The challenges of communicating vaccination benefit and risk in the family

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
F Bouder
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
Cognitive Gaps ◽  
National Attitudes

Abstract Public perceptions of vaccination are complex and ambivalent. People often fear the vaccine more than the disease itself. They fear the unknown substance or adjuvants, worry that vaccines weaken their immunity system, or resent the involuntariness of mandated vaccination. The risk of the disease, on the other hand is often attenuated. Many vaccine-preventable diseases are rarely encountered in everyday situations and remain abstract concepts. Others, like influenza, may not be taken seriously; it is often seen as nothing worse than a “bad cold”. The sensationalist coverage of disease outbreaks is often perceived first as apocalyptic, then as “false alarms”. To fight these cognitive biases many risk communicators have focused on top-down persuasion, for instance telling parents that they must give the vaccine to their children and blaming them for not doing so. From a risk science perspective, however, it is well established that top-down persuasion that neglects to address negative perceptions is counter-productive. Any effort to bridge cognitive gaps and improve vaccine communication requires to understand perceptions. It is essential to understand the drivers that motivate parents' decision making and the dilemma they face between vaccinating and not vaccinating. The immunisation of children is particularly difficult because the communication's recipient are typically adults, which calls for strategies to talk to parents as well as reach children. Variations are observed across age as well as countries, which raises questions about national attitudes towards different types of vaccination affecting different age groups. This creates a more complex environment that is particularly challenging for healthcare professionals who have been identified as the primary “go to” authoritative source of information for adults. Obstacles to effective communication therefore needs to be addressed in a science-informed manner, if the objective is truly to ensure better uptake rates.

scholarly journals Seroprevalence of Antibodies against Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis in Adult At-Risk Patients

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Lise Boey ◽  
Eline Bosmans ◽  
Liane Braz Ferreira ◽  
Nathalie Heyvaert ◽  
Melissa Nelen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Chronic Diseases ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Solid Organ ◽  
Recent Infection ◽  
Vaccination Programs ◽  
Vaccine Preventable Diseases ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Risk Patients

Patients with chronic diseases are at increased risk of complications following infection. It remains, however, unknown to what extend they are protected against vaccine-preventable diseases. We assessed seroprevalence of antibodies against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis to evaluate whether current vaccination programs in Belgium are adequate. Antibody titers were assessed with a bead-based multiplex assay in serum of 1052 adults with chronic diseases. We included patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM1) (n = 172), DM2 (n = 77), chronic kidney disease (n = 130), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (n = 170), heart failure (n = 77), HIV (n = 196) and solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients (n = 230). Factors associated with seroprevalence were analysed with multiple logistic regression. We found seroprotective titers in 29% for diphtheria (≥0.1 IU/mL), in 83% for tetanus (≥0.1 IU/mL) and 22% had antibodies against pertussis (≥5 IU/mL). Seroprotection rates were higher (p < 0.001) when vaccinated within the last ten years. Furthermore, diphtheria seroprotection decreased with age (p < 0.001). Tetanus seroprotection was less reached in women (p < 0.001) and older age groups (p < 0.001). For pertussis, women had more often a titer suggestive of a recent infection or vaccination (≥100 IU/mL, p < 0.01). We conclude that except for tetanus, the vast majority of at-risk patients remains susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases such as diphtheria and pertussis.

scholarly journals Malnutrition and morbidity trends in Somalia between 2007 and 2016: results from 291 cross-sectional surveys

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. e033148
Author(s):  
Rocio Martin-Canavate ◽  
Estefania Custodio ◽  
Abukar Yusuf ◽  
Daniel Molla ◽  
Dominique Fasbender ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
North East ◽  
Continuous Complex ◽  
Morbidity Trends ◽  
Livelihood System

BackgroundMore than two decades of conflict and natural disasters in Somalia have resulted in one of the longest running humanitarian crises in the world. Nutrition data have been collected over the years despite challenges to inform programmatic action. This paper explores malnutrition and morbidity trends in Somalia during the last decade, disaggregated by geographical zone and livelihood system.MethodsWe used data from 291 cross-sectional surveys conducted in children aged 6–59 months between 2007 and 2016 in Somalia. Wasting, morbidity and stunting prevalences over time were analysed by geographic area, livelihood system and season. Logistic regressions were used to test trends.ResultsThe wasting trends show a striking peak in 2011, more marked in southern and central Somalia and coinciding with the famine declaration. The trend declines slightly thereafter although not consistently across all zones and livelihoods, and it raises again in 2016 especially among internally displaced persons (IDPs). Stunting declined for all groups and in all zones but with more consistent patterns in northern Somalia.Morbidity also showed a declining trend, although with multiple peaks depicting disease outbreaks.Pastoralist showed the lowest stunting estimates overall, while agrarian populations showed the lowest prevalence of wasting and morbidity. IDPs were the most affected by all outcomes. Seasonality affected the three outcomes differently by livelihood system. Stunting rates increased after the 2011 famine for all age groups within children under 5 years.ConclusionsDespite the continuous complex situation in Somalia, there has been a sustained decline in stunting and morbidity in the last decade. Wasting trends have remained at very high levels especially in north-east and the south zones of Somalia. The findings support the importance of performing trend analyses disaggregated by zone and livelihood groups within countries to better identify priorities for programme intervention.

