Vaccine Acceptance Among Pregnant Women in Israel During COVID-19: Influences and Decision-Making Factors.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel prioritized pregnant women for vaccination, recognizing them as a high-risk group. This study aims to explore factors influencing the acceptance of Influenza, Pertussis (T-dap), and COVID-19 vaccines among pregnant women, focusing on attitudes, social norms, perceived control, and risk perceptions. Additionally, the study compares acceptance patterns between traditional vaccines and the newer COVID-19 vaccine.

Professionalism and Self-Evaluation: Diverging Perspectives Among Physicians and Nurses.

Introduction: Professionalism among healthcare professionals is often defined in terms such as altruism, humanism, and excellence. The integration of such professionalism ideals to healthcare professionals' practice poses a challenge to medical tutors. We examined the assessment of professionalism among physicians and nurses by their peers and evaluated the significance of each professional role component within each sector.

Anti-diabetic drug use and reduced risk of Parkinson's disease: A community-based cohort study.

Background: Emerging evidence suggests a potential association between certain anti-diabetic drugs and a reduced risk of Parkinson's disease (PD). Limited population-based studies have investigated users of newer anti-diabetic drugs such as GLP-1 agonists or SGLT2 inhibitors.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the risk of PD among individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who were treated with various types of anti-diabetic drugs over time.

A meta-analysis identifies factors predicting the future development of freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease.

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a debilitating problem that is common among many, but not all, people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Numerous attempts have been made at treating FOG to reduce its negative impact on fall risk, functional independence, and health-related quality of life. However, optimal treatment remains elusive.

Incidence of cardiovascular morbidity among Parkinson's disease patients; a large-scale cohort study in a 16-year time window around disease onset.

Objectives: To examine the risk of any or specific types of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), in the 16 years around disease onset, and to compare it to that in the general population.

Methods: This is a large-scale population-based retrospective cohort study of newly diagnosed PD patients, members of Maccabi Health Services (MHS), who started taking anti-parkinsonian drugs (APD) between 1/1/2000-31/12/2019 (study period). We collected information about CVD incidence (Congestive heart failure-CHF, Myocardial infarction-MI, Stroke) from MHS-CVD registry.

Tobacco smoke incursion into private residences in Israel: a cross-sectional study examining public perceptions of private rights and support for governmental policies.

Background: Tobacco smoke incursion (TSI) into private residences is a widespread problem in many countries. We sought to assess the prevalence of self-reported TSI and public attitudes about TSI in Israel, a country with a relatively high smoking prevalence and high population density.

Methods: We conducted a random digit dial survey among residents in Israel (N = 285) in 2017, which examined the frequency, source, correlates of, and attitudes towards TSI and potential regulatory options.

The association between risk perceptions, anxiety, and self-reported changes in tobacco and nicotine product use due to COVID-19 in May-June 2020 in Israel.

Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, reports about a possible protective effect of nicotine on COVID-19 conflicted with messaging by public health organizations about increased risks of COVID-19 due to smoking. The ambiguous information the public received, combined with COVID-19-induced anxiety, may have led to changes in tobacco or other nicotine product use. This study examined changes in use of combustible cigarettes (CCs), nargila (hookah/waterpipe), e-cigarettes, and IQOS and home-smoking behaviors.

Tobacco Smoke Exposure According to Location of Home Smoking in Israel: Findings from the Project Zero Exposure Study.

Young children are particularly vulnerable to harms from tobacco smoke exposure (TSE). This study aimed to compare TSE: (1) between children who live in smoking families and those who do not; and (2) among children who live in smoking households with varying smoking locations. The data came from two studies that were conducted concurrently in Israel (2016-2018).

Clinicians' Perceptions of Parent-Child Arts Therapy with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Milman Center Experience.

Different types of arts offer a wide variety of modes of nonverbal communication and expressive tools for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The present study was designed to characterize therapists' perspectives on the implementation of a parent-child arts therapy model for children with ASD. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 arts therapists who participated in the study.

Association between objective measures and parent-reported measures of child tobacco smoke exposure: A secondary data analysis of four trials.

Introduction: Tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) harms children and adults. Studies of childhood TSE exposure often relies on parental reports, but may benefit from objective measures. The objective of our study was to study the relationship between reported and objective measures of TSE.

The Association between the Sense of Coherence and the Self-Reported Adherence to Guidelines during the First Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel.

(1) Background: Social distancing became a central strategy employed to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We explore self-reported adherence (SRA) and factors associated with SRA among Israeli adults at the end of the first national lockdown in Israel. (2) Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional consumer panel survey of 820 Israeli adults aged 18 to 70 in May and June 2020.

The Association Between Proton Pump Inhibitors and COVID-19 is Confounded by Hyperglycemia in a Population-Based Study.

There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between proton pump inhibitors (PPI) and the risk of acquisition and severity of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. To evaluate the association between PPI exposure and infection and development of severe disease in patients infected with SARS-CoV2in a large population-based historical cohort. Data were extracted from a health maintenance organization database in Israel that insures over 1,200,000 individuals from across the country.

Parents' attitudes toward children's vaccination as a marker of trust in health systems.

Children's vaccination is a major goal in health-care systems worldwide; nevertheless, disparities in vaccination coverage expose socio-demographic accessibility gaps, unawareness, physicians' disapproval and parents' incomplete adherence reflecting insufficient public-provider trust. Our goal was to analyze parents' attitude toward children's vaccination in correlation with trust among stakeholders. A total of 1031 parents replied to a "snowball" questionnaire; 72% reported high trust in their physician, 42% trusted the authorities, 11% trusted internet groups.

