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The people of the amish sect are direct descendants of the 16th century Swiss Anabaptists who migrated to the United States in the early 1700s to escape religious persecution. Although […]

An outbreak of mumps in a middle school (grades 6 to 8) in Ohio during 1981 was investigated to describe the clinical findings, health impact, and costs. Individuals with clinical mumps in the middle school and in family members were questioned concerning symptoms, complications, hospitalizations, school days absent, and parental work days missed. There were 62 cases of clinical mumps in the middle school and 13 cases among family members. Parotitis lasted an average of 7.4 days and fever (if present) lasted an average of 2.5 days with a mean temperature of 38.6 Celsius (101.4 Fahrenheit). The duration of parotitis and fever increased with age. Complications included encephalitis, aseptic meningitis, orchitis, oophoritis, mastitis, and pancreatitis. Visits to physicians were made by 62.7% (47/75) of the individuals with mumps for a total of 63 visits, and two patients were hospitalized for a total of six days. Persons who attended middle school missed an average of 4.9 days of school. The estimated direct and indirect costs associated with this outbreak were $2,460 and $1,353, respectively, or $51 per case. States lacking mumps immunization requirements experienced a three-times greater incidence of mumps in 1982 than States that required all school pupils to be immunized. We recommend that all States institute compulsory mumps school immunization laws for all school children. Pediatrics 1985;76:533-536; mumps, vaccine, cost-benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. A major purpose of a state-wide survey to document the vaccination status of 1,003 2-year-old children was to identify factors associated with failure to receive the recommended vaccinations. With a basic series of immunization defined as three doses of diphtheriatetanus-pertussis (DTP), three oral polio vaccine (OPV), one measles, and one rubella, 72.5% of the children had completedipd the series. When the completed series was redefined to include a fourth DTP and mumps vaccine the rate of completion dropped to 40.8%. However, 59.1% of the children who had not completed this optimal series could be brought up-to-date with a single visit to their provider of medical care. Demographic variables independently associated with completion of the basic series were increased paternal education (P < .001), increased maternal education (P .02), smaller family size (P < .01) and higher socioeconomic status, as determined by census tract or rural town of residence (P < .02). Race was not found to be a factor associated with vaccination rates when socioeconomic status was controlled. Patients who received their vaccinations from private physicians had a better vaccination rate than those who attended health department clinics. This difference persisted even when socioeconomic status was controlled by residence (P < .02). The simultaneous comparison of parental education and family size demonstrated that a child having one parent with < 12 years education or having at least three siblings has a fourfold greater risk of failure to complete his immunization than children whose parents are both college graduates. By using paternal and maternal education level and family size as screening variables, children at high risk for failure to complete their immunizations could be identified prospectively and made the target of intervention programs to improve compliance. Pediatrics 64:304-309, 1979; vaccination rates, risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. During a large outbreak of measles in Ohio in 1976 it was possible to measure measles vaccine efficacy by age at time of vaccination and number of years since vaccination. Using a summed incidence method to control for the confounding variable introduced by mass immunization clinics held during the outbreak, vaccine efficacy was greater than 95% for children vaccinated at 12, 13, and 14 or more months of age. Vaccine efficacy for those vaccinated at 12 months of age was notably better than for those vaccinated at younger ages but not different from those vaccinated at older ages. Although recently administered vaccine appeared more efficacious than vaccine administered in the past, this difference was not significant when controlled for age at vaccination. Evaluation of the mass clinics held during the outbreak demonstrated that 59.6% of the inadequately immunized children attended the clinics, but this was not substantially different from the proportion of adequately immunized who attended (52.4%). Recommendations for measles revaccination need not include children previously vaccinated at 12 months of age or greater. Pediatrics 62:955-960, 1978, measles vaccine, vaccine efficacy, measles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Ohio Department of Health initiated a program of mailing an immunization reminder to the mothers of six-month-old children predicted to he at high risk of failure to receive vaccinations based on birth certificate information. The evaluation results indicated a 50 per ¢ gain in immunizations amongst children whose parents received the letter when compared with those not receiving the letter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the introduction and spread of measles in the outbreak at Miami University (MU) in Oxford, Ohio. Topics include description of the university cases, measles vaccination status of measles cases at the university in 1983, and reasons for outbreaks on college campuses. Also mentioned are reasons that the control of measles disease on college campuses has been difficult.