Driving Paediatric Vaccine Recovery in Europe.

BACKGROUND: Childhood vaccination coverage has increased throughout Europe in recent decades. However, challenges persist in many areas within the European Union (EU), resulting in declining coverage rates in many countries in the period between 2010 and 2021. This general trend requires increased efforts to combat barriers around vaccination uptake. Thus, this article aims to summarise key learnings and trends in paediatric vaccination within the EU, with a focus on current challenges and enablers. METHODS: Methodology is based on analysis of primary data, mainly vaccination coverage rates, as well as review and analysis of the select relevant literature, including peer-reviewed articles, academic research papers, official reports, policies, and other publicly available sources. RESULTS: For all vaccines assessed (DTP 1st dose, DTP 3rd dose, Hib3, HepB3, measles 1st dose, measles 2nd dose, and polio 3rd dose), a high degree of variation and fluctuation in coverage can be observed. There is a general trend of declining coverage in 2019 compared to 2010, with lower performing countries, such as Romania and Austria, showing increasingly severe coverage fluctuations between the years examined across the analysed vaccines. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence suggests that increasing both accessibility and information regarding vaccines are key enablers to vaccination uptake. Moreover, given the current challenges the EU is facing, crisis preparedness plans are pertinent to ensure immunity gaps do not further exacerbate the disruption of vaccination systems.

Good Practices in Perinatal Mental Health for Women during Wars and Migrations: A Narrative Synthesis from the COST Action Riseup-PPD in the Context of the War in Ukraine / Las buenas prácticas en salud mental perinatal para mujeres en periodo de guerra y migraciones: una revisión narrativa de la Acción COST Riseup-PPD en el contexto de la guerra en Ucrania

Background: Since February 24th, 2022, the beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, more than 80,000 women were expected to give birth. Therefore, understanding the impact of war on the perinatal health of women is an important requisite to improve perinatal care. This narrative synthesis has two main purposes: on one hand, it aims to summarize the current evidence available based on perinatal health outcomes and care among perinatal women; on the other, it attempts to identify the gaps still present in research in relation to perinatal care. Method: A literature search was completed in diverse databases (e.g., Medline, PsychInfo). Results: Emergent matters related to practice and research in perinatal refugee women have been discussed. Conclusions: In the face of the war in Ukraine, we need to build up further research to provide an evidence-based foundation for preventing and treating the psychological consequences of pregnant women exposed directly to war and those who have been forced into a refugee status during this vulnerable period. Also, it is essential to support not only women transitioning to motherhood, but also supporting midwives and nurses in their work. (AU)

Antecedentes: Desde el 24 de febrero de 2022, el comienzo de la agresión de Rusia contra Ucrania, se esperaba que más de 80,000 mujeres dieran a luz. Por lo tanto, comprender el impacto de la guerra en la salud perinatal de las mujeres es un requisito importante para mejorar la atención perinatal. Esta revisión narrativa tiene dos propósitos principales: por un lado, tiene como objetivo resumir la evidencia actual disponible basada en los resultados de salud perinatal y la atención a las mujeres perinatales y, por otro lado, intenta identificar las brechas aún presentes en la investigación en relación con la atención perinatal. Método: Se completó una búsqueda bibliográfica en diversas bases de datos (p. ej., Medline, PsychInfo). Resultados: Se han discutido temas emergentes relacionados con la práctica y la investigación en mujeres refugiadas perinatales. Conclusiones: Frente a la guerra en Ucrania necesitamos más investigación para construir una base partiendo de la evidencia con el fin de prevenir y tratar las consecuencias psicológicas de las mujeres embarazadas expuestas directamente a la guerra y de aquellas que se han visto obligadas al estatus de refugiadas durante este período vulnerable. Además, es esencial apoyar no solo a las mujeres en transición a la maternidad, sino también a las matronas y enfermeras en su trabajo. (AU)

Back to the USSR: How Colors Might Shape the Political Perception of East versus West.

People typically process information to confirm their prior held attitudes and stereotypes. As the political relations between NATO and Russia have distinctively drifted apart in recent years, we were interested in how far old-established color depictions referring to the Cold War's demarcations (USSR = red; NATO = blue) might reinforce people's political perception of an East versus West antagonism nowadays. Participants received a fabricated news article in which both world powers were either depicted on a map as Russia = red and NATO = blue or vice versa (Study 1). Testing a different sample in Study 2, we fully removed color assignments and used hachured distinctions or no distinctions at all. We revealed that perceived political distance between both sides increased particularly for participants with negative attitudes toward Russia, but only when Russia was depicted in red. Thus, colors referring to the old-established Cold War patterns can indeed shape the political perception and reinforce stereotypical East versus West thinking.