Incidence and course of COVID-19 hospitalizations among patients with familial Mediterranean fever.

Objectives: To evaluate the incidence of hospitalization for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with FMF, as compared with the general population, and to compare the disease course between FMF inpatients, and age-, sex-, ethnicity- and comorbidity-matched non-FMF COVID-19 inpatients.

Methods: We used electronic medical records to obtain data about the total number of the insured population and the number of FMF patients in the two largest health management organizations in Jerusalem, Clalit and Meuhedet. The total number of COVID-19 inpatients at the Hadassah Medical Center, including those with FMF, for the period between 1 February 2020 and 10March 2021, was retrieved from the electronic medical records of Hadassah.

Protecting Children From Tobacco Smoke Exposure: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Project Zero Exposure.

Introduction: Young children are vulnerable to harm from tobacco smoke exposure (TSE). This study assessed the effect of Project Zero Exposure-an intervention program designed to help parents protect children from TSE-on children's exposure.

Methods: Randomized controlled trial of a home-based, theory-driven intervention.

Efficient study design to estimate population means with multiple measurement instruments.

Outcomes from studies assessing exposure often use multiple measurements. In previous work, using a model first proposed by Buonoccorsi (1991), we showed that combining direct (eg, biomarkers) and indirect (eg, self-report) measurements provides a more accurate picture of true exposure than estimates obtained when using a single type of measurement. In this article, we propose a tool for efficient design of studies that include both direct and indirect measurements of a relevant outcome.

A large COVID-19 outbreak in a high school 10 days after schools' reopening, Israel, May 2020.

On 13 March 2020, Israel's government declared closure of all schools. Schools fully reopened on 17 May 2020. Ten days later, a major outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred in a high school.

The Impact of Donor Type on Outcomes and Cost of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Pediatric Leukemia: A Merged Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research and Pediatric Health Information System Analysis.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHCT) may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality, resulting in increased healthcare utilization (HCU). To date, no multicenter comparative cost analyses have specifically evaluated alloHCT in children with acute leukemia. In this retrospective cohort study, we examined the relationship between survival and HCU while investigating the hypothesis that matched sibling donor (MSD) alloHCT has significantly lower inpatient HCU with unrelated donor (URD) alloHCT, and that among URDs, umbilical cord blood (UCB) alloHCT will have higher initial utilization but lower long-term utilization.

Significant correlation between peripheral blood CD34+ cell count in children prior to aphaeresis and CD34+ cell yield following aphaeresis: A single-center experience.

Numerous adults' studies demonstrated that preaphaeresis CD34+ cells significantly correlate with the number of CD34+ cells collected by the aphaeresis procedure. Equivalent studies in children are scarce. We studied retrospectively 92 aphaeresis procedures performed following chemotherapy (44) or in steady state (48) in 60 pediatric patients (40 males, 20 females), median age of 7.

Influence of Age on Acute and Chronic GVHD in Children Undergoing HLA-Identical Sibling Bone Marrow Transplantation for Acute Leukemia: Implications for Prophylaxis.

Relapse remains the major cause of mortality after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) for pediatric acute leukemia. Previous research has suggested that reducing the intensity of calcineurin inhibitor-based graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) prophylaxis may be an effective strategy for abrogating the risk of relapse in pediatric patients undergoing matched sibling donor (MSD) HCT. We reasoned that the benefits of this strategy could be maximized by selectively applying it to those patients least likely to develop GVHD.

Clinical risks and healthcare utilization of hematopoietic cell transplantation for sickle cell disease in the USA using merged databases.

Advances in allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for sickle cell disease have improved outcomes, but there is limited analysis of healthcare utilization in this setting. We hypothesized that, compared to late transplantation, early transplantation (at age <10 years) improves outcomes decreases healthcare utilization. We performed a retrospective study of children transplanted for sickle cell disease in the USA during 2000-2013 using two large databases.

Personalized Prognostic Risk Score for Long-Term Survival for Children with Acute Leukemia after Allogeneic Transplantation.

We studied leukemia-free (LFS) and overall survival (OS) in children with acute myeloid (AML, n = 790) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL, n = 1096) who underwent transplantation between 2000 and 2010 and who survived for at least 1 year in remission after related or unrelated donor transplantation. Analysis of patient-, disease-, and transplantation characteristics and acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was performed to identify factors with adverse effects on LFS and OS. These data were used to develop risk scores for survival.

Survival and Late Effects after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation for Hematologic Malignancy at Less than Three Years of Age.

Very young children undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) are a unique and vulnerable population. We analyzed outcomes of 717 patients from 117 centers who survived relapse free for ≥1 year after allogeneic myeloablative HCT for hematologic malignancy at <3 years of age, between 1987 and 2012. The median follow-up was 8.

GvHD after umbilical cord blood transplantation for acute leukemia: an analysis of risk factors and effect on outcomes.

Using the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR) registry, we analyzed 1404 umbilical cord blood transplantation (UCBT) patients (single (<18 years)=810, double (⩾18 years)=594) with acute leukemia to define the incidence of acute GvHD (aGvHD) and chronic GvHD (cGvHD), analyze clinical risk factors and investigate outcomes. After single UCBT, 100-day incidence of grade II-IV aGvHD was 39% (95% confidence interval (CI), 36-43%), grade III-IV aGvHD was 18% (95% CI, 15-20%) and 1-year cGvHD was 27% (95% CI, 24-30%). After double UCBT, 100-day incidence of grade II-IV aGvHD was 45% (95% CI, 41-49%), grade III-IV aGvHD was 22% (95% CI, 19-26%) and 1-year cGvHD was 26% (95% CI, 22-29%).