Perception of Word Junctures by Children

1995 ◽  
Vol 80 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1075-1082 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore De Marco ◽  
Roxanne M. Harrell
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Relative Magnitude ◽  
Young Group ◽  
Sentence Context ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Top Down ◽  
School Aged Children ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Meaningful Context ◽  
Better Than

A comparative study was undertaken to assess the relative magnitude of the effects of linguistic context on the perception of word-juncture boundaries in 30 young school-aged children, 30 older school-aged children, and 30 adults. Minimally contrasted two-word phrases differing in word-juncture boundaries were embedded in a meaningful sentence context, nonmeaningful sentence context, and in neutral phrase context. Groups performed similarly in the neutral phrase context, and two older groups performed better than the young group in the meaningful context. The poorest performances occurred during the nonmeaningful context, with a significant difference among age groups. Heavier reliance upon top-down processing and less developed linguistic and metalinguistic competence may account for the observed differences among groups.

scholarly journals Epidemiology of meningococcal meningitis in Angola, 1994–2000

2001 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 421-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. GASPAR ◽  
F. LEITE ◽  
L. BRUMANA ◽  
B. FÉLIX ◽  
A. A. STELLA
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Meningococcal Disease ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Polysaccharide Vaccine ◽  
Meningococcal Meningitis ◽  
Mass Vaccination ◽  
Meningitis Belt ◽  
Vaccination Campaigns

We describe six meningococcal disease outbreaks that occurred in Angola during the period 1994–2000. In total, 7140 cases were documented. The age groups most affected were 15–29 years and 5–14 years; there were no differences in incidence between the sexes. Circulation of both serogroup A and sporadic serogroup B strains was demonstrated. Mass vaccination campaigns with A+C meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine were implemented, except in Yambala province in 1999 where insecure conditions precluded this intervention.Outbreaks of serogroup A meningococcal disease in Angola may indicate an extension of these epidemics outside the meningitis belt. Mass vaccination campaigns stopped the Angolan epidemics within weeks. Civil conflict and displaced persons living in crowded areas created serious difficulties for surveillance and impeded timely public health responses.

Attachment to place and territoriality in Nandigram land struggle, India

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-153
Author(s):  
Sayoni Bose
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Social Relation ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Negative Perceptions ◽  
Attachment To Place ◽  
Land Struggle ◽  
Economic Zones

The Nandigram peasant struggle against land acquisition for special economic zones (SEZs) in West Bengal, India, in 2006–2007, highlights the importance of attachment to place and territorialization in resistance. Analyzing the Nandigram land struggle, I underscore the importance of place-based attachment. I argue that land is a social relation. The land acquisition was a threat of breakage in that place-based relation, which led to negative perceptions of industrialization. This threat pronounced the existing attachment to place, which led to the spatialization of the muktanchal or liberated zone. I conceptualize the muktanchal as an act of territoriality, where militant peasant identities emerged that facilitated their claim-making. This paper uses content analysis of existing primary data from heterogeneous sources, to illuminate how the peasants strategically created the muktanchal to contest top-down attempts by the state to create a SEZ enclave.

scholarly journals Abstract concept learning in a simple neural network inspired by the insect brain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex J. Cope ◽  
Eleni Vasilaki ◽  
Dorian Minors ◽  
Chelsea Sabo ◽  
James A.R. Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Control ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Mushroom Body ◽  
Insect Brain ◽  
Abstract Concept ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Learning Rates ◽  
Simple Neural Network

AbstractThe capacity to learn abstract concepts such as ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ is considered a higher-order cognitive function, typically thought to be dependent on top-down neocortical processing. It is therefore surprising that honey bees apparantly have this capacity. Here we report a model of the structures of the honey bee brain that can learn same-ness and difference, as well as a range of complex and simple associative learning tasks. Our model is constrained by the known connections and properties of the mushroom body, including the protocerebral tract, and provides a good fit to the learning rates and performances of real bees in all tasks, including learning sameness and difference. The model proposes a novel mechanism for learning the abstract concepts of ‘sameness’ and ‘difference’ that is compatible with the insect brain, and is not dependent on top-down or executive control processing.

scholarly journals Pareidolia-proneness, reality discrimination errors, and visual hallucination-like experiences in a non-clinical sample

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Smailes ◽  
Emma Burdis ◽  
Constantina Gregoriou ◽  
Bryony Fenton ◽  
Rob Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Discrimination Task ◽  
Visual Hallucination ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Self Report ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Number Of False Alarms ◽  
Visual Reality ◽  
The Face ◽  
Reality Discrimination

