Content analysis of digital media coverage of the human papillomavirus vaccine school-entry requirement policy in Puerto Rico.

Background: In August 2018, Puerto Rico (PR) became the 4th state or territory in the United States to adopt a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine school-entry requirement, for students 11-12 years old. Evidence suggests that the content of media coverage may impact people's perception of HPV vaccine and their willingness to vaccinate. This study aimed to analyze the content of digital news coverage related to the implementation of the policy in PR.

Public Health Opportunities to Improve Late-Adolescent Immunization.

Seven state/local immunization program managers were convened to discuss how public health immunization programs could enhance their efforts to promote adolescent vaccination, with an emphasis on late adolescence (ages 16-18 years). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's revised childhood immunization schedule for 2017 and a recently proposed preventive care platform at 16 years of age provide a unique opportunity to focus on increasing adolescent immunization rates in this population. Public health officials discussed challenges to immunizing this population and suggested key strategies for supporting late-adolescent immunization, including partnerships between public health and immunization providers; nationally supported public information campaigns; and using immunization data specific to this population to track progress.

The financial impact of a state adopting a personal/philosophical belief exemption policy: modeling the cost of pertussis disease in infants, children and adolescents.

State school immunization exemption policies help reduce the risk of individual and community disease. Assessing the costs of vaccine preventable disease associated with a state adding a philosophical/personal belief school exemption policy is useful for making future policy decisions. Two formulas were developed to estimate the infant, child and adolescent hospitalization and non-medical costs of pertussis disease that are associated with adding a philosophical/personal belief school exemption policy.