Seqirus Presents Key Insights on Influenza Vaccines at the Canadian Immunization Conference 2020
Absolute Efficacy of Cell-Based Influenza Vaccines in Children Aged 2 to 18 Years, Impact of COVID-19 on Canadians' Views of Influenza, Among Data Being Presented
MONTREAL, Dec. 2, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - Seqirus, a global leader in influenza prevention, is presenting key research at the Canadian Immunization Conference 2020 (CIC) contributing to Canadian public health professionals' knowledge of influenza vaccines, including data on cell-based vaccine technologies and insights on how COVID-19 is affecting Canadians' views of seasonal influenza vaccinations.
Seqirus is presenting absolute efficacy data on its cell-based quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIVc) from a randomized controlled trial (RCT).1 In the study, QIVc met its primary endpoint, indicating that it is effective and could produce a sufficient immune response against influenza in children and adolescents between ≥2 to <18 years of age over three influenza seasons in the Southern (2017) and Northern (2017/18 and 2018/19) Hemispheres. This represents the first absolute efficacy study of a cell-based influenza vaccine in this population.2
"Seqirus data being presented at CIC is significant, particularly the QIVc study, which demonstrated absolute efficacy in children and adolescents between two and 18 years of age, showing consistent benefit across three seasons, two continents and eight countries," said Bertrand Roy, Ph.D., Country Head Medical Affairs Canada at Seqirus.
"I am pleased that Seqirus is sharing data at CIC 2020 showing absolute efficacy of our QIVc vaccine among those aged 2 to 18," said Gillian Stafford, Canada Commercial Director, Seqirus. "FLUCELVAX® received Health Canada approval almost a year ago and this is the first influenza season it is available – privately across Canada and publicly in Ontario's influenza vaccination program. Data such as these reinforce the safety and efficacy of cell-based vaccine technology for prevention of seasonal influenza, which is particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic."
Highlights from Other Seqirus Presentations:
Acceptability of a Publicly Funded Cell-based Influenza Vaccine with Improved Effectiveness3
Health care professionals are more likely to recommend and consumers are more likely to receive a cell-based influenza vaccine. This is likely a contributing factor to raising the current vaccination rate over 38.3 per cent. A total of 1,000 Canadian adults were surveyed between April 3-9, 2019. Fifty four per cent of consumers would receive a cell-based influenza vaccine and 90 per cent of health care professionals would recommend it, if available for free.
COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Patient Attitudes About the Influenza Season and Vaccination4
As COVID-19 continues to circulate, this influenza season is different from past seasons, with new challenges.[5] Seqirus sought to understand how Canadians perceive seasonal influenza amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and assess how these perceptions may increase or decrease their getting the seasonal influenza vaccine. A total of 1,493 adult Canadians were surveyed between June 15-21, 2020. Up to 58 per cent of Canadians surveyed indicated they are planning to get an influenza vaccine this season (up from 42 per cent during the 2018-2019 influenza season).6 Also, 40 per cent of those surveyed said they could tell the difference between influenza and COVID-19 symptoms.
Achieving Influenza Vaccine Uptake Target in Canada via a Pharmacy-led Telephone Discussion During the 2019-2020 Season7
This real-world quality improvement program showed that a short and practical pharmacy intervention (pharmacy staff telephoned adults to recommend influenza vaccination) in three provinces (B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan) was able to reach the World Health Organization's (WHO) influenza immunization target of 75 per cent for older adults.8 With the immunization issues during a pandemic, this program may be able to ensure higher levels of seasonal influenza vaccination within the community. Out of 643 adults contacted, 485 scheduled an appointment to receive the influenza vaccine in response to the pharmacy intervention, representing influenza coverage of 75.4 per cent.
About Seasonal Influenza
Influenza is a common, contagious seasonal respiratory disease and can cause mild to severe illness, which can result in hospitalization or death. Adults may spread influenza to others from 1 day before symptoms begin to approximately 5 days after symptoms start. Children and people with weakened immune systems may be infectious longer.9
Influenza is related to an average of 12,200 hospitalizations and approximately 3,500 deaths each year in Canada.10Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends annual influenza vaccination for all individuals six months of age and older. Further, NACI recommends the inclusion of all children between 6 and 59 months of age among the particularly recommended recipients of influenza vaccine.11
NACI recommends that healthcare providers in Canada offer the seasonal influenza vaccine as soon as feasible after it becomes available in the fall, since seasonal influenza activity may start as early as October in the Northern Hemisphere.12
About Seqirus
Seqirus is part of CSL Limited (ASX: CSL). As one of the largest influenza vaccine providers in the world, Seqirus is a major contributor to the prevention of influenza globally and a transcontinental partner in pandemic preparedness. With state-of-the-art production facilities in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and leading R&D capabilities, Seqirus utilizes egg, cell and adjuvant technologies to offer a broad portfolio of differentiated influenza vaccines in more than 20 countries around the world.
About CSL
CSL (ASX:CSL) is a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of life-saving medicines, including those that treat hemophilia and immune deficiencies, as well as vaccines to prevent influenza. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL – including our two businesses, CSL Behring and Seqirus – provides life-saving products to more than 100 countries and employs more than 27,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For more information about CSL Limited, visit www.csl.com.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future results, performance or achievements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risks and uncertainties. Given these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
1
Fortanier, A.C., Põder, A., Bravo, L.C., et al. (2020). Efficacy of Cell-Derived Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine in Prevention of Clinical Influenza in Children 2 to <18 Years of Age: Results of a Randomised Controlled Trial. Presented at CIC.
