Flu spray better than shots for young kids

ATLANTA: When it comes to flu vaccines, a federal panel says a squirt in the nose is better than a shot in the arm for young children.

The advisory panel voted Wednesday to advise doctors that FluMist nasal spray is a bit better at preventing flu in healthy young kids. The recommendation is specific to ages 2 through 8 only.

Some studies have found that kids within that age group are about half as likely to get the flu if they had the spray vaccine instead of a shot.

Federal health officials usually adopt the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. A flu vaccine is now recommended for virtually everyone over 6 months old.

AstraZeneca's FluMist is the only spray vaccine on the market. It was first licensed in 2003 and is approved for healthy people ages 2 to 49. Unlike flu shots made from a killed virus, it is made from a live but weakened flu virus.

Experts say the spray prompts a better immune response in children who may have never been infected with flu before, but there isn't a clear difference in adults.

The nation's largest pediatrician's group, however, objected to giving preference to the spray for kids. A representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics noted FluMist is more expensive, it can't be used for everyone and doctors have already ordered their vaccine doses for the fall flu season.

Dr. Michael Brady of Ohio State University also said the vote hinged on studies that were done before flu vaccine was encouraged for most children and vaccination rates were much lower. It's possible fresher data might not show such a difference, he said.

"We really feel you shouldn't place (doctors) and families in a situation where if they don't receive the live vaccine, they feel they're getting an inferior product. Because it may not be an inferior product," he said.

Health officials at Wednesday's meeting stressed that if doctors don't have FluMist in stock, flu shots are perfectly fine — both work. FluMist costs about $23; shots range from about $8 to $22.

Of children ages 2 to 17 who get a flu vaccine, 44 percent get FluMist, according to AstraZeneca. The company decided to make more for the coming flu season — 18 million doses, up from 13 million last year — partly in anticipation of the panel's vote, said Kathleen Coelingh, senior director of US medical affairs.

Hyderabad: Six kids drown in Indus Rive

HYDERABAD: Six children drowned in Indus River near Hyderabad on Saturday, rescue sources said.

According to rescue sources, the rescue teams and volunteers after getting information rushed to the site and recovered bodies of two drowned kids while the search operation is still in progress for the recovery of remaining three children.

Actually, kids are getting heavier in the US: study

WASHINGTON: Contrary to recent reports, America's children are still struggling with obesity and there has been no decline in the epidemic among young people, US researchers said Monday.

In fact, the problem is getting worse in a small subset of the heaviest children, among whom the trend has about doubled, said the findings in JAMA Pediatrics, a journal of the American Medical Association.

Childhood obesity is of particular concern because it can lead to lifelong health problems, including high cholesterol, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, experts say.

"The total number of kids that are overweight or obese hasn't changed," said co-author Joseph Skelton, a pediatrician at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

"It does seem overall, though, that some kids are getting heavier," he told AFP.

The latest study was based on the same data set as that released in late February, in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hailed a 43 percent drop in obesity among the country's preschoolers in the past decade.

However, the new study spanned a longer period of time, a wider age range and used 1999 as its starting point, rather than 2003 when an unusual spike in obesity was observed for reasons that are unclear, Skelton said.

- Severe obesity on the rise -

The new study examined records from at 26,690 children, aged between two and 19, who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 to 2012.

Just over 17 percent were obese in 2011-2012, meaning their body mass index (BMI) was greater than or equal to the 95th percentile for their age and sex.

That was slightly higher than the figure in 1999-2000, when 14.5 were obese, but the margin of error could make the difference as small as one percent.

When researchers looked more closely at severe obesity, they found this trend was becoming more common, and had about doubled from 1999 to 2012.

Severe obesity was defined as having a BMI that was 20 to 40 percent higher than the 95th percentile of their peers.

In other words, a 10-year old boy weighing 95 pounds (43 kilgrams) at a height of 4.5 feet (1.37 meters) would be considered obese.

If he added 10 pounds (4.5 kg) to his already obese frame, he would reach Class 2 obesity. If he added 25 pounds (11 kg), he would be considered Class 3.

Nearly six percent of youths now meet the definition for Class 2 obesity, and about two percent are Class 3, said the study.

- Lots of work ahead -

The United States, where one in three people is obese, spends about $160 billion per year just treating the medical complications of carrying around too much weight, previous research has shown.

Most doctors and nurses working with children did not see February's report of sudden progress in toddlers reflected in their work, said Stephen Pont, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics provisional section on obesity.

"We are seeing increases in rates of people who are challenged by severe obesity, who are more likely to already have a number of medical complications that are worsened and caused by their weight," said Pont, who was not involved in either study.

Research that trumpets a sudden improvement should always be taken with a grain of salt, he added.

"I would hate for people to think that all of a sudden we have stopped the adult and childhood obesity epidemic, because we most certainly haven't," he told AFP.

Experts say the problem is complex, and that it will require an all-out effort to improve eating and exercise habits across society.

Lowering costs and making healthy foods more available are also key challenges, particularly in impoverished neighborhoods.

"I think we need to take this really seriously," said Marlene Schwartz, director of the Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

"It is easier and more convenient and less expensive to get unhealthy foods. All the factors that influence your behavior are pushing you in the wrong direction."

Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck don’t want any more kids

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have two daughters Violet, 8, Seraphina, 5, and son Samuel 2.

Star couple Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck don’t want to expand their family anymore.
The 41-year-old ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ star, who raises daughters Violet, 8, Seraphina, 5, and son Samuel 2, with Affleck, 41, will not be having anymore children, she has told a friend, reported Radar online.
“Jennifer told her pal that the difference between having two kids and three is massive and Sam would complete their family,” a source said.
“In fact, Jen admits she and Ben had only planned on having two children, and Sam was a wonderful but genuinely true accident.”
“They love their kids, but she is really had her hands full with three since Sam was born in 2012 and while things are starting to settle down, it has been pretty exhausting, especially with Ben being so busy,” the source added.

Katy Perry says Russell wanted to have kids ’as a way’ to control her

According to the Daily Mirror, American pop artist Katy Perry said her ex-husband Russell Brand ended his relationship with her because he wanted her to sacrifice her profession. The ‘Roar’ singer believes Brand wanted her to have a child as it would have diverted her attention from music career by restricting her to home. According to the Daily Mirror, Perry told Elle magazine, "When I decide to have a family, I'll just want to be ...