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THURSDAY, Aug. 28 (HealthDay) -- One in four women in the United States carries a bacterium that could cause a debilitating and life-threatening infection in their newborn babies. And many don't know it.

Infants who contract Group B streptococcus before or during birth can be miscarried, stillborn, or die soon after birth. Those who survive often suffer permanent disabilities such as blindness, deafness, mental retardation and cerebral palsy, according to Group B Strep International, a nonprofit group dedicated to informing the public about the disease.

The good news is, doctors have come up with an effective means of helping to protect newborns from the bacterium.

The bad news is, the strategy adopted in 2002 is hampering development of a vaccine for the germ and could, in the long run, lead to a strain of Group B strep that is resistant to antibiotics.

Babies are infected when they are exposed to Group B strep that's present in the mother's vagina during delivery. A simple swab test can determine whether a pregnant woman carries the germ. And the medical community has adopted an effective antibiotic therapy that will protect her child during delivery.

"It's a short-term solution, because we're using antibiotics more than we'd like, but it is working," said Dr. Craig E. Rubens, a professor of pediatrics, adjunct professor of microbiology and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Rheumatism for the Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

Group B strep most commonly causes infection in the blood, the fluid and lining of the brain, or the lungs, according to Group B Strep International.

Testing and antibiotics have led to a 25 percent drop in Group B strep among week-old infants, who are susceptible to a form of the infection called early-onset, according to a recent study published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

But the same number of infants still suffer from late-onset Group B strep infection, and the bacterium has increased by almost 50 percent among many adults. An estimated 21,500 cases of invasive disease and 1,700 deaths were traced to the disease in 2005, according to the study.

Approximately three babies out of every 10,000 births develop late-onset group B strep disease, from one week to several months after birth.

CDC guidelines call for women to be screened for Group B strep between the 35th and 37th week of their pregnancy. The test involves a swab of the rectum and the vagina. If the woman tests positive for the bacterium, she is given intravenous antibiotics hours prior to delivery.

"It reduces the amount of Group B strep in the vagina, so there is less exposure to the baby during delivery," said Dr. Diep Nguyen, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Manhattan Beach, Calif., and founder of BabyKick Alliance, a nonprofit stillbirth prevention organization.

Unfortunately, the strategy has become a bit too popular, experts say.

Only about 25 percent to 30 percent of the 5 million U.S. women pregnant every year should test positive for Group B strep and be administered antibiotics prior to delivery, Rubens said.

"Some of the estimates are more than twice that number are being given antibiotics, because people aren't following the protocol closely," he said.

That's leading to concern that Group B strep could begin showing resistance to antibiotics if doctors don't rein in their use, Rubens said. So far, there's been no resistance shown, although other bacteria that can cause newborn illnesses, such as E. coli, have developed some resistance.

A better solution would be a vaccine to counter Group B strep, protection given to the mother that would pass to the baby during gestation. Several promising vaccines have been developed but are stuck at the testing stage because of the screening/antibiotic strategy, Rubens said.

"It's become an ethical consideration," he said. What woman would forego the safety of her baby to test an experimental vaccine?

While doctors wrestle with the vaccine dilemma, however, the message to expectant mothers remains the same: Get yourself tested, and make sure if you are positive that you get your antibiotics.

"They need to educate themselves," said Donna Russell, program director of the Global Alliance for the Prevention of Prematurity and Stillbirth at the University of Washington School of Medicine's Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. "They should get to the hospital early enough to get their antibiotics, and they need to be aware of signs of illness, so they're ready to get their baby in for treatment immediately."

More information

To learn more, visit Group B Strep International  .

MONDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Parents, teachers and school staff need to take measures to ensure the safety of the more than 2.2 million American students with food allergies, says the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

"Open and frequent communication between parents and school staff is a key ingredient to keeping food-allergic students out of harm. It takes a partnership to establish effective avoidance strategies and emergency plans," Dr. Michael Pistiner, a member of the AAAAI Adverse Reactions to Foods Committee, said in an academy news release.

The AAAAI offers a checklist of safety tips and a sample food allergy action plan to assist parents and school staff as they prepare for the new school year. Among the tips:

• Inform the school cafeteria, teachers and other staff of what foods your child must avoid. Pack bag lunches. Your child should avoid classroom snacks and refrain from sharing food with friends.
• When there's a classroom party, provide your child with safe snacks he or she can eat during the party.
• Push for "no eating" policies on buses and in other settings where there's no supervision of children.

