Vaccine
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US guidelines provided a permissive recommendation for HPV vaccine for males in 2009, with an updated recommendation for routine vaccination in 2011. Data on vaccine uptake among males, however, remain sparse. We analyzed 2010-2011 data (collected mostly prior to the recommendation for routine vaccination) from the National Immunization Survey-Teen for a nationally representative sample of adolescent males ages 13-17 (n=22,365). ⋯ The most common main reasons for parents not intending to vaccinate were believing vaccination is not needed or not necessary (24.5%), not having received a provider recommendation (22.1%), and lack of knowledge (15.9%). HPV vaccination is low among adolescent males in the US, and provider recommendation for vaccination is likely key to improving vaccine uptake. Given the updated recommendation for routine vaccination and the changes in health insurance coverage that are likely to follow, continued efforts are needed to monitor HPV vaccination among males.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Reducing children's pain and distress towards flu vaccinations: a novel and effective application of humanoid robotics.
Millions of children in North America receive an annual flu vaccination, many of whom are at risk of experiencing severe distress. Millions of children also use technologically advanced devices such as computers and cell phones. Based on this familiarity, we introduced another sophisticated device - a humanoid robot - to interact with children during their vaccination. We hypothesized that these children would experience less pain and distress than children who did not have this interaction. ⋯ This is the first study to examine the effectiveness of child-robot interaction for reducing children's pain and distress during a medical procedure. All measures of reduction were significant. These findings suggest that further research on robotics at the bedside is warranted to determine how they can effectively help children manage painful medical procedures.