Health Bulletin: Don't eat those snowflakes

Think twice about those snowflakes

Those beautiful snowflakes drifting out of the sky may have a surprise inside -- bacteria.

Most snow and rain forms in chilly conditions high in the sky and atmospheric scientists have long known that, under most conditions, the moisture needs something to cling to in order to condense.

Now, a new study shows a surprisingly large share of those so-called nucleators turn out to be bacteria that can affect plants.

Brent C. Christner, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Louisiana State University, and colleagues sampled snow from Antarctica, France, Montana and the Yukon and reported their findings in the newest edition of the journal Science.

In some samples as much as 85 percent of the nuclei were bacteria, Christner said in a telephone interview. The bacteria was most common in France, followed by Montana and the Yukon, and was even present to a lesser degree in Antarctica.

The most common bacteria found was Pseudomonas syringae, which can cause disease in several types of plants including tomatoes and beans.

Campus health's hidden costs

College students, already absorbing tuition bills that are rising faster than inflation, are increasingly facing hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars in extra and unexpected health insurance costs and medical bills.

The reason: Most campus health centers have not registered as "in network" for the biggest regional health insurers. That means students covered by their family's plan typically can't get reimbursed for many tests and procedures performed by campus health clinics.

In addition, a growing number of colleges are heavily promoting school-sponsored plans, which range in price from a few hundred dollars at Brigham Young University to as much as $2,500 a year at schools such as Brown University.

While some plans are generous, others offer comparatively anemic coverage to the students but healthy profits to either the insurance company or the college. And increasingly, schools are automatically charging students for the campus plan unless they provide proof of other coverage each year.

A few colleges are even requiring all students -- including those who are already covered -- to buy school-sponsored policies. Typically, students can't shop for better deals because the colleges approve only one plan.

There's still time to get a flu shot

Perhaps you've heard the news that this year's flu vaccine doesn't do a very good job of protecting against this year's flu -- and have thought that a good excuse to skip getting a shot. Not a smart move, advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vaccine does provide protection against one of the three flu strains making people sick this year, and it gives "cross protection" against the others -- meaning the illness, should you get it, will be milder and the risk of complications lower.

This deep into the season, is it too late to bother? In a word, no. The CDC won't know until it looks back at the flu season as a whole when cases reach a peak, says spokesman Curtis Allen. But anecdotal reports from across the country suggest that we're still on the upswing, and the flu season can linger into May.

Way too many premature deaths

A new study by British researchers puts the United States dead last among 19 industrialized countries for preventable deaths before age 75 -- with 110 deaths per 100,000 people in 2002-03.

If the U.S. record matched those of top-performing France, Japan and Australia, 101,000 fewer Americans would die needlessly each year from causes such as diabetes, some cancers and infections.

"We are the only country in the study that doesn't have insurance for the whole population," says Cathy Schoen, senior vice president at the Commonwealth Fund, which funded the study. And high costs can lead even those with coverage to delay getting necessary care.

Screening may cause CF drop

Massachusetts researchers have seen a dramatic statewide drop in the number of newborns with cystic fibrosis, and says the decline may be because of a national effort to screen for the genetic disease.

CF, which produces a thicker-than-normal mucus that clogs the lungs and other organs, affects about 30,000 children in the United States each year, or 70,000 worldwide, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.