Introduction: It has been proposed that hallucinations occur because of problems with reality discrimination (when internal, self-generated cognitions are misattributed to an external, non-self source) and because of elevated levels of top-down processing. In this study, we examined whether visual reality discrimination abilities and elevated top-down processing (assessed via face pareidolia-proneness) were associated with how often non-clinical participants report visual hallucination-like experiences. Methods: Participants (N = 82, mean age = 23.12 years) completed a visual reality discrimination task and a face pareidolia task, as well as self-report measures of schizotypy and of the frequency of visual hallucination-like experiences. Results: Regression analysis demonstrated that the number of false alarms made on the visual reality discrimination task and the number of hits made on the face pareidolia task were independent predictors of the frequency of visual hallucination-like experiences. Correlations between performance on the task and levels of schizotypy were not statistically significant.Conclusions: These findings suggest that weaker visual reality discrimination abilities and elevated levels of top-down processing are associated with visual hallucination-proneness and are discussed in terms of the idea that clinical visual hallucinations and non-clinical visual hallucination-like experiences share similar cognitive mechanisms. This is a preprint of an article published by Taylor &amp; Francis in Cognitive Neuropsychiatry on 06/DEC/2019, available at the following doi: 10.1080/13546805.2019.1700789

scholarly journals Understanding associative false memories in aging using multivariate analyses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy A. Dennis ◽  
Amy A. Overman ◽  
Catherine M. Carpenter ◽  
Courtney R. Gerver
Keyword(s):  
Associative Memory ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
False Memories ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Pattern Similarity ◽  
Memory Representations ◽  
Parietal Cortices

Associative memory declines in aging arise, in part, from age-related increases in false memories to recombined lures. Studies have shown that there is a benefit to associative memory if the configural context of associative pairs is maintained from encoding to retrieval. The current study aimed to examine whether this benefit of contextual congruency is reduced in aging, and whether the neural similarity of memory representations between targets and lures underlies age- related increases in false memories. Behaviorally, both age groups benefited from target pairs presented in a visual format that was congruent with how the pair was learned. While no age difference was observed in hits, the typical age-related increase in false alarms was found. Congruent with behavioral results, neither the relationship between target-related patterns of neural activity across memory phases (as measured by ERS) nor the discriminability of target classification as a function of condition at retrieval (as measured by MVPA). However, with regard to false memories, older adults exhibited overall lower pattern similarity for hits and FAs compared to hits and CRs (as measured by RSA). Additionally, Hit-FA RSA correlated with age- related increases in associative FAs across visual, frontal, and parietal cortices. Results suggest that while neural processes supporting associative memory retrieval are dependent on configural congruency between encoding and retrieval, there is no difference as to how congruency affects these processes in aging. Additionally, similarity of target and lure processing may reflect reduced diagnosticity of information processing in aging.

School Children's Responses on a Semantic Differential over a 10-Year Span

2004 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 345-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew A. Helwig ◽  
Nanci Avitable
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Developmental Stages ◽  
Influence Factor ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Semantic Differential ◽  
Semantic Differential Scale ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Factor Analytic ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Over Time

A semantic differential scale was administered to 208 school children when they were in the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, and twelfth grades. Their perceptions towards two concepts were measured, Education (going to school) and Work (having a job). Each semantic differential scale had 15 adjective pairs and reflected the three underlying factors of Evaluative, Potency, and Activity. Because the study was conducted for 10 years (ages seven to 18), the changing cognitive developmental stages of the children were expected to influence factor analytic and reliability results. Confirmatory factor analysis, which forced the data into three factors, did not clearly identify the expected three factors, although more items loaded on the three factors with age. An exploratory factor analysis identified a trend across grades from six to four factors over time. Reliability also improved across age groups. Caution should be exercised when using the semantic differential with young children in investigations of abstract concepts.

CAPSULE: An Innovative Capstone-Based Pedagogical Approach to Engage High School Students in STEM Learning

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abe Zeid ◽  
Sagar Kamarthi ◽  
Claire Duggan ◽  
Jessica Chin
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
College Level ◽  
Stem Learning ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Top Down ◽  
School Students ◽  
Pedagogical Approach

School children in general and high school students, in particular more often than not lose interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education. Underrepresented and female students are even more discouraged by STEM courses. Our investigation and interviews with high school teachers cite that the main reason for such disinterest is the disconnect between school and reality. Students cannot relate the abstract concepts they learn in physics, biology, chemistry, or math to their surroundings. This paper discusses a new capstone project-based approach that closes this gap. This work is an outcome of an NSF funded project called CAPSULE (Capstone Unique Learning Experience). We use the top-down pedagogical approach instead of the traditional bottom-up approach. The top-down approach relates the abstract concepts to exciting open-ended capstone projects where students are engaged in designing solutions, like products to solve open-ended problems. This top-down approach is modeled after the college-level capstone design courses. The paper presents the model, its details, and implementation. It also presents the formative and summative evaluation of the model after deploying it in the Boston Public Schools, a system heavily populated by the targeted student groups.

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