Immunizations - Not Just for Kids

Immunizations/vaccinations are beneficial for most people of all ages. Yet the mistaken belief persists that, with the exception of the flu vaccine, children should be the primary recipients of this important area of primary disease prevention. In fact, older persons require immunization as well. As people grow older they become increasingly vulnerable to a variety of illnesses, and, as informal caregivers of young children, grandparents need to be sensitive to their role in preventing the spread of contagious diseases to the young

Attitudes Towards Vaccination Among Medical Students: A Two-Site Study

Introduction: Mandatory immunization for school age children in the 20th Century led to a substantial decline in infectious disease. All US states allow medical exemptions from immunizations with 49 permitting additional religious exemptions and 19 permitting additional philosophical exemptions. Vaccine exemptions have lead to an increase in the incidence of disease outbreaks. Healthcare providers play a critical role in educating parents about the benefits and risks of immunizations. This project compares student attitudes and knowledge regarding vaccination at medical schools in two distinct states: one with no additional exemptions (West Virginia) and one with both additional exemptions (Vermont).https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1218/thumbnail.jp

Factors Influencing Immunization Status in Primary Care Clinics

Background and Objectives: National standards and goals for childhood immunization rates are well established. Yet, despite clear standards and goals, physicians do not achieve the desired rate (90%) for immunization coverage. This study examined factors related to immunization status for 2-year-old children in pediatric and family practice settings. Methods: Specially trained personnel used computer software to audit 2,552 records from 42 practices in Northeast Florida throughout 1997–1999. Immunization records were judged as either complete or incomplete, and factors related to immunization status were studied. Clinic type and 18 immunization practice standards were reviewed for effect on immunization status. Results: The probability of complete immunization status for children in pediatric clinics was greater than for those in family practice clinics. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that use of semiannual audits (odds ratio [OR]=2.00, confidence interval [CI]=1.65–2.42) was the most important factor for immunization completion. This was followed by availability of discounted immunizations (OR=.44, CI=.27–.73) and the use of an immunization tracking system (OR=1.48, CI=1.18–1.70). Factors that were not found to contribute included clinic type and the remaining 15 practice standards. Conclusions: Considering the significant factors, immunization status was not affected by the type of clinic providing immunizations. Based on this analysis, family physicians should implement tracking systems and should perform semiannual audits to match the success of pediatricians in immunizing children. Neither group met nationally established goals for administration of immunizations for 2-year-old children

The Effectiveness of California Assembly Bill 2109: Personal Belief Exemptions for Kindergarten Immunizations

The numbers of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) in the United States has declined with the development, administration, and effectiveness of vaccines during the 1970s and 1980s. As the eminent threat of VPDs to the public began to wane, parents started questioning the safety and necessity of vaccines. When parents were given the option of selecting personal belief exemption (PBE) waivers for state mandated immunizations for their incoming kindergarten children, an increase in PBEs and the number of VPD outbreaks began to occur. To counter the growing trend of PBEs, and to prevent outbreaks of VPDs in school settings and communities, California Assembly Bill2109 (AB 2109, 2012) was created to help educate parents about vaccine safety and VPDs. As of January 2014, California Assembly Bill2109 (AB 2109, 2012) mandated that parents seeking PBEs for state mandated immunizations for students entering kindergarten were required to receive education about vaccine safety and risks along with education regarding VPDs by a health care professional (AB 2109, 2012). The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of AB 21 09 by examining data from the top ten most populous counties in California. Data was collected for the 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015- 2016 school years to determine if AB 2109 directly impacted the number of PBEs for incoming kindergartners. This project determined that AB 2109 was significant in decreasing the number 3 of PBEs from the 2013-2014,2014-2015, and 2015-2016 school years by -23.4% in the ten most populous counties in California. Further research beyond this project is necessary to evaluate the continued impact of AB 2109 on PBEs and in decreasing the number of VPD outbreaks throughout California

Immunizations and Autism: Educating the Public

Research has shown that the avoidance or delay of immunizations can lead to significant outbreaks of diseases previously thought eradicated. Recent outbreaks of diseases, such as measles, have emphasized the need for immunizations to protect each child, which in turn protects the population as a whole. Although research has not substantiated a link between the occurrence of autism and thimerosal , a preservative used in many vaccines since 1930, many parents continue to avoid immunizations out of fear that those containing thimerosal may cause autism in their child. Educating parents on the evidence related to thimerosal as a preservative in vaccinations is crucial to aid in the parental decision making process for childhood immunizations A comprehensive literature review on the need for immunizations, reasons parents avoid immunizations, the link between immunizations and thimerosal, prevalence of autism, and the causes of autism was conducted. Information gathered was used to educate parents on the importance of immunizations, research findings on the link between thimerosal and autism, and potential causes of autism. A presentation was presented to a group of parents and health care professionals working with high-risk children The implications from this project include the need for further research into the causes of autism. Nursing policy needs to be developed at a community level in order to effectively educate the public on the evidence behind the immunization and autism debat

Imunization and Autism: Educating the Public

Research has shown that the avoidance or delay of immunizations can lead to significant outbreaks of diseases previously thought eradicated. Recent outbreaks of diseases, such as measles, have emphasized the need for immunizations to protect each child, which in turn protects the population as a whole. Although research has not substantiated a link between the occurrence of autism and thimerosal, a preservative used in many vaccines since 1930, many parents continue to avoid immunizations out of fear that those containing thimerosal may cause autism in their child. Educating parents on the evidence related to thimerosal as a preservative in vaccinations is crucial to aid in the parental decision making process for childhood immunizations. A comprehensive literature review on the need for immunizations, reasons parents avoid immunizations, the link between immunizations and tbimerosal, prevalence of autism, and the causes of autism was conducted. Information gathered was used to educate parents on the importance of immunizations, research findings on the link between thimerosal and autism, and potential causes of autism. A presentation was presented to a group of parents and health care professionals working with high-risk children. The implications from this project include the need for further research into the causes of autism. Nursing policy needs to be developed at a community level in order to effectively educate the public on the evidence behind the immunization and autism debate

MVA-based H5N1 vaccine affords cross-clade protection in mice against influenza A/H5N1 viruses at low doses and after single immunization.

