Population immunity to polioviruses among preschool children from four urban underserved low income communities, United States, 1997-2001.

Background: In 1997, the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended a change in polio vaccination policy, the first in 30 years, from the oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to a combined OPV/inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) sequential schedule for routine childhood vaccination. To evaluate the impact of the change in polio vaccination schedule on population immunity, we conducted a seroprevalence survey among low income preschool children from selected urban areas.

Methods: A repeat cross-sectional serosurvey was conducted during 1997-2001.

Immunization registry-based recall for a new vaccine.

Background: Immunization recall for specific vaccines may be necessary to "catch up" children with newly available vaccines or recall children after vaccine shortages. The extent to which immunization registry-based recall can increase immunization rates for a new vaccine has not been prospectively studied.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of letter/telephone recall for immunization with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in an economically disadvantaged urban population.

Effect of thimerosal recommendations on hospitals' neonatal hepatitis B vaccination policies.

We describe neonatal hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine policies in Colorado before and after thimerosal recommendations, plans for use of thimerosal-free HBV vaccine, and nurses' awareness of high-risk criteria for HBV vaccination. The results suggest that fewer neonates are receiving HBV vaccine at birth hospitals.

Evidence for specific effects of childhood sexual abuse on mental well-being and physical self-esteem.

Women who are sexually abused are at increased risk for having mental health problems long after the abuse. Other nonexploitive experiences can also be psychologically detrimental, may coexist with sexual abuse, and may explain some portion of subsequent mental health problems. This study addresses the association between childhood sexual abuse and a woman's psychological functioning, independent of the quality of parental nurturance received during childhood and other variables which may influence mental health.

Common behavioral problems in infants and children.

Primary care physicians can serve as important sources of behavioral information to patients of infants, toddlers, school-aged children, and adolescents. Behavior results from a blend of biologic qualities, such as gender and temperament, and social experiences, such as attachment and family experiences. Common problems include disorders of sleep, crying, feeding and diet, discipline and sexuality, aggression and biting, toilet training, and school avoidance.

The prospective assessment of self-concept in neglectful and physically abusive low income mothers.

Maternal self-esteem has long been associated with the quality of maternal-child interactions and many assume that low self-esteem contributes to the cause of maltreatment. Assessments of the self-concepts of maltreating parents, however, have been done only after maltreatment has occurred. Prospective measurement of self-concept would help to clarify its role in the etiology of maltreatment.

A prospective study of secondary prevention of child maltreatment.

This study sought (1) to retest an approach to the prediction of risk of child maltreatment and (2) to test the effect of a comprehensive prenatal and pediatric health services program on the rate of maltreatment. Of 2585 women screened at their first prenatal visit, 1154 qualified for the study. Risk assignment was determined by a structured interview.

Behavioral antecedents of pediatric poisonings.

To determine how the behavior of 3- to 7-year-olds might contribute to pediatric poisoning, a taxonomy of pediatric ingestions was conceptualized and tested. Thirty-nine of 50 caretakers who called the Middle Tennessee Poison Center about poison ingestions by a child in this age group provided details of the poisoning history and family characteristics. Histories were coded by a psychologist according to the 14 antecedent conditions of the poisoning taxonomy.

Sera antioxidant activity in uncomplicated and preeclamptic pregnancies.

Uncontrolled lipid peroxidation may play an important role in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia by causing vascular endothelial cell dysfunction. Sera contain antioxidant mechanisms that serve to control lipid peroxidation. We tested the hypothesis that the sera antioxidant protective mechanisms are diminished in women with preeclampsia.

Antecedents of child neglect in the first two years of life.

To determine the prenatal antecedents of child neglect by low-income women, data from a prospective study of child maltreatment were reviewed. Mothers determined to be at high risk prenatally for maltreatment were more likely to be identified as neglectful within 24 months of the interview. Neglectful mothers were less likely to have completed high school, had more children younger than 6 years of age, and had more aberrant responses on parenting skills and support systems scales.

Interpretations of colposcopic photographs: evidence for competence in assessing sexual abuse?

Accurate assessment of physical findings for child sexual abuse is medically and legally important. This study evaluated (1) interobserver reliability of clinicians rating colposcopic photographs, and (2) correlates of reliable interpretations. Seventy physicians and two nurse practitioners, divided by professional levels, assessed colposcopic photographs and completed a questionnaire.

Chlamydial pneumonia of infancy in siblings.

We describe two brothers born 16 months apart who were hospitalized with culture-proved chlamydial pneumonia of infancy due to the same immunotype of Chlamydia trachomatis. Presumably the mother had either been chronically infected or had been reinfected. Chlamydial pneumonia of infancy is a preventable disease if genital infection in pregnant women is diagnosed and treated.