Measles, once a common childhood illness that many older school nurses could recognize without difficulty, needs review again after reemerging from Europe and other continents. A highly contagious disease, which has been referenced since the seventh century, the virus can cause serious illness and death, despite the fact that it is vaccine…

Rotavirus disease is a common cause of health care utilization and almost all children are affected by the age of 5 years. In Canada, at the time of this survey (2008-09), immunization rates for rotavirus were less than 20%. We assessed the determinants of a parent's acceptance to have their child immunized against rotavirus. The survey…

Seasonal influenza is recognized as a significant health burden to children and is a cause of excess school absenteeism in children. In 2008, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended annual influenza vaccination for all children 6 months to 18 years of age. School nurses influence participation in this recommendation by…

Background: Childhood asthma is a serious and common chronic disease that requires the attention of nurses and other school personnel. Schools are often the first setting that children take the lead in managing their asthma. Often, children are ill prepared for this role. Our study evaluated a school-based, multifaceted asthma program that…

Background: This study explores ways southeast Minnesota schools currently address asthma problems, identifies areas for improvement, and assesses the potential value of asthma action plans (AAPs) in schools. Methods: Focus groups were used to query stakeholder groups on asthma care in schools. Groups were held separately for elementary school…

The idea of school health is re-imagined with an emphasis on the need for children's health programmes to be rooted in an understanding of the social context. Such programmes must address health, nutrition and education in a comprehensive manner. The article details findings and insights emerging from a qualitative study conducted in municipal…

Background: Asthma places a heavy burden on Chicago's schoolchildren, particularly in low-income, minority communities. Recently, our group developed a 10-week afterschool program, the Student Asthma Research Team (START), which successfully engaged high school youth in a Photovoice investigation of factors impacting their asthma at school and in…

Objective: Iron deficiency is associated with impaired dopaminergic signaling and externalizing behavior. The authors examine, whether iron stores in toddlerhood influence later response to psychostimulants. Method: Youth participating in a study monitoring the long-term safety of risperidone were included in this analysis if they had received…

The effects of asthma self-management education for school-age children on number of school days missed, emergency department visits and hospital admissions were evaluated through a systematic review of the published research. A total of 9 studies on asthma education programs that were conducted in schools by school nurses and health educators and…

Children with potentially severe health conditions such as cerebral palsy (CP) are at risk for unmet health care needs. We sought to determine whether children with CP had significantly greater unmet health care needs than children with other special health care needs (SHCN), and whether conditions associated with CP increased the odds of unmet…

Research Findings: Minor illnesses, such as upper respiratory infections, stomachaches, and fevers, have been associated with children's decreased activity and increased irritability. This multi-method investigation of 110 day care-attending children examined whether experience with recurrent, minor illnesses and negative emotionality worked…

Background: With increasing budget cuts to education and social services, rigorous evaluation needs to document school nurses' impact on student health, academic outcomes, and district funding. Methods: Utilizing a quasi-experimental design, we evaluated outcomes in 4 schools with added full-time nurses and 5 matched schools with part-time nurses…

This report presents key statistics relating to: (1) child malnutrition in Africa; (2) HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Africa; (3) child marriage, birth registration and Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C); (4) education in Africa; (5) child mortality in Africa; (6) Drinking water and sanitation in Africa; and (7) maternal health in Africa.…

There is still a pump in the Golden Square neighborhood on what was once called Broad Street. It does not work, for it is merely a replica of the original, and like the original its handle is missing. It serves as a curiously simple monument to the events that took place over one hundred years ago, when the real pump supplied water to the Broad…

Much attention has aided measurement and improvement in the quality of health care during the past two decades, with new ways to define and measure quality, recognition that doing so can identify strategies to enhance care, and systematic efforts by both government and private insurers to apply these principles. In this article, James Perrin…