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Proximity to glyphosate spraying equals greater exposure
The Effect of Pesticide Spray Season and Residential Proximity to Agriculture on Glyphosate Exposure among Pregnant People in Southern Idaho, 2021; Environmental Health Perspectives, Dec. 6, 2023.
Exposure to glyphosate, an agricultural pesticide, is all about proximity, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Researchers measured glyphosate urine concentrations from 453 samples collected biweekly from 40 “pregnant people” in southern Idaho from February through December 2021. Of interest were levels during the pesticide spraying season (May 1 through Aug. 15) and the offseason (before May 1 or after Aug. 15).
They also compared subjects living close to sprayed fields and those living some distance away.
Glyphosate was found more frequently during spraying season (81% vs. 55% of urine samples) and at greater concentrations (228 vs. 150 micrograms per liter) among subjects who lived closer to sprayed fields.
Urine glyphosate incidence and concentrations did not differ at any time for subjects living far from glyphosate-affected areas.
Investigators concluded that “agricultural glyphosate spray is a source of exposure for people living near fields.”
Ditch the masks!
Child mask mandates for COVID-19: a systematic review; Archives of Disease in Childhood. Dec. 2, 2023.
An independent study group’s comprehensive review of masking practices during the COVID-19 pandemic revealed nothing new to most of our subscribers: No study has yet to demonstrate that masks reduce transmission.
The paper, which included scientists and physicians from major institutions, was led by self-described “board-certified clinical microbiologist and independent scholar” Johanna Sandlund, M.D., Ph.D.
Investigators uncovered 597 masking studies concluded before February 2023, of which 22 met their inclusion criteria. All six observational studies showing a benefit of masking had either “critical” or “serious” biases, including study groups not being comparable.
For example, a study may have compared 12-year-olds against infants, vaccinated versus unvaccinated or ignored some other critical difference.
Their conclusion: Scientific data do “not support masking children for protection against COVID-19.”
Cesarean births linked to increased risk of asthma
Association of cesarean section with asthma in children/adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis based on cohort studies; BMC Pediatrics, Nov. 16, 2023.
Cesarean section, or C-section, birth may increase the risk of children developing asthma later in life, according to a review paper in BMC Pediatrics.
Chinese investigators searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library electronic databases looking for connections between delivery mode (cesarean vs. vaginal) and the later development of asthma.
They found 35 studies (13 prospective and 22 retrospective). Asthma incidence was 18% higher among all children delivered by cesarean section. The risk was even higher — 26% — for girls. Boys also experienced a 7% increase but those results did not meet statistical significance.
The overall risk was higher in Europe by 20%, in North America (15%) and in Oceania (6%). Asian cesarean-delivered babies were also at greater risk but those results, like those for boys, did not meet statistical significance.
The study authors acknowledged that relevant studies for some subgroups were scarce, which could explain how results for boys and Asians failed to meet statistical muster.
(Almost) pain-free vaccinations
Intradermal DNA vaccine delivery using vacuum-controlled, needle-free electroporation; Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, Oct. 31, 2023.
Needle phobia is just one reason people avoid vaccinations, but even that worry may soon disappear.
A team from Inovio Pharmaceuticals and Texas Tech University led by biomedical engineer Paul Fischer, Ph.D., reported on an intradermal (through the skin) DNA vaccine delivery system based on a relatively new technology: noninvasive intradermal vacuum electroporation (ID-VEP).
Electroporation, which uses electrical pulses to open cells so drugs can enter, has been tried before. However, earlier techniques involved injection.
ID-VEP uses a vacuum to attach the delivery device firmly to a tiny patch of skin. After applying electrical current skin cells open and take up the drug — which in this case was a DNA vaccine targeting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus.
Gene expression and immunogenicity in guinea pigs were similar to expected levels for non-vacuum electroporation, but the only apparent effect was transient expression site redness.
Shorter antibiotics course for meningitis
Shorter versus longer duration of antibiotic treatment in children with bacterial meningitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis; European Journal of Pediatrics, Oct. 23, 2023.
Bacterial meningitis occurs in roughly 6 in 1 million children before age 19, and despite its nagging persistence, experts are still unsure how best to treat it.
An international research team sought to remedy the treatment-knowledge gap by comparing pediatric meningitis patients receiving seven days of antibiotic treatment to those on a standard 14-day regimen.
A literature search uncovered six “gold standard” clinical studies involving 1,333 children, of whom 49.51% got the short course of therapy and the rest took antibiotics for up to 14 days.
All studies exclusively used the antibiotic ceftriaxone, except for one study that added vancomycin.
The most common causes of meningitis in children are the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae or Neisseria meningitidis.
Investigators found no differences in severe outcomes (treatment failures, relapse, deaths and nervous system complications) between the groups. This led them to recommend the shorter therapy course, except for “complicated meningitis” or illness caused by uncommon pathogens.
