Objective: The objective of this feasibility study was to evaluate the acceptability and potential effectiveness of a web-based MMR decision aid in supporting informed decision-making for the MMR vaccine. Design: This was a prospective before-and-after evaluation. Setting: Thirty parents of children eligible for MMR vaccination were recruited from…

At the beginning of each school year, the school-nurse coordinator for the 3,000-student Ashland, Oregon, district plans a "parent's night" around the topic of vaccinations for the safety and health of children. That is only the beginning of the school-nurse coordinator's contact with parents who are skeptical about the necessity of…

A literature review was conducted to summarize the impact of school-located influenza vaccination (SLIV) programs on school absenteeism. Seven studies were identified: six peer-reviewed articles and one conference presentation. The number of students vaccinated ranged from 185 to 5,315, representing 35-86% of enrolled students. Six studies…

Parents of children with autism have played a prominent role in controversies surrounding this condition. Parental voices were critical in challenging the "refrigerator mother" theory and more recently have attracted public attention for claims that autism may be caused by childhood vaccinations and that "unorthodox biomedical" treatments may…

Objective: The aim of this Canadian study was to assess student behavioral response to disease transmission risk, while identifying high microbial deposition/transmission sites. Participants: A student survey was conducted during October 2009. Methods: The methods included a survey of students to assess use of health services, vaccination…

Objective: To identify associations between engaging in oral sex and perceived risk of oral cancer among college men. Also, to identify associations, and their moderating factors, between oral sex and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine acceptance. Methods: Young men were recruited from 2 university campuses in the South (N = 150). Men completed an…

According to the 2008 recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza vaccine should be administered on an annual basis to all children aged 6 months through 18 years. School-age children are more likely than any other age group to be infected with influenza, and…

In 2007, Sanofi Pasteur asked RAND Health, a division of the RAND Corporation, to study the current climate for adolescent immunization in the United States, to recommend broad strategies for immunizing low-income adolescents (through age 18), and to identify promising "on the ground" practices consistent with the proposed strategic…

Background: There has been little evaluation of school-located vaccination programs that offer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in US schools without health centers (ie, extramural programs). This article summarizes lessons learned from such programs. Methods: In July to August 2010, 5 programs were identi?ed. Semistructured, in-depth telephone…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experiences and perceptions parents of a child with an autism spectrum disorder have had. The study addressed the following research question: What were the parents' experiences and perspectives with regard to their child's diagnosis and treatment options? For this interview…

The polio vaccine became available in 1955, due almost entirely to the efforts of the March of Dimes. In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt gave a public face to polio and mounted a campaign to prevent it, establishing the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938. During the Depression, U.S. citizens were asked to contribute one dime. Entertainer…

The "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" ("MMWR") Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data presented by the Notifiable Disease Data Team and 122 Cities Mortality Data Team in the weekly "MMWR" are provisional, based on weekly reports to CDC by state health departments. This…

Vaccines are one of the triumphs of modern medicine, relegating many once-fearsome diseases to the history books. Denying access to school has long been the best way to ensure that children get vaccinated, but carrying out any change in immunization policy means a lot of work for school officials. This article discusses the unity of several…

Theories and practices in early childhood education continually evolve, and the same is true in the health field. Such change is especially apparent in the area of childhood immunizations. Since vaccination to prevent smallpox was first started in the late 1700s, recommendations for which immunizations to give and when to give them have been…

At one time or the other, virtually every parent has gone to the doctor concerned about his or her child. Thanks to the advances of modern medicine, the doctor can diagnose the problem most of the time and treat it successfully. Many potential problems, some life-threatening like diphtheria and neural tube defects, can even be prevented altogether…