Human infections with highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses of the H5N1 subtype, frequently reported since 2003, result in high morbidity and mortality. It is feared that these viruses become pandemic, therefore the development of safe and effective vaccines is desirable. MVA-based H5N1 vaccines already proved to be effective when two immunizations with high doses were used. Dose-sparing strategies would increase the number of people that can be vaccinated when the amount of vaccine preparations that can be produced is limited. Furthermore, protective immunity is induced ideally after a single immunization. Therefore the minimal requirements for induction of protective immunity with a MVA-based H5N1 vaccine were assessed in mice. To this end, mice were vaccinated once or twice with descending doses of a recombinant MVA expressing the HA gene of influenza virus A/Vietnam/1194/04. The protective efficacy was determined after challenge infection with the homologous clade 1 virus and a heterologous virus derived from clade 2.1, A/Indonesia/5/05 by assessing weight loss, virus replication and histopathological changes. It was concluded that MVA-based vaccines allowed significant dose-sparing and afford cross-clade protection, also after a single immunization, which are favorable properties for an H5N1 vaccine candidate

On the Aging Dynamics in an Immune Network Model

Recently we have used a cellular automata model which describes the dynamics of a multi-connected network to reproduce the refractory behavior and aging effects obtained in immunization experiments performed with mice when subjected to multiple perturbations. In this paper we investigate the similarities between the aging dynamics observed in this multi-connected network and the one observed in glassy systems, by using the usual tools applied to analyze the latter. An interesting feature we show here is that the model reproduces the biological aspects observed in the experiments during the long transient time it takes to reach the stationary state. Depending on the initial conditions, and without any perturbation, the system may reach one of a family of long-period attractors. The pertrubations may drive the system from its natural attractor to other attractors of the same family. We discuss the different roles played by the small random perturbations (noise) and by the large periodic perturbations (immunizations)

Intranodal administration of mRNA encoding nucleoprotein provides cross-strain immunity against influenza in mice

Background: Current human influenza vaccines lack the adaptability to match the mutational rate of the virus and therefore require annual revisions. Because of extensive manufacturing times and the possibility that antigenic alterations occur during viral vaccine strain production, an inherent risk exists for antigenic mismatch between the new influenza vaccine and circulating viruses. Targeting more conserved antigens such as nucleoprotein (NP) could provide a more sustainable vaccination strategy by inducing long term and heterosubtypic protection against influenza. We previously demonstrated that intranodal mRNA injection can induce potent antigen-specific T-cell responses. In this study, we investigated whether intranodal administration of mRNA encoding NP can induce T-cell responses capable of protecting against a heterologous influenza virus challenge. Methods: BALB/c mice were immunized in the inguinal lymph nodes with different vaccination regimens of mRNA encoding NP. Immune responses were compared with NP DNA vaccination via IFN-gamma ELISPOT and in vivo cytotoxicity. For survival experiments, mice were prime-boost vaccinated with 17 mu g NP mRNA and infected with 1LD50 of H1N1 influenza virus 8weeks after boost. Weight was monitored and viral titers, cytokines and immune cell populations in the bronchoalveolar lavage, and IFN-gamma responses in the spleen were analyzed. Results: Our results demonstrate that NP mRNA induces superior systemic T-cell responses against NP compared to classical DNA vaccination. These responses were sustained for several weeks even at low vaccine doses. Upon challenge infection, vaccination with NP mRNA resulted in reduced lung viral titers and improved recovery from infection. Finally, we show that vaccination with NP mRNA affects the immune response in infected lungs by lowering immune cell infiltration while increasing the fraction of T cells, monocytes and MHC II+ alveolar macrophages within immune infiltrates. This change was associated with altered levels of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Conclusions: These findings suggest that intranodal vaccination with NP mRNA induces cross-strain immunity against influenza, but also highlight a paradox of influenza immunity, whereby robust immune responses can provide protection, but can also transiently exacerbate symptoms during infection

Preventive youth health care in 11 European countries: an exploratory analysis

Objective: To systematically identify similarities and differences in the way preventive youth health care (YHC) is organized in 11 European countries. - \ud Method: Questionnaire survey to EUSUHM (European Union for School and University Health and Medicine) representatives. - \ud Results: The greatest similarities were found in the age range of the YHC target group and the separation of curative and preventive services. Croatia, Germany and Switzerland show the greatest differences when compared to other European countries, for example, in the access to medical records, YHC professional input and the number of examinations, immunizations and screenings. In eight countries YHC is financed by national insurances or taxation. In Germany, FYR Macedonia, the Netherlands, Russia and Switzerland, different forms of financing exist in parallel. - Conclusion The results should be interpreted as a preliminary step in mapping organizational features of YHC in Europe