The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) serves 50% of infants and 25% of preschool-aged children in the U.S. and collects height and weight measurements from eligible children every six months, making WIC data a valuable resource for studying childhood growth and obesity. We assessed the accuracy of measurements collected by WIC staff by comparing them to “gold standard” measurements collected by trained research staff. At seven WIC clinics in southern California, 287 children ages 2–5 years measured by WIC staff using WIC standard protocol were re-measured by research staff using a research protocol (duplicate measurements with shoes and outerwear removed taken by trained personnel). Intraclass correlation coefficients measuring agreement between WIC and research protocol measurements for height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were 0.96, 0.99 and 0.93, respectively. Although WIC measurements overestimated height by 0.6 cm and weight by 0.05 kg on average, BMI was underestimated by only 0.15 kg/m2 on average. WIC BMI percentiles classified children as overweight/obese versus underweight/normal with 86% sensitivity and 92% specificity. We conclude that height, weight and BMI measurements of children aged 2–5 years collected by trained WIC staff are sufficiently accurate for monitoring and research purposes.

Duration of immunity against Ebola virus among survivors remains unclear. We assessed serological immune profiles and retention of Ebola virus neutralizing antibodies in 14 survivors of the 1976 Yambuku outbreak 40 years postinfection, providing the longest documentation of such measures reported.

HighlightsDRC’s overall measles vaccination coverage level of 70% is too low to halt the spread of measles.Socioeconomic variables and residence are associated with vaccination coverage disparities.Vaccination coverage and data quality are linked, and as such, dated records must be increased.

These results provide serologic evidence of Ebolavirus exposure in a population residing in non-EBOV outbreak locations in the DRC and define statistically significant activities and animal exposures that associate with EBOV seropositivity.

Healthcare settings have played a major role in propagation of Ebola virus (EBOV) outbreaks. Healthcare workers (HCWs) have elevated risk of contact with EBOV-infected patients, particularly if safety precautions are not rigorously practiced. We conducted a serosurvey to determine seroprevalence against multiple EBOV antigens among HCWs of Boende Health Zone, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the site of a 2014 EBOV outbreak. Interviews and specimens were collected from 565 consenting HCWs. Overall, 234 (41.4%) of enrolled HCWs were reactive to at least 1 EBOV protein: 159 (28.1%) were seroreactive for anti-glycoprotein immunoglobulin G (IgG), 89 (15.8%) were seroreactive for anti-nucleoprotein IgG, and 54 (9.5%) were VP40 positive. Additionally, sera from 16 (2.8%) HCWs demonstrated neutralization capacity. These data demonstrate that a significant proportion of HCWs have the ability to neutralize virus, despite never having developed Ebola virus disease symptoms, highlighting an important and poorly documented aspect of EBOV infection and progression.

BackgroundIn order to prevent outbreaks from wild and vaccine-derived poliovirus, maintenance of population immunity in non-endemic countries is critical.MethodsWe estimated population seroprevalence using dried blood spots collected from 4893 children 6–59 months olds in the 2013–2014 Demographic and Health Survey in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).ResultsPopulation immunity was 81%, 90%, and 70% for poliovirus types 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Among 6–59-month-old children, 78% reported at least one dose of polio in routine immunization, while only 15% had three doses documented on vaccination cards. All children in the study had been eligible for at least two trivalent oral polio vaccine campaigns at the time of enrollment; additional immunization campaigns seroconverted 5.0%, 14%, and 5.5% of non-immune children per-campaign for types 1, 2, and 3, respectively, averaged over relevant campaigns for each serotype.ConclusionsOverall polio immunity was high at the time of the study, though pockets of low immunity cannot be ruled out. The DRC still relies on supplementary immunization campaigns, and this report stresses the importance of the quality and coverage of those campaigns over their quantity, as well as the importance of routine immunization.

Objectives Folate plays a vital role in biologic functions yet women often do not meet the recommended dietary intake in pregnancy. It has been suggested that high folic acid intake during pregnancy may increase the risk of respiratory diseases in offspring. However, findings from observational studies in human populations are inconclusive. Methods In this population-based study, we collected self-reported folic acid and prenatal vitamin supplement use during pregnancy 3-6 months postpartum from mothers in Los Angeles whose children were born in 2003. Supplement initiation was based on whichever supplement, either folic acid or prenatal supplements, the women initiated first. In a 2006 follow-up survey, approximately 50% of women were re-contacted to gather information on the child's respiratory health, including symptoms and diagnoses, at approximately 3.5 years of age. Results Overall, timing of folic acid supplement initiation was not associated with wheeze or lower respiratory tract infection, even after accounting for preterm births and censoring at follow-up. However, children born to mothers with a history of atopy (hay fever, eczema or asthma) who initiate folic acid supplements in late pregnancy, compared to first trimester initiators, have 1.67 (95% CI 1.12, 2.49) times the risk of wheeze in the first 3 years of life and 1.88 (95% CI 1.05, 3.34) times the risk of wheeze in the past year. No association was found among children of non-atopic mothers. Conclusions These findings suggest that early folic acid or prenatal supplementation among atopic women may be important to prevent wheeze among offspring.

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