Maternal influenza vaccination did not significantly affect infant outpatient and inpatient visits for respiratory disease, the report indicates. Moreover, maternal vaccination did not delay the onset of the first respiratory illness.

Girls seemed to be better protected against acute respiratory illness, while patients on Medicaid and high-risk mothers were linked to increased visits for respiratory

"Although this vaccination did not appear to have an effect on the rates of infant healthcare visits, vaccination is still important and is primarily recommended to protect the health of the mother," the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, December 2006.

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Smoking raises virus-related cervical cancer risk

Last Updated: 2006-12-04 16:45:24 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cigarette smoking significantly increases the risk of cervical cancer associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16, according to a report in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Numerous reports have linked HPV, and particularly type 16, with cervical cancer and recently a vaccine against this and other HPV types was approved for preventing the disease.

"Smoking has previously been implicated in cervical cancer, but our results suggest it is much higher in HPV-positive women (particularly those with high amounts of HPV) than HPV-negative women," Anthony S. Gunnell from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, told Reuters Health.

Gunnell and colleagues investigated the potential interaction between smoking and HPV-16 in the development of cervical cancer using a database of all Swedish women who participated in screening in Uppsala county between 1969 and 1995.

Current smokers had increased cervical cancer risk of nearly twofold, while the presence of HPV-16 increased the risk by eightfold, the report indicates.

Women who smoked for at least 5 years and harbored HPV-16 had the highest risk of cancer, and were 32-times more likely to develop the disease than nonsmokers without HPV-16.

"Our study revealed evidence suggestive of synergism between cigarette smoking (particularly duration of smoking) and HPV-16 in (cervical cancer) development, which occurs many years before diagnosis," the authors conclude.

"Of course, it is difficult to take full advantage of this knowledge (with respect to Pap screening practice) since HPV testing is not commonplace," Gunnell noted, "but women should perhaps be made aware of how much of an increased risk they may be in if they continue to smoke or start."

SOURCE: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, November 2006.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.