FYI June 2008 - Pubs - Journal Articles

Compliance with Vaccination Recommendations for U.S. Children
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 34, No. 6, June 2008
Background: Official recommendations for the routine vaccination of U.S. children, made by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), specify the vaccines for administration, the number of doses that should be given, the age ranges for administration, the minimum ages at which doses are considered valid, the minimum intervals between doses within a series, and several additional vaccine-specific adjustments and exceptions. Federally reported estimates of vaccination coverage measure only compliance with the required number of doses; other recommendations are not routinely evaluated.
Conclusions: Approximately 28% of children were not in compliance with the official vaccination recommendations. Missed doses accounted for approximately two thirds of noncompliance, with the remainder due to mis-timed doses and other requirements. Measuring compliance with all ACIP recommendations provides a valuable tool to assess and improve the quality of healthcare delivery and ensure that children and communities are optimally protected from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Newborn Screening Bill
JAMA, Vol. 299, No. 18, May 14, 2008
Congress passed legislation establishing national newborn screening guidelines intended to make comprehensive screening widely available throughout the country. While not a mandate, the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007 (S 1858/HR 3825 [http://thomas.loc.gov]) is intended to increase the use of comprehensive and standardized newborn screening tests. The federal government estimates that annually about 5000 of the 4.1 million US newborns (1 in 800) are born with a potentially severe or lethal condition for which screening and treatment could prevent many or all of the complications. Proponents of the legislation have argued that it is needed as the number of mandated screening tests for newborns at the state level can be as few as 9. The bill, expected to be signed into law by President George W. Bush, also provides federal funding to educate parents and health care professionals about the importance of newborn screening. Another provision in the legislation calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a system for collecting and analyzing data that will help researchers develop better detection, prevention, and treatment strategies.

Public Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Public Health Inspections of Restaurants
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 34, No. 6, June 2008
Background: Foodborne diseases cause 76 million illnesses in the U.S. each year, and almost half of all money spent on food is spent in restaurants. Restaurant inspections are a critical public health intervention for the prevention of foodborne disease.
Conclusions: This study identified a number of public misconceptions and unrealistically high expectations of the public health restaurant-inspection system. It is important to improve consumers' understanding of inspection scores and the limitations of regulatory inspections, as well as the role of such inspections in disease prevention.

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