A Randomized Study to Determine the Effect of a Culturally Focused Video Intervention on Improving HPV Vaccine Intentions in a Christian Population in the United States.

Safe and effective vaccines have been developed that protect against high-risk strains of HPV, but uptake is relatively low. We previously identified factors such as sexual attitudes and HPV knowledge that impact the intent of Christian parents to vaccinate their children against HPV. We hypothesized that culturally specific interventions in the form of short videos would be effective at improving HPV vaccine intentions and attitudes. We made three short educational videos, one with a Christian focus, one informational about HPV, and one control. Videos were distributed electronically with accompanying surveys, and responses were measured before and after watching a randomly selected video. The religious-focused and educational interventions significantly (p < 0.0001, p = 0.0015) improved intentions towards HPV vaccination. The religiously-focused video also significantly diminished the belief that the HPV vaccine is unnecessary because of a family's values (p = 0.014). Parents significantly credited both interventions with improving their intent to vaccinate their children against HPV (p < 0.001 for both). These results suggest that culturally focused educational interventions are effective at influencing vaccine intentions and attitudes, even when those are based on religious or cultural feelings. Highly specific interventions are likely to be necessary for optimal improvement in vaccine hesitancy.

Changes in Attitudes and Barriers to Seasonal Influenza Vaccination from 2007 to 2023.

This study investigated how factors and barriers to flu vaccination among college students has changed over the past 16 years. Data were collected from 440 students using a survey and compared to previous data from the same university. Respondents were also asked about their experiences with Covid-19 and its effect on their intent to vaccinate. We found that vaccination rates had increased from 12.4 to 30.5%. Among the unvaccinated, expense, fear of getting influenza from vaccination, fear of side effects, and lack of information have decreased by 28%, 20%, 17%, and 15% respectively. Time, convenience, and perceived risk are still significant barriers to vaccination. Students are getting more encouragement to vaccinate from their health care providers and parents, but it is becoming less effective. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed vaccine attitudes and vaccine fatigue has been a large contributor. Additionally, political affiliation has become a predictor of flu vaccine uptake with conservatives being less likely to vaccinate. There has also been a shift in motivation from concern for personal safety to concern for public safety.

Decrease in Overall Vaccine Hesitancy in College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed our world as we know it and continues to be a global problem three years since the pandemic began. Several vaccines were produced, but there was a considerable amount of societal turmoil surrounding them that has affected the way people view not only COVID-19 vaccines but all vaccines. We used a survey to compare how attitudes towards vaccination have changed in college students during the pandemic. An initial survey was administered in 2021, then a follow-up in 2022. Out of 316 respondents who answered the first survey, 192 completed the follow-up. The survey was designed to measure trends in changes to vaccine attitudes since the COVID-19 pandemic began. By comparing the first survey in 2021 and the follow-up, we found that roughly 55% of respondents' vaccine attitudes did not change, roughly 44% of respondents' attitudes towards vaccines became more positive, and only about 1% of the respondents' vaccine attitudes became more negative. Improved view of vaccines was associated with political views and increased trust in medicine and the healthcare system. Worsened opinions of vaccines were associated with a belief that the COVID-19 vaccine affected fertility.

Factors Affecting Vaccine Attitudes Influenced by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The development of vaccines has significantly contributed to the success of disease prevention. However, there has been a sharp decline in immunization rates since COVID-19 spread globally. Seemingly overnight, the world shut down and most non-essential medical procedures were postponed. Since the COVID-19 vaccine became available, and the world started going back to normal these vaccine rates have not recovered. In this paper, we review the published literature to explore how convenience factors, perceived risk of vaccination, media or anti-vaccination ideals/movements, and healthcare professionals affect an individual's compliance to be vaccinated to better understand the factors that contribute to the change in overall vaccination rates.

Choline supplementation attenuates experimental sepsis-associated acute kidney injury.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in critically ill patients, and sepsis is its leading cause. Sepsis-associated AKI (SA-AKI) causes greater morbidity and mortality than other AKI etiologies, yet the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. Metabolomic technologies can characterize cellular energy derangements, but few discovery analyses have evaluated the metabolomic profile of SA-AKI. To identify metabolic derangements amenable to therapeutic intervention, we assessed plasma and urine metabolites in septic mice and critically ill children and compared them by AKI status. Metabolites related to choline and central carbon metabolism were differentially abundant in SA-AKI in both mice and humans. Gene expression of enzymes related to choline metabolism was altered in the kidneys and liver of mice with SA-AKI. Treatment with intraperitoneal choline improved renal function in septic mice. Because pediatric patients with sepsis displayed similar metabolomic profiles to septic mice, choline supplementation may attenuate pediatric septic AKI.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Altered choline metabolism plays a role in both human and murine sepsis-associated acute kidney injury (SA-AKI), and choline administration in experimental SA-AKI improved renal function. These findings indicate that 1) mouse models can help interrogate clinically relevant mechanisms and 2) choline supplementation may ameliorate human SA-AKI. Future research will investigate clinically the impact of choline supplementation on human renal function in sepsis and, using model systems, how choline mediates its effects.

Effects of Religious Practice and Teachings about Sexual Behavior on Intent to Vaccinate against Human Papillomavirus.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Most infections are mild and clear without treatment in 1 to 2 years. Some HPV strains result in persistent infection, which can cause various cancers, including cervical, penile, anal, mouth, and throat cancers. Vaccines have been developed that provide protection against the highest risk HPV strains. Despite HPV vaccines having been proven to be safe and effective, uptake has been low. Religiosity has been negatively correlated with HPV vaccine uptake in some studies. It is hypothesized that religiosity and Christian religious affiliation could impact parents' decision to vaccinate their children against HPV via teachings and beliefs about sexual behaviors. A survey was distributed to participants to determine what factors, including religiosity and views about sex, impacted HPV vaccination. The survey results (n = 442) were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and univariate factor analysis. The association between religious practice and vaccine attitudes were complex, with religious practice slightly positively correlated with pro-vaccine attitudes and vaccine knowledge, but also with the belief that religious adherence to expectations surrounding sexual behavior will protect children from HPV infection, as well as more negative views towards vaccines, in general.