National Influenza Vaccination Week - November 26, 2007 - December 2, 2007

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced this week as National Influenza Vaccination Week. This event is designed to highlight the importance of continuing influenza (flu) vaccination, as well as foster greater use of flu vacine through the months of November, December and beyond.

This year, Tuesday, November 27, 2007, is set aside as Children's Flu Vaccination Day, with a focus on vaccinating high-risk children. Even if you're healthy, if you live with or care for people at high risk for severe complications from influenza, you should get vaccinated. Groups at high risk include infants, pregnant women, kids and adults with chronic medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, or heart disease, and adults aged 65 and older.

For more information please call 800-CDC-INFO.

Engaging Youth..On Their Turf: Creative Approaches to Connecting Youth through Community

Engaging Youth..On Their Turf: Creative Approaches to Connecting Youth through Community

The publication from the Healthy Teen Network offers professionals new approaches to engaging teens. It highlights six examples of programs that reach out to youth in non-traditional communities.

Save-the-Date:

The Future of the Hispanic Family (November 15, Washington, D.C.)
"For most Latinos, families are made and broken amid transformations in culture, economic footing, civic status, and identity," according to the Brookings Institution. Brookings' Center on Children and Families and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are hosting a forum to discuss trends in marriage and childbearing in the Hispanic community and address what actions policymakers and practitioners can take to strengthen Hispanic families and improve the well-being of children in these families.

Raising Awareness about Infant Mortality

In order to raise awareness about infant mortality with an emphasis on the African American community, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) has launched a new campaign, A Healthy Baby Begins with You, as part of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities.

OMH is asking for community and faith-based organizations, city and state health departments, and private sector partners to set-up and host events in the most affected communities. In return, OMH has partnered with Behind the Bench, the National Basketball Wives Association, to connect sponsors with a local spokesperson. Additionally, OMH will organize the local event, provide all the supporting printed and electronic materials and incentives for attendees, help promote the outreach to African American women of childbearing age, pitch stories to local and national media, and more.

For more information about the campaign or how your organization can become a sponsor, call 1-800-444-6472, or email iestrada@omhrc.gov

Great American Smokeout - November 15, 2007

November 15, 2007, marks the American Cancer Society's 31st annual Great American Smokeout, an event designed to encourage cigarette smokers to quit smoking for at least 1 day so that they might quit permanently.

Information on the Great American Smokeout is available at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ped/ped_10_4.asp or by telephone: 800-227-2345. Advice on how to quit smoking is available at http://www.smokefree.gov

SIDS Risk Reduction Continuing Education Program Emphasizes Important Role of Nurses in Health Care

The National Institutes of Health has created a continuing education program designed to help nurses communicate the risk factors for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to parents and child caregivers. Nurses are a key information resource for new parents and often spend the most time with families in the hospital following the birth of a child.

The Continuing Education Program on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Risk Reduction was developed by the NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) in collaboration with national nursing and health organizations. The program reviews the most current research findings and theories about SIDS and provides nurses with practical approaches to communication about SIDS in a multi-cultural environment.

"Nurses who care for infants and families in the hospital are in a unique position to educate parents and influence health and safety practices," said Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the NICHD, the NIH institute distributing the program materials.

Nurses can order a hard copy or download an electronic version of the continuing education booklet through the NICHD’s Web site, at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/sidsnursesce/, or by calling 1-800-370-2943. For more information, visit the Institute’s Web site at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.

For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

INFLUENZA VACCINE CLINICAL TRIAL

The EVMS Department of Pediatrics – Clinical Research Unit is conducting an influenza vaccine clinical trial in children 6 through 35 months of age. Influenza (flu) is a very contagious disease that affects many people throughout the world each year. The symptoms, which include fever, muscle pain, sore throat, cough, and weakness, last from several days to a week or more. Young children, the elderly, and people with chronic health problems run a higher risk of complications than do healthy young adults. Children in this study will receive licensed flu vaccine.

Parents of children in good health, ages 6 through 35 months, who want additional information or want to enroll their children should contact Nancy DeJaeger, RN at 668-6415.

The Eastern Virginia Medical School Institutional Review Board has approved this announcement.

IRB #07-10-FB-0236

Save-the-Date...The Inhalant Abuse Prevention Awareness Institute

Did you know the past thirty-day use of inhalants for Virginia eighth graders is double the national average? Learn about inhalants and how to address this issue in your community by attending the Inhalant Abuse Prevention Awareness Institute. For more information go to www.rmhonline.com