Institute for Biosecurity

An assessment of the uptake of seasonal influenza, pertussis, and hepatitis A vaccines among childcare staff, administrators, and parents of children in childcare.

In addition, staff and parental support for a staff mandatory vaccination policy or agency certification program were assessed.

Publications related to this project:

• Rebmann, T., Wang, J., Wilson, K. D., Gilbertson, P., and Wakefield, M. (2016). Parents’ and staff’s support for a childcare agency employee mandatory vaccination policy or agency certification program. American Journal of Infection Control, 44: 799-804. PMCID: 27021508.
• Rebmann, T., Arnold, L.D., Elliott, M.B., Gilbertson, P.G., and Wakefield, M. (2016). Vaccination for child clients and employees in St. Louis childcare agencies: Vaccine uptake and policies versus parents' perceptions. American Journal of Infection Control, 44(9), 1010-1015. PMCID: 27238943.
• Rebmann, T., Baskin, C. R., Loux, T. M., and Wakefield, M. (2016). Uptake and attitudes regarding Hepatitis A vaccine among childcare center staff, administrators, and parents. Public Health, S0033-3506(16), 30181-30190. DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2016.07.012.
• Rebmann, T., Loux, T. M., and Daly, B. (in press). Uptake and attitudes regarding seasonal influenza vaccination among childcare center staff, administrators, and parents. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

Contact: Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC, professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Institute for Biosecurity.

An assessment of the impact of an educational intervention for school nurses on Missouri K-12 schools for their preparedness related to naturally occurring and man-made biological events, such as bioterrorism, outbreaks of emerging pathogens and pandemics.

Publications related to this project:

• Rebmann, T., Elliott, M. B., Artman, D., VanNatta, M., and Wakefield, M. (2016). Impact of an education intervention on Missouri K-12 school disaster and biological event preparedness. Journal of School Health, 86(11): 794-802. DOI: 10.1111/josh.12435

• Rebmann, T., Kunerth, A., K., Zelicoff, A., Elliott, M. B., and Wieldt, H. F. (2016). Missouri K12 school collection and reporting of syndromic surveillance data: A cross sectional study. BMC Public Health, 16(103), 1-7. PMCID: PMC4736256

Contact: Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC, professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Institute for Biosecurity.

With this project, we aimed to assess and increase the knowledge of health care personnel related to the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for Ebola and other emerging infectious diseases.

• Rebmann, T., and Carrico, R. (in press). Consistent infection prevention practices: Protecting patients and nurses during routine and emerging infectious diseases care. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Invited article.

Contact: Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC, professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Institute for Biosecurity.

An assessment of the extent to which Missouri school nurses engage in presenteeism related to influenza-like illness symptoms (i.e., working while ill).

• Rebmann, T., Turner, J. A., and Kunerth, A. K. (2016). Presenteeism attitudes and behavior among Missouri Kindergarten to twelfth grade (K12) school nurses. Journal of School Nursing, 1-9. DOI: 10.1177/1059840516637651. PMCID: 27026665.

Contact: Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC, professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Institute for Biosecurity.

An assessment of the general public’s expectations of hospitals to provide non-medical resources to the uninjured during disasters.

In particular, this study aimed to determine the extent to which racial disparities exist regarding the general public’s expectations of hospitals, as was first identified in an earlier study.

• Charney, R. L., Rebmann, T., Dalawari, P, and Endrizal, A. (in press). The general public’s expectations of hospitals to provide resources and services to the uninjured during disasters: A qualitative study. Health Security.
• Charney, R. L., Rebmann, T., Endrizal, A., and Dalawari, P. (in press). The general public’s attitudes and beliefs regarding resource management, collaboration, and community assistance centers during disasters. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness.
• Charney, R.L., Rebmann, T., Esguerra, C.R., Lai, C.W., Dalawari, P. (2013). Public expectations for nonemergency hospital resources and services during disasters. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 7, 167-174. PMCID: 24618168
• Charney, R.L., Rebmann, T., Esguerra, C.R., Lai, C.W., Dalawari, P. (2013). Public perceptions of hospital responsibilities to those presenting without medical injury or illness during a disaster. Journal of Emergency Medicine, 45(4), 578-583. PMCID: 23845529

Contact: Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC, professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Institute for Biosecurity.

With this project, we aimed to increase awareness and knowledge of National Library of Medicine (NLM) resources among public health professionals, health officials, emergency responders and reference librarians through a train-the-trainer format, and evaluate the impact of this education on individual competence.

This project provided multi-disciplinary workshops that enhance participants’ understanding and skills in using NLM resources, including WISER, REMM, CHEMM, TOXNET, MedlinePlus, and the National Library of Medicine Disaster Information Management Center.

The primary aim was to increase the capability of Missouri emergency managers, disaster planners, public health professionals and reference librarians to access accurate and evidence-based information on various disasters.

Publications related to this project:

• Works in progress

Contact: Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC, professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director of the Institute for Biosecurity.