Insight into Increasing Teen Immunization Rates

A study published in the July 2016 issue of Health Promotion and Practice presents teachers' perceptions of immunization education and methods of improvement. The randomized, controlled trial compared teacher perceptions of brochure-guided and teacher-provided education to middle and high school students. The researchers conducted focus groups 18 months after the interventions ended. An overview of childhood vaccinations encourages adolescent belief that further vaccinations are a necessary continuation of previous healthful acts. The addition of engaging media (eg, YouTube) and microbiology content would improve vaccine education, as students enjoy "gross" visually disturbing content, such as images of smallpox sores, measles rashes, and tetanized postures. One of the 4 schools excluded HPV vaccination education. The reason was unexplained and curious, since none of the teachers indicated that parents had voiced any opinion about HPV or any other vaccine.

Pharmacy Times, September 2, 2016

EDITORIAL: Making the most out of crisis: child and adolescent mental health in the emergency department

Mental illness continues to be one of the greatest challenges facing practitioners and health systems around the world. Because mental illness often presents during adolescence and young adulthood, it can have profound implications for a person's wellbeing across their lifespan. As the report notes,  those with substance abuse disorders, who are already disproportionately reliant on EDs for care, might actually benefit from rapid ED-based screening and coordination of care. As demand increases and ED use, especially for psychiatric crises, grows, perhaps it is time to rethink what an ED can and should be.

The Lancet, September 2, 2016

Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing

After three decades of calls for action on adolescent health,

has brought together four of the world's leading Universities to form "The Lancet Youth" a Lancet Commission on the Health and Wellbeing of Young People: The University of Melbourne, Columbia University, University College London and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to establish a Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. The Commission has 30 members from 14 countries spanning all parts of the globe. It has brought together experts, including youth advocates, with a range of disciplines as well as policy and practice perspectives. The aim of the Commission was to produce a coherent narrative and integrated work plan for responding to the shifting determinants of health and health needs of the world's adolescent and young adults.

Trumenba and Bexsero have both been approved for the prevention of serogroup B meningococcal disease in individuals aged 10 through 25 years by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.Their guidelines on the newly-licensed vaccines align with previous recommendations issued by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

Helio, August 31, 2016

A mix of social, psychological and biological mechanisms are believed to contribute to alcohol use during adolescence. Demographic risk factors include being male, having higher levels of psychological problems and associating positive outcomes with alcohol (i.e. drinking is fun). "Underage alcohol consumption is a significant problem in this country," said senior author Susan F. Tapert, PhD, professor of psychiatry. "Being able to identify at-risk children before they begin drinking heavily has immense clinical and public health implications. Our findings provide evidence that it's possible to predict which adolescents are most likely to begin drinking heavily by age 18." The researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have identified 34 neural factors that predict adolescent alcohol consumption. The list, based upon complex algorithms analyzing data from neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging studies, was significantly more accurate --approximately 74 percent -- than demographic information alone.

Eureka Alert, August 30, 2016

Parental politics may influence whether teens get recommended vaccinations, according to a U.S. study.  Dividing states into red and blue based on how they voted in the 2012 presidential elections, researchers found that in that year, adolescents in blue states were significantly more likely to have received three important vaccines recommended for 11 to 12 year olds. "These associations are important because they demonstrate that there are broader forces associated with political affiliation that may influence acceptance of immunizations for adolescent children," said senior author Linda M. Niccolai of the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven. "The decision to immunize a child does not occur in vacuum and is not as straightforward as simply accepting a preventive medical intervention or not."

Ebola virus stays present in semen longer than previously thought, and is more likely to be found in older men, researchers report. The deadly virus can be transmitted through semen. Preliminary findings from 429 male Ebola survivors taking part in a national screening program in the African nation of Liberia showed that 9 percent (38) had fragments of Ebola in their semen. Of those 38 men, 63 percent tested positive for Ebola in their semen a year after recovering from the disease. One man's semen still had evidence of Ebola at least 565 days after he recovered from the illness, the study found.

Healthfinder, August 30, 2016

The HPV vaccine has cut infections by up to 90% in the past 10 years

A recent review of the   human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine   is has found that in the 10 years since its original release, the infection rate of HPV has been lowered by up to 90 percent in countries with high levels of immunisation. The review found that with more than 187 million doses of the vaccine administered in 130 countries around the world, the number of HPV infections fell by up to 90 percent in some areas, with similar decreases in genital warts and cervical abnormalities also being reported. "Reductions in HPV infections as well as reductions in the prevalence of HPV 6/11/16/18-related diseases, as noted by decreases in Pap abnormalities, cervical pre-cancers, and genital warts, were detected within four years after vaccine introduction,"   said lead researcher Suzanne Garland , from the Royal Woman's Hospital in Australia.

Science Alert, August 29, 2016

In a change of course, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now says pediatricians can dismiss families for vaccine refusal, but only as a last resort. The new clinical report,published online August 29 in Pediatrics, provides clinicians with multiple approaches for dealing with vaccine-hesitant families and stresses the role of pediatrician as educator in these situations. However, if no approach works and pediatricians need to dismiss a family, they must do so in a thoughtful and professional manner, the authors emphasize. And they must ensure that the family has other options for medical care.

Medscape, August 29, 2016

More Parents Believe Vaccines Are Unnecessary

Pediatricians are encountering more parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated, mainly because they don't see the point of vaccines, a U.S. survey found. In the survey, conducted in 2013, about 87 percent of pediatricians said they had encountered vaccine refusals, an increase from the 75 percent who reported refusals during the last survey from 2006.The most common reason, provided by three out of every four parents: Vaccines are unnecessary because the diseases they prevent have been wiped out in the United States.

Healthfinder, August 29, 2016

To counteract this trend, AAP issued a clinical report in which it urged open and honest communication by a trusted pediatrician with vaccine-hesitant parents. Adding some muscle to that advice, the AAP said all non-medical vaccine exemptions should be eliminated. That recommendation came in a separate policy statement. In 2013, 87% of pediatricians reported experiencing a vaccine refusal -- a significant increase compared to 2006 (74.5%, P <0.001), reported Catherine Hough-Telford, MD, of University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues.

Medpage Today, August 29, 2016

The Weekly News Roundup is produced by The Partnership for Male Youth and is released every Monday. 

For more information contact Dennis J. Barbour, JD. News Roundup editor and President/CEO of the Partnership, at dbarbour@partnershipformaleyouth.org.