Online-only: Public health extras: News roundup on flu surveillance in schools, organic poultry farms and the link between physical activity and academic performance
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* Donya Currie

## Flu surveillance in school needs further study

A system in which schools in Pennsylvania reported daily absenteeism and data on visits to the school nurse for influenza-like illness is a reliable device, but more research needs to be done, according to a study in the November issue of APHA’s *American Journal of Public Health*.

The study evaluated the 2009–2019 Pennsylvania Influenza Sentinel School Monitoring System, a voluntary network of schools that reported data. Nearly 370 schools, or 11 percent of the public schools in the state, enrolled in the system, and of those about 79 percent completed the survey each week.

The study found that the peak week of elevated absenteeism coincided with laboratory confirmed flu cases statewide, but the correlation was not statistically significant, the study’s authors said.

“Further analyses are necessary to determine the comparative value of this system and other influenza surveillance systems,” they wrote.

## Physical activity might help kids’ grades

Taking part in physical activity is positively related to academic performance in children, a recent analysis found.

Published in the January issue of *Pediatrics*, the analysis involved 10 observational and four intervention studies that examined both physical activity or physical fitness as well as academic performance or cognition measure during childhood or adolescence. Of those, researchers considered only two studies to be “high-quality” and recommended “future, high-quality studies” to confirm their findings that students who get regular exercise are more likely to do well in school.

The study’s authors said exercise may help academic performance by increasing blood and oxygen flow to the brain, increasing levels of hormones and neurotransmitters that can reduce stress and improve mood and increasing growth factors that help create new nerve cells and support nerve function.

Because “relatively few studies of high methodological quality have explored the relationship between physical activity and academic performance,” the study’s authors suggested more study into the relationship between exercise and grades.

## Organic poultry farms have less antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Conventional poultry farms that transitioned to organic practices significantly lowered their prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to a recent study.

Published online in August in *Environmental Health Perspectives*, the study was based on poultry litter, feed and water samples collected from 10 conventional and 10 newly organic poultry houses and tested for the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Enterococcus. The percentages of resistant bacteria were significantly lower among the samples from newly organic poultry houses than the conventional farms.

The study’s authors said their findings indicate voluntary removal of antibiotics from large-scale poultry farms that transition to organic practices leads to lower prevalence of antibiotic-resistant and multidrug-resistant bacteria. In conventional U.S. poultry production, use of antimicrobials rose dramatically between 1985 and the late 1990s, according to earlier studies, with the use of non-therapeutic growth promoters accounting for a significant portion of the increase. Increasing consumer demand for organic poultry has led to a rise in organic poultry production.

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