New York City, U.S.A. - Beginning August 4, 2012, New Hampshire will require notification that 6-month-olds should not be routinely fed infant formula mixed with fluoridated water to avoid discoloring babies’ un-erupted teeth (fluorosis), reports the Fluoride Action Network (FAN).

Passed by the House, 253-23, unanimously by the Senate, and signed by the Governor, HB-1416 reads: “If a public water supply is fluoridated, the following notice shall be posted in the water system’s consumer confidence report: ‘Your public water supply is fluoridated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, if your child under the age of 6 months is exclusively consuming infant formula reconstituted with fluoridated water, there may be an increased chance of dental fluorosis. Consult your child’s health care provider for more information.’” The bill was introduced by Rep. Anne Cartwright(R-Alstead), and had four co-sponsors.

“Neither a nutrient nor required for healthy teeth, fluoride chemicals are added to public water supplies in a failed attempt to reduce tooth decay,” says Paul Connett, Ph.D., FAN’s Executive Director. “Current science shows that fluoride hardens teeth topically. Swallowing fluoride delivers risks without benefits,” says Connett.

Fluoridated water contains 100-200 times more fluoride than breast milk. And all infant formula already contains some fluoride.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that 41% of 12-15 year-olds are affected with fluoride overdose symptoms – dental fluorosis, white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted teeth – from over-ingesting fluoride while their teeth were forming.

Connett says, “We are proud of New Hampshire legislators for taking this bold step. Fluoridation is a political issue and most legislators shy away from notifying constituents of any scientifically-verified negative effects from fluoride for fear of offending the dental lobby.”

The scientific literature has been reporting for over a decade that mixing infant formula with fluoridated water is linked to dental fluorosis. And many government, health and dental agencies now advise against mixing fluoridated water and infant formula. But New Hampshire is the first state to require warnings on annual water reports. Connett says, “We hope this gives legislators the courage to stop fluoridation entirely because several studies from China show even modest exposure to fluoride is associated with lower IQ. Fluoride promoters can provide no evidence that efforts are being made to either refute or repeat these studies in the U.S.”

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Pasadena, U.S.A. – People who have had an episode of herpes zoster, also known as shingles, face a relatively low short-term risk of developing shingles again, according to a Kaiser Permanente Southern California study published online in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. These findings suggest that among people with immune systems that have not been compromised, the risk of a second shingles episode is low.

Researchers reviewed electronic health records and monitored recurrence of shingles for more than 6,000 individuals. They found fewer than 30 cases of recurrent shingles in an average of two years of follow-up and little difference in the rate of recurrence between the vaccinated and unvaccinated population.

“This study’s findings are important because we found that the risk of having a recurrent shingles episode is not as high as previous research indicates,” said Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, study lead author with the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena, California. “We now have empirical data that show the risk of recurrence is low among an elderly population who did not have compromised immune systems, regardless of their vaccination status.”

More than 1 million people develop shingles every year in the United States. Shingles is a painful contagious rash caused by the dormant chickenpox virus, which can reactivate and replicate, damaging the nerve system. The elderly are especially vulnerable because immunity against the virus that causes shingles declines with age.

When the Food and Drug Administration approved the shingles vaccine in 2006, the agency said that having an episode of shingles boosts immunity and suggested it was unlikely that people would experience a recurrence. It further stated that the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing repeat episodes had not been proven in clinical trials because trials have not been conducted.

By contrast, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the herpes zoster vaccine for people ages 60 and older, including those who reported a previous episode.

“While this latest study adds to the growing evidence base of emerging knowledge about the shingles vaccine, more research is needed. Our findings need to be replicated by studies with larger populations. Kaiser Permanente Southern California researchers will continue to follow this population of vaccinated people in order to determine the long term preventative efficacy,” said Dr. Tseng.

Researchers studied electronic health records for 1,036 vaccinated and 5,180 unvaccinated Kaiser Permanente members aged 60 and older. The vaccinated population included members who received vaccines between 2007 and 2010. The zoster vaccine is not recommended for patients with immune systems that have been compromised as a result of cancer or other medical conditions, so they were excluded from this study.

Based on the clinically confirmed cases, researchers found the risk of the recurrence of shingles after a recent episode is fairly low, regardless of vaccination status. Each year, on average, 19 persons per 10,000 in the vaccinated cohort experienced a recurrence of shingles. The rate was only slightly higher for the unvaccinated population, at approximately 24 persons per 10,000 per year.

This is the latest in a series of published Kaiser Permanente studies conducted to better understand vaccine effectiveness and safety. In 2011, Dr. Tseng was a lead researcher in a Vaccine Safety Datalink study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine that found the herpes zoster vaccine to be safe. Also last year, Dr. Tseng published a study in the journalVaccine that found that administering the pneumococcal and the herpes zoster vaccines at the same time is as beneficial as if they were administered separately. In addition to that study, Dr. Tseng published a study in 2011 in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found the shingles vaccine is associated with a fifty-five percent reduced risk of developing the disease. In 2010, another study by Dr. Tseng in JAMA found the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccination is not associated with a reduced risk of heart attacks or strokes in men.

Two Kaiser Permanente studies found that the combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox is associated with double the risk of febrile seizures for 1- to 2-year-old children, compared to same-day administration of the separate vaccine for MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and the varicella vaccine for chickenpox. Other Kaiser Permanente studies found that children of parents who refuse vaccines are nine times more likely to get chickenpox and 23 times more likely to get pertussis (commonly known as whooping cough), compared to fully immunized children. Another study found that herpes zoster is very rare among children who have been vaccinated against chickenpox.

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On September 2, the Center for Disease Control reported that two children from Pennsylvania and Indiana, a boy and a girl respectively, were infected with a previously unknown flu virus that included a gene from the 2009 pandemic H1N1 virus. Fortunately, both children recovered and there has been no evidence that the virus had spread to anyone else.

Thus, it does not appear to pose a significant public health concern, officials state. “We wanted to provide some information without being alarmist because people have contact with pigs at fairs this time of year and doctors should watch for possible flu cases” said Lyn Finelli, the CDC’s flu surveillance chief. “We’re always concerned when we see transmission of animal viruses to humans.”

Both the children are two years old and had previously attended county fairs where they were exposure to pigs. The boy from Indiana was apparently infected by a caretaker who had been showing pigs at the fair a few days prior to the boy taking ill. He had developed a fever, cough, shortness of breath and diarrhea on July 23.

Since he had other chronic health problems, doctors hospitalized him for three days. On the other hand, the girl from Pennsylvania appeared to have been infected after she had touched a pig at the petting zoo. She too had developed a fever and cough as well as fatigue on Aug 20. However, she was not hospitalized, but rather sent home to recover.

Only 21 cases have been documented in the last five years of people getting the flu from pigs. Samples from both children were sent to state laboratories, which determined they were unusual and sent them to the CDC for further analysis.

CDC scientists found the viruses were a strain known as H3N2 but had picked up a so-called M, or “matrix” gene, from the 2009 H1N1 virus that caused the 2009-10 swine-flu pandemic. Since the report of the initial children, two more have been reported in Pennsylvania, raising the total of three children in that state.

Like the other child, the two children attended the same county fair in southwestern Pennsylvania in the week of Aug 13. The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) reported that the first girl had fully recovered while the new cases are recovering. PDH and CDC are still unsure how these children were infected by the novel strain. The only link between the three was the county fair.

Brandi Hunter-Davenport, a PDH spokesperson said no information was available yet on whether the pigs at the fair were infected with the novel virus. “We’re still investigating what the linkages are here, if it’s human-to-human or animal-to-human transmission,” she said.

Both organizations are increasing surveillance in southwestern Pennsylvania and setting up information booths at agriculture fairs, and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is monitoring the health of animals at fairs, according to the PDH release.PDH is not telling people to avoid public venues or fairs, but are informing the public to be aware of the novel flu and to take proper precautions to protect their health.

They also urge those who are experiences flu-like symptoms to immediately contact their local health care provider or call the health department.

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