MMWR News Synopsis for August 6, 2015

 

School Start Times for Middle School and High School Students — United States, 2011–2012

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

Starting school too early makes it difficult for adolescents to get enough sleep, which is important for their health, safety, and academic performance. Local stakeholders have the most influence on whether start times change in their communities. Fewer than 1 in 5 middle and high schools in the United States started the school day at 8:30 AM or later during the 2011-2012 school year. Despite recommendations for later school start times, implementation of this practice varies greatly by state, from zero schools in Hawaii, Mississippi, and Wyoming to more than three-quarters of schools in North Dakota and Alaska. The American Academy of Pediatrics has urged middle and high schools to modify school start times to no earlier than 8:30 AM to aid students in getting sufficient sleep and improving their health, safety, academic performance, and quality of life. Schools and school districts should consider this information when making determinations about school start times for middle and high schools.

Alcohol-Impaired Driving Among Adults — United States, 2012

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

Findings indicate the need to implement effective strategies to reduce alcohol-impaired driving. States and communities can increase the use of interventions such as sobriety checkpoints, strictly enforcing 0.08 g/dL BAC and minimum legal drinking age laws, requiring ignition interlocks for all persons convicted of alcohol-impaired driving, and increasing alcohol taxes. To reduce alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, states and communities can also enact or update primary enforcement seat belt laws to cover all occupants, regardless of seating position. In 2012, about 4.2 million U.S. adults reported at least one episode of alcohol-impaired driving, resulting in an estimated 121 million episodes. Men accounted for 80 percent of alcohol-impaired driving episodes and young men aged 21-34 years reported 32 percent of all episodes. Annual alcohol-impaired driving episode rates varied by states, with the Midwest Census region having the highest rate. People who reported not always wearing a seat belt had alcohol-impaired driving rates three times higher than those who reported being always belted. In addition, among alcohol-impaired drivers, those living in states with a secondary seat belt law were less likely to report always wearing their seat belt (55 percent) compared to those in states with a primary law (74 percent). Implementation of effective strategies are needed to reduce alcohol-impaired driving.

Prevention and Control of Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) — United States, 2015–16 Influenza Season

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

CDC and ACIP recommend annual influenza vaccination for all people 6 months and age and older who have no contraindications. A variety of different seasonal influenza vaccine formulations are available, some of which are licensed for specific age groups or are more appropriate than others for persons with certain medical conditions. For people for whom more than one type of vaccine is appropriate and available, ACIP does not express a preference for use of any particular product over another. CDC and ACIP publish recommendations for seasonal influenza vaccination every year, before the start of the influenza season. This MMWR Policy Note contains updated information for the 2015-16 influenza season. Topics covered include the virus composition of the 2015-16 influenza vaccines, new influenza vaccine approvals for this season, and updated recommendations for determining the number of doses needed for children 6 months through 8 years of age. There is also a discussion of use of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) and inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) for children, including data that lead to the ACIP decision not to renew 2014-15 preferential recommendation for LAIV for healthy children aged 2 through 8 years.

Notes from the Field:

Lack of Measles Transmission to Susceptible Contacts from a Health Care Worker with Probable Secondary Vaccine Failure — Maricopa County, Arizona, 2015

QuickStats

Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Adults Aged 50–75 Years, by Race/Ethnicity — National Health Interview Survey, United States, 2000–2013

###

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES