Cassam (2023) argued in this journal that vice-charging -- the practice of charging others with epistemic vices such as gullibility and dogmatism -- can itself be epistemically vicious. He focused, in particular, on charges of gullibility and dogmatism directed at parents hesitant to allow their kids to be vaccinated with the MMR vaccine. In this…

Objective: The prevalence of illnesses related to VPDs is higher among older adults and college students experience them despite decades of vaccine availability. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American College Health Association (ACHA) emphasizes that all students should provide vaccine proof or receive immunizations prior to…

Research suggests that discounting of delayed rewards (i.e., tendency to choose smaller immediate rewards over large later rewards) is a promising target of intervention to encourage compliance with public health measures (PHM), such as vaccination compliance. The effects of delay discounting, however, may differ across the types of PHMs, given…

Objective: To identify predictors of meningococcal vaccine uptake among university and college students, the most common carriers of meningococcal disease. Participants: University or college students aged 18 to 25 years. Methods: Multiple databases, citations, and gray literature were systematically searched in April 2017 and January 2019, for…

U.S. print news coverage of COVID vaccine hesitancy represents a departure from previous depictions of vaccine skepticism as a problem of wrong belief. This article reports on a mixed methods study of 334 "New York Times" texts about COVID nonvaccination and vaccine hesitancy published between December 2020-December 2021. Texts were…

Objective: Health behavior research suggests that perceived social norms impact health decisions. This study aimed to (a) examine reasons for vaccine hesitancy among a sample of college students compared to a clinical sample (b) examine the accuracy of perceptions of others' receptivity and intention to seek out the COVID-19 vaccine, and (c)…

Over the past year, educators have developed curricula teaching about the COVID-19 pandemic (Reed 2020; Royce 2020; Sadler et al. 2020). Many of these curricula feature computer simulations of epidemic dynamics (Kelter 2020; Sadler et al. 2020). Because an epidemic pattern is an emergent property of interacting human behaviors, it is crucial for…

The general science of infection prevention and control can be applied to and adapted for a variety of settings, including kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12). Strategies can be implemented in the classroom and whole school environment to prevent a wide array of illnesses caused by both bacteria and viruses. This science brief presents findings…

Minoritized communities often experience worse health outcomes on the cancer continuum. Mainstream strategies may have limited reach and utility to populations experiencing inequities in real-world settings. Through the combined use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) and social marketing strategies, which highlight community-centered…

Coronavirus disease 2019 exacerbated health inequities in Bronx Communities. This study explored vaccine hesitancy among a random sample of faculty and students from Hebert Lehman College. Findings suggest faculty are largely vaccinated (87%), while 59% of students are unvaccinated. Significant gaps in information were found related to safety and…

Objective: The impact of social media on public health has been examined in various studies. However, none have explored user engagement based on the type of Facebook posts related to renal disease. Therefore, the present study sought to determine which type of nephrology-related posts have greater user engagement. Setting: Facebook pages.…

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection in the United States. Annually, in the U.S., there are over 27,000 individuals diagnosed with cancers that are caused by the human papillomavirus. The total health care cost related to cervical cancer alone in the U.S. is $3.7 billion (Thomas, 2016). The HPV…

With the onset and rapid spread of COVID-19 without a safe and effective vaccine, initial efforts to reduce community spread focused on basic public health measures such as mask wearing, social distancing, hand-washing, avoiding large gatherings, and suspected cases isolation and quarantine. Following was the development of the COVID-19…

The purpose of the study was to examine the characteristics of Internet memes created and disseminated by proponents and opponents of vaccinations. A quantitative content analysis was performed on 234 pro- and antivaccine memes culled from the vaccination fan pages with the greatest number of followers on Facebook. Coding variables included…

In 2006, the first human pappilomavirus (HPV) vaccine was approved for females aged 9 to 26. However, the national HPV vaccination rate among young women has been low. Public concerns were raised in regard to the fact that HPV vaccination might encourage unsafe sex. This cross-sectional study examined the differences in sexual practices between…