., trichotomized PACER performance).ResultsStudents across all grades and cohorts demonstrated improvements in knowledge and self-reported behaviors, with particularly significant improvements for third-graders in schools in the second year of the HealthMPowers program (p < 0.0001). Similarly, decreases were observed in BMI-for-Age Z scores for this cohort (and others) across grades and gender, with the most significant decreases for students overweight or obese at baseline (p < 0.0005). Students also showed significant increases in performance on the PACER test across grades and cohorts (p < 0.0001). Lastly, schools tended to improve their practices over time, as measured via the CITT instrument.ConclusionsThe present report demonstrates the effectiveness of the HealthMPowers program in producing positive change in school policies and practices, student knowledge and behaviors, and student fitness and BMI, supporting the use of holistic interventions to address childhood obesity.