Maternal and Child Health Library

This and past issues of the MCH Alert are available at http://www.mchlibrary.info/alert/archives.html

August 14, 2009

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1. FLU.GOV FEATURES NEW RESOURCES FOR SCHOOLS FOR THE FALL FLU SEASON

Flu.gov, the federal Web site for H1N1, avian, and pandemic flu information, contains three new resources for state and local public health officials and school administrators for school (K-12) responses to influenza during the 2009-2010 school year. The resources, produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are designed to decrease exposure to regular seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu while limiting the disruption of day-to-day activities and learning in schools. The resources include the following:

* CDC Guidance for State and Local Public Health Officials and School Administrators for School (K-12) Responses to Influenza during the 2009-2010 School Year expands upon earlier school guidance documents by providing a menu of tools that school and health officials can choose from based on conditions in their area. The guidance recommends actions to take during this school year and strategies to use if CDC finds that the flu starts causing more severe disease. It also provides a checklist for making decisions at the local level. The guidance is available at http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/schoolguidance.html

* Technical Report for State and Local Public Health Officials and School Administrators for School (K-12) Responses to Influenza during the 2009-2010 School Year includes detailed information on the reasons for the strategies presented in CDC's guidance and suggestions on how to use them. The report is available at http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/k12techreport.html

* Preparing for the Flu: A Communication Toolkit for Schools (Grades K-12) provides information and communication resources to help school administrators implement recommendations from CDC's guidance. Contents include questions and answers; fact sheets to inform schools, teachers, and parents; information on where to find posters for schools about flu prevention; and template letters (or e-mails) for schools to send to parents. The toolkit is available at
http://www.flu.gov/plan/school/schoolflutoolkit.pdf

• Review data associated with risk for lead exposure and from blood lead surveillance to identify geographic areas where children are at risk for EBLLs.
• Establish screening policies that reflect local risk for lead exposure.
• Provide scientific risk information to health professionals.
• Link and share data between Medicaid and state lead surveillance systems.
• Motivate health professionals to provide lead screening to children eligible for Medicaid (e.g., measure performance and provide feedback, or provide financial incentives or penalties).
• Establish partnerships with WIC.
• Use alternative screening technologies.
• Develop alternative surveillance strategies to detect increases in the proportion of populations with EBLLs and to identify new lead sources in communities.

• Compared with those who smoked throughout pregnancy, women who quit smoking in the first trimester had smaller percentages of preterm non-SGA (8 percent compared with 10 percent), term SGA (9 percent compared with 15 percent), and preterm SGA newborns (1 percent compared with 2 percent).
• Compared with those who smoked throughout pregnancy, women who quit smoking in the first trimester had adjusted odds of delivering preterm non-SGA, term SGA, and preterm SGA newborns similar in magnitude to those who had never smoked.
• Quitting in the first trimester lowered the odds of delivering a preterm non-SGA newborn by 31 percent, a term SGA newborn by 55 percent, and a preterm SGA newborn by 53 percent, compared with smoking throughout pregnancy.
• Women who quit in the second trimester also had lower adjusted odds of delivering preterm non-SGA and term SGA newborns than smokers but to a lesser degree than first-trimester quitters or nonsmokers. Second-trimester quitters did not have significantly lower odds of delivering preterm SGA newborns, compared with smokers.
• After stratifying by maternal age, lower adjusted odds of delivering preterm non-SGA, term SGA, and preterm SGA newborns were observed among first-trimester quitters as well as nonsmokers in all age strata.
• In general, this reduction in odds was more pronounced among older women, especially those ages 40 and older.