Articles by author: Brock University

• Upcoming Brock-led national fundraising walk to focus on healthy sleep for kids and adults

  Wednesday, August 31, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00172 – 15 August 2016

  As the dog days of summer wind down and back-to-school looms larger, a Brock University researcher says getting kids back into a healthy sleep routine is extremely important.

  “During the summer, school-age children have been staying up later: there’s more light, there are fewer rules generally, and there’s more family activities, so the children’s sleep schedules have gotten off track,” says Brock sleep expert Kimberly Cote.

  “We want to talk to people about getting children’s sleep back on track to be ready to go to school and be optimally fit for the new school year,” says Cote, Professor of Psychology at Brock and president of the Canadian Sleep Society.

  Adjusting children’s sleep schedules, and the huge importance of sleep for children’s growth and development, are among themes Cote and her colleagues will be highlighting during the first Great Canadian Sleepwalk: The Road to Good Nights, a five-kilometre walk in four Canadian cities Saturday, Aug. 20 to raise awareness of the importance of healthy sleep.

  Healthy sleep is vital for brain and body functioning, says Cote. Research has shown that people who don’t get enough sleep may have difficulties controlling their emotions, making rational choices, remembering things and could even develop compromised immune systems which, over time, might lead to hormonal changes associated with increased risks of obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

  Sleep is especially important for children and adolescents as they grow and develop. Yet, 31 per cent of school-aged children and 26 per cent of adolescents in Canada are sleep deprived; 33 per cent of Canadian children ages five to 13 and 45 per cent of youth aged 14 to 17 have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep at least some of the time.

  Cote urges parents to get their kids back into a school-time sleep schedule from mid-August by bumping up bedtimes 15 minutes every few days, then another 15 minutes for the next few days and so on.

  “You shouldn’t start on Labour Day,” she says. “Sleep is a behaviour that can’t be adjusted very quickly; it needs some time to adjust. So, now is the time to think, ‘if my child has to be up at this time to catch the bus to school, when should bedtime be?”

  Cote and her colleagues have a range of information and advice on other aspects of sleep, such as tips to get a good night’s sleep and therapies that address insomnia, that they will be sharing at the Great Canadian Sleepwalk, which will be held at Brock University, as well as in Halifax, Quebec City and Montreal.

  At Brock there will be two routes: one through the Bruce Trail; and the other a flatter, more accessible course. The walk costs $10 to enter and children 12 years and under can walk for free.

  Participants are encouraged to pre-register and come in their pyjamas or dress as their favourite ‘dream character.’ The Dairy Farmers of Canada will be distributing free milk. Register at: www.CanadianSleepwalk.ca

  To learn more about the importance of sleep among adolescents, see story in The Brock News. And for more about Cote’s research and the Canadian Sleepwalk event, see this story.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Dry summer makes mosquito collection challenging for Brock’s Zika researchers

  Wednesday, August 31, 2016 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: R00171 – 15 August 2016

  It’s been a frustrating summer for researchers working on the Zika virus in Brock University’s CL3 lab.

  The drought blanketing much of Ontario is not only adversely impacting crops; it’s also hurting mosquito populations.

  “Our trap catches for mosquitoes are so low this year, it is unprecedented for us,” said Professor Fiona Hunter, a medical entomologist. “Normally we’d be getting hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes in traps. Now we are lucky if we get a dozen. It’s that bad.”

  She said mosquitoes breed in standing water, which is in short supply in Niagara and much of the province.

  Fewer mosquitoes out biting people is good news from a public health perspective. But, for researchers on the cutting-edge of research into Zika transmission and the mosquito vectors capable of spreading it, a shortage of the local pests is disappointing.

  The research team had hoped to be testing thousands of mosquitoes a week throughout the summer, rather than dozens.

  “It means that we may not get the full story this year,” Hunter said.

  So far this summer, Hunter and her team of graduate students have tested a half dozen species of mosquitoes caught locally. None of them can transmit the Zika virus.

  There are 67 species of mosquitoes in Ontario and Brock’s researchers continue to set weekly CDC light traps to catch as many as possible.

  “We take those mosquitos back to the lab and try to feed them in the CL3 lab on infected blood,” Hunter explained. Brock’s CL3 lab with an insectary is the only one of its kind in a Canadian university.

  The Public Health Agency of Canada sent Brock two strains of the Zika virus, one from an outbreak in Thailand in 2013 and the other a sample from Puerto Rico’s outbreak in 2016.

  Zika has gained notoriety, and spread fear across the Americas, since moving from Africa and French Polynesia to South America.

  In Brazil, the virus has caused a public health emergency and is being linked to an increase in Guillain-Barre syndrome as well as a surge in the number of babies born with microcephaly – an abnormal smallness of the head.

  In March, Hunter went to Brazil for a global summit focussed on the Aedes aegypti species of mosquito, which at the time was believed to be the main vector for the virus.

  But, Hunter said another genus (or classification) of mosquitoes is emerging as a potential vector as well.

  “It means that Zika is not restricted to only one or two mosquito vectors, which we’ve actually known all along because there were always over 20 mosquitoes that tested positive for Zika in the early literature from Africa. The idea of its being in this other Culex genus raises questions about how they are trying to control Zika in places like Brazil and even Florida,” she said, noting breeding areas and habits can vary by genus.

  The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, a species also known to vector Zika, is found farther north in the U.S. than Aedes aegypti, which isn’t found in Canada.

  One of Hunter’s students is specifically looking for the Asian tiger mosquito and its eggs in Niagara.

  “We’ve got the perfect climate here for them,” Hunter said.
  She said the species was found in Niagara more than a decade ago but hasn’t established itself this far north.

  Despite the shortage of mosquitoes, Hunter and her team continue their research using colony mosquitoes.

  “We have been able to confirm that Aedes aegypti can transmit the virus. We wanted to make sure we have a positive control. We’ve successfully infected and seen transmission,” she said. “We know that we can run these experiments.”

  Hunter is still holding out hope for more mosquitoes, noting in a typical year the pesky insects can be caught until the end of October.

  Professor Fiona Hunter is available for limited media interviews this week.

  For more information or to arrange an interview:
  * Dan Dakin, Media Relations Officer, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases