Objective: Baylor University established a surveillance system to assess the needs of students and faculty in isolation from SARS-CoV-2 as well as any longer-term symptoms. Participants: Overall, there were 309 responses between March 20 and May 19, 2021. Methods: A survey covering experience in isolation, symptoms, vaccination, and demographic…

Informed scientific thinking is a vital component of engaging all socioscientific issues (SSI) such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, socioscientific engagement may be influenced by sociocultural factors and mis/disinformation efforts to the widespread detriment of human and environmental well-being. The purpose of this…

Objective To assess college students' willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccines and the factors that influence their decisions. Participants: Traditional (aged 18-23) undergraduate students at a university in central Texas. Methods: An online survey was administered in fall 2020 to 614 students stratified by sex and race/ethnicity. Results: 40.9% of…

Objective: To investigate influenza vaccination rates and perceptions underlying vaccine noncompliance. Participants: Participants included undergraduate students (N = 365) at a rural, medium-sized university in Texas. Methods: Students were anonymously surveyed in the spring of 2018 on demographics, insurance status, perceived barriers of…

Effective communication about science is a core skill undergraduates should learn, but little research has explored how students communicate about culturally controversial science topics. In this study, we explored how Black undergraduate science students took on the role of science communicators in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Objective: To describe activation of a Point of dispensing (POD) in response to an influenza outbreak, highlighting the use of a student-led model. Participants: Faculty, staff, and students of Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Texas Christian University (TCU), as well as those located in its primary building. Methods: In response to…

As the COVID-19 pandemic has proved, maintaining student financial wellness is key to keeping students enrolled. The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) was administered a year and a half into the pandemic, during a time when vaccinations were allowing schools to return to in-person learning, but the pandemic was continuing to have a strong…

Rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine series completion among adolescent Hispanic females in Texas in 2014 (~39%) lag behind the Healthy People 2020 goal (80%). This qualitative study identifies Hispanic mothers' salient behavioral, normative and control beliefs regarding having their adolescent daughters complete the vaccine series.…

The purpose of this study was to describe college-aged females' human papillomavirus (HPV) knowledge and beliefs, perceptions and perceived benefits of the HPV vaccine, and identify characteristics associated with vaccination status and support for HPV vaccine mandates. Data were collected from 1,105 females by an Internet-delivered questionnaire…

The perspectives of parents of private middle school students regarding the use of school-located immunization programs (SLIPs) are unknown. Parents of private middle school students in a large, urban setting were surveyed "N" = 1,210) regarding their willingness to use SLIPs. Analyses included frequencies and chi-square analyses. Data…

Enormous strides have been made in reducing the number of global under-five child deaths through expanded development and use of vaccines under the auspices of the GAVI Alliance. However such successes have left behind a significant burden of child morbidity and mortality in developing countries from six major tropical diseases, i.e., dengue,…

The polio vaccine became available in 1955, due almost entirely to the efforts of the March of Dimes. In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt gave a public face to polio and mounted a campaign to prevent it, establishing the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938. During the Depression, U.S. citizens were asked to contribute one dime. Entertainer…

This article features school nurses from across the country who are championing for school-located influenza immunization within their communities. These nurses are: (1) Mary C. Borja; (2) Christine Amidon; (3) Diane Spellings; (4) Susan Franzetti; and (5) Mary Nasuta. (Contains 6 figures.)

The author reports on a Republican presidential debate which revives the contention over requiring middle school girls to be vaccinated against the virus that causes cervical cancer. At the September 12 debate, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann, of Minnesota, and Rick Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, attacked Texas Governor…

This case study is centered upon the recent debate concerning the decision by Texas Governor Rick Perry to mandate the compulsory vaccination of girls in the Texas public school system against the human papillomavirus (HPV) prior to entering the sixth grade. The interrupted case method is particularly appropriate for this subject with the case…