Pistiner, whose own nut-allergic son enters kindergarten this fall, added another important tip.

"Parents should be aware of expiration dates and keep in contact with their allergist to insure that all medication, especially self-injectable epinephrine, is replaced prior to expiration," he said.

More information

Visit the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology for more on food allergies and their management  .

FRIDAY, Aug. 8 (HealthDay News) -- When the vaccine against chickenpox was introduced in the United States in 1995, medical experts hoped it would be a one-shot deal, with a single injection about the time of a child's first birthday giving lifelong immunity.

Now, experts are learning that's not so. They've found that the protection from a single immunization fades over time, and that a booster shot is needed if you want your child to have the best chance at lifelong protection from chickenpox.

The experts reached that conclusion after examining 10 years of data and the effects of the vaccine on more than 11,000 people who got the shot between 1995 and 2004. Of those individuals, 9.5 percent, or 1,080, experienced so-called "breakthrough disease," researchers reported last year in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"The breakthrough was mild," said Dr. Robert Frenck Jr., a professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' committee on infectious diseases.

Chickenpox, which is caused by an infection by the varicella-zoster virus, typically starts as a rash on the face that spreads. The rash begins as red bumps that become blisters. Often a child can get hundreds of blisters, which crust over and fall off the body in a week or two.

The children who suffered "breakthrough" chickenpox typically got fewer lesions, Frenck said, perhaps 20 to 50. Still, schools and day-care centers would not welcome them back until the sores had dried or crusted, because the disease can spread easily from person to person.

Based on those findings, experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and elsewhere are now recommending that a second booster shot be given to children between 4 and 6 years of age.

There is some leeway in that schedule, said Dr. Anne Gershon, a professor of pediatrics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City.

"The booster can be given if [it has been] at least four weeks after the first dose," said Gershon, who is also president-elect of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Or, it can be given years later, if necessary, she said.

According to the CDC, all children aged 12 months through 12 years old should have two doses of the vaccine. The first dose can be given at 12 to 15 months of age, and the second at 4 to 6 years. Older children, 13 and up, who haven't had the disease in childhood, can be given two doses four to eight weeks apart.

Some adults should consider the vaccine. Ask your health-care provider if you fall into that recommended group, which includes people who have never had the disease.

No vaccine is perfect, experts said.

In 2006, a combination vaccine that included not only chickenpox but measles, mumps, and rubella was licensed, cutting down on the number of shots needed. But that combination vaccine is not currently available in the United States, said Nalini Saligram, a spokeswoman for Merck & Co., which makes it. But it is expected to be back in supply by 2009.

More information

To learn more about chickenpox vaccine, visit the American Academy of Family Physicians  .

THURSDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- People with certain common genetic variations that affect their nicotine receptors seem to be at higher risk for becoming life-long nicotine addicts if they begin smoking before they turn 17, a new study says.

"We know that people who begin smoking at a young age are more likely to face severe nicotine dependence later in life," Robert Weiss, study lead author and professor of human genetics at the University of Utah, said in a university news release. "This finding suggests that genetic influences expressed during adolescence contribute to the risk of lifetime addiction severity produced from the early onset of tobacco use."

The findings should one day help with public health interventions to counter smoking, the researchers said.

"In recent years, we've seen an explosion in the understanding of how small genetic variations can impact all aspects of health, including addiction," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), also in the news release. "As we learn more about how both genes and environment play a role in smoking, we will be able to better tailor both prevention and cessation programs to individuals."

The study was published in the July 11 issue of PLoS Genetics and, in addition to researchers at the University of Utah, involved investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The gene variations in question are called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SNPs that are linked and passed on together are called a haplotype.

In this study, which involved 2,827 long-term smokers of European-American descent, one haplotype for the nicotine receptor increased the risk of individuals becoming heavy smokers later in life.

Participants who took their first drag on a cigarette before the age of 17 and who also had two copies of the high-risk haplotype had a 1.6- to almost five-fold increased risk of being heavy smokers as adults.

Those who had the haplotype but did not begin smoking until 17 or later were not at an increased risk of life-long addiction.

People with a second haplotype had a reduced risk of becoming heavy smokers as adults even if they acquired the habit as youngsters, the study said.

More information

To learn more, visit the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids  .