This LawAtlas map provides information about the state laws and regulations that dictate how, when and to what extent a health department may intervene when communicable diseases appear in their jurisdiction.
The study examined how non-medical exemption laws for vaccines required for school or daycare entry impact the incidence rates for the five diseases targeted by the vaccines, and finds that increased levels of vaccinations could reduce whooping cough cases, but did not have a statistically significant impact on the average incidence for measles, mumps, Hib and Hepatitis B.
Public reporting of healthcare-associated infections is pervasive, with 33 states and the District of Columbia mandating public disclosure. The authors surveyed hospital epidemiologists on the perceived value of state public reports. Respondents believed consumers are unaware and do not consider the information important, but they indicated that epidemiologists have a role in consumer education.
Antibiotic effectiveness is a common pool resource that can be prematurely depleted through resistance. Some experts warn that we may face a global ecological collapse in antibiotic effectiveness.
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Practice
Richard Zimmerman, MD, MPH, MA •
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Practice
This study evaluated whether vaccination mandates, either by hospital policy or state law, may increase flu vaccine coverage for healthcare workers. The study finds that vaccination rates were significantly related to mandated vaccination with termination for noncompliance and declination or noncompliance that results in consequences other than termination.
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Center for Public Health Practice
Overall annual influenza vaccination rate has slowly increased among health care workers but still remains below the national goal of 90 percent. One hundred fifty hospitals required influenza vaccination, 84 with consequences (wear a mask, termination, education, restriction from patient care duties, unpaid leave) and 66 without consequences for noncompliance. Hospitals whose mandates have consequences for noncompliance included a broader range of personnel, were less likely to allow personal belief exemptions, or to require formal declination.
The world faces a worsening public health crisis: A growing number of bacteria are resistant to available antibiotics. Yet there are few new antibiotics in the development pipeline to take the place of these increasingly ineffective drugs. This study reviews a number of proposals intended to bolster drug development, including such financial incentives for pharmaceutical manufacturers as extending the effective patent life for new antibiotics.
This paper explores associations between awareness of New Jersey’s HIV exposure law and the HIV-related attitudes, beliefs, and sexual and seropositive status disclosure behaviors of HIV-positive persons. The study finds 51 percent of participants knew about the HIV exposure law. This awareness was not associated with increased sexual abstinence, condom use with most recent partner, or seropositive status disclosure. Contrary to hypotheses, persons who were unaware of the law experienced greater stigma and were less comfortable with positive serostatus disclosure.
Parental involvement (PI) laws require that physicians notify or obtain consent from a parent(s) of a minor seeking an abortion before performing the procedure. This study shows that prior evidence based on gonorrhea rates overlooked the frequent under-reporting of gonorrhea by race and ethnicity, and presents new evidence on the effects of PI laws using more current data on the prevalence of gonorrhea and data that are novel to this literature (i.e., chlamydia rates and data disaggregated by year of age).
This letter to the editor of Clinical Infectious Diseases explores the "10 x ′20 initiative" — a global commitment to develop 10 new antimicrobials by 2020. The authors question the development costs, the current clinical trial system, and the neglection of current antimicrobials. They also examine issue of quality versus quantity and conclude that "... we need to set priorities to achieve a balance between antibiotic conservation and new drug development, focusing on policies that will best serve public health.
