Towards Eliminating Nonmedical Vaccination Exemptions Among School-Age Children.

The increase in childhood vaccine hesitancy and corresponding use of nonmedical exemptions to abstain from vaccination has deleteriously impacted the public's health. This has many in the field calling for widespread elimination of nonmedical school-entry exemptions, as has been done in six states to date: West Virginia, Mississippi, California, New York, Maine, and Connecticut. By eliminating nonmedical exemptions, vaccination rates can be improved, with the corresponding decline in vaccine-preventable disease incidence.

Application of state law in the public health emergency response to COVID-19: an example from Delaware in the United States.

The unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic of 2019-2020 generated an equally unprecedented response from government institutions to control contagion. These legal responses included shelter in place orders, closure of non-essential businesses, limiting public gatherings, and mandatory mask wearing, among others. The State of Delaware in the United States experienced an outbreak later than most states but a particularly intense one that required a rapid and effective public health response.

The heterogeneous effect of marijuana decriminalization policy on arrest rates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2009-2018.

Background: Marijuana decriminalization holds potential to reduce health inequities. However, limited attention has focused on assessing the impact of decriminalization policies across different populations. This study aims to determine the differential effect of a marijuana decriminalization policy change in Philadelphia, PA on marijuana arrests by demographic characteristics.

Association of Vaccine-Preventable Disease Incidence With Proposed State Vaccine Exemption Legislation.

This study evaluates the association of vaccine-preventable disease incidence with trends in the introduction of state legislation that would alter vaccine exemption laws.

Low Incidence and High Profile: Tuberculosis Control in Delaware.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease of global burden. While Delaware has low incidence of active TB compared to other locales, because of its small size these few cases tend to garner widespread attention. In this article, a study of one such case of active TB is presented.

Trends and Characteristics of Proposed and Enacted State Legislation on Childhood Vaccination Exemption, 2011-2017.

To examine trends and characteristics of proposed and enacted state legislation that would directly affect states' immunization exemption laws. We performed content analysis of proposed bills in state legislatures from 2011 to 2017. We classified bills as provaccination or antivaccination.