2
Fortanier, A.C., Põder, A., Bravo, L.C., et al. (2020). Efficacy of Cell-Derived Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine in Prevention of Clinical Influenza in Children 2 to <18 Years of Age: Results of a Randomised Controlled Trial. Presented at CIC.
3
Stafford, G., Beauchamp, P. (2019). Acceptability of a Publicly Funded Cell-based Influenza Vaccine with Improved Effectiveness. Presented at CIC.
4
Murray Perrault, K., Beauchamp, P. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic Impact on Patient Attitudes About the Influenza Season and Vaccination. Presented at CIC.
Strain, W.D., Boivin, M., Mansi, J., Boikos, C., Fisher, W. (2020). Achieving Influenza Vaccine Uptake Target in Canada via a Pharmacy-led Telephone Discussion During the 2019-2020 Season. Presented at CIC.
Connected Nation Provides Answers to Telehealth Questions, Concerns as Use Surges During Pandemic
Lansing, MI. (December 2, 2020) –Connected Nation (CN), through its state program Connected Nation Michigan (CN Michigan), is offering FREE telehealth resources to help individuals and families navigate options offered by their doctor’s offices and area hospitals. These include answers to common questions and concerns identified in a CN Michigan study, done in partnership with AARP and the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, that examined telehealth over a six-month period.
“We released the study in late February 2020 just days before the first pandemic closures. In it, we identified some of the barriers to accessing the technology needed for telehealth and the concerns some patients raised about using the technology,” said Eric Frederick, Executive Director, CN Michigan. “As you can imagine, in the months that followed there was a massive surge in telehealth use to both limit exposure to Covid-19 and to help healthcare systems handle an influx of patients. During this time, we’ve continued to work on developing new resources to address the concerns raised about leveraging telehealth.”
Those concerns include whether insurance covers telehealth visits, questions about protecting a patient’s privacy while using online applications, securing devices used for your records, and having the internet needed to even use the technology. These resources can be found at connectednation.org/telehealth.
“We invited healthcare providers to share details on how they’re leveraging these health applications to better monitor patients as well as how they approach patient privacy and usage. We also talked with patients and doctors who are actually using these telehealth applications,” said Jessica Denson, Communications Director, Connected Nation. “We then created a series of short videos and easy-to-download resources that address concerns and provide a better understanding of how to leverage this technology which can help improve the quality of care as well as access to healthcare especially in rural areas that lack the same options found in urban settings.”
Older Women and Minorities areIntegral to Healing Divided Country
New York, NY, December 2, 2020 — Now that America has voted in Joe Biden, who will be the oldest president ever in the U.S., and Kamala Harris, who will be the first woman—and of color—as vice president, what message is Biden’s team sending by nominating 74-year-old Janet Yellin for U.S. treasury secretary and 68-year-old Linda Thomas-Greenfield as Ambassador to the United Nations? With a clear stand on age and gender, Erica Baird and Karen E. Wagner, two successful lawyers (now retired) and cofounders of Lustre.net, an online community aimed at redefining the stereotypes of retirement for modern career women, share six tips each for Biden and Harris as they further shape their cabinet for the country:
For President-Elect Biden: 1. Deploy the advantages of your age. You have many decades of political and personal experience that allow you to think big. 2. Listen to our cohort when an issue affects people 65 and over. 3. Listen to our cohort when an issue affects people 65 and under. 4. Apply your problem-solving skills to give the people what they need. Most Americans, whoever they voted for, want the same things: an end to COVID, a good job, an excellent education for their children, a secure home and three meals a day, not necessarily in that order. 5. Use your gentle diplomatic approach to bring us together. Older people remember a “United States,” and our hope is that our country can still be a nation undivided. 6. Call on older women. We shouldn’t be dismissed. We’re an untapped demographic with huge intellectual and buying power that we typically don’t flaunt. We are here to enhance.
For Vice President-Elect Harris: 1. Diversity brings strength. Remember that diversity includes age. 2. Pay heed to those politicians who learned to be effective by listening to their adversaries. 3. Keep employing style to convey how a woman exercises power. 4. Channel the power of women to bring about a stronger America. 5. Break the stereotype that assertive women are “bitchy.” 6. Encourage Biden to bring younger and older Americans together to serve the country.
Lustre.net is an online forum founded by Erica Baird and Karen Wagner, two New York City retired attorneys. Together, Baird and Wagner are on a mission to redefine retirement for modern career women by confronting outdated concepts, defying stereotypes and raising our collective voices to ensure that retirement for all of us is shaped by women, for women. Baird and Wagner want women to “tap into our experiences and passions, forge new identities and find new purpose—and pass on what we know to the next generation.”
Doctors recommend health-care workers, first responders, LTC be first to receive COVID vaccine
TORONTO, Dec. 2, 2020 /CNW/ - Supplies of COVID-19 vaccines will likely be limited and staggered for several months after receiving Health Canada approval. Difficult decisions will have to be made about who gets the first vaccines.
Ontario's doctors recommend that those at highest risk of contracting COVID-19 should be vaccinated in the first phase, including physicians and other health-care workers, as well as older adults living in long-term care or retirement facilities.
Physicians and other health-care workers experience significantly higher than average exposure to COVID-19. As of Nov. 26, 9,037 health sector workers had contracted COVID-19, almost 10 per cent of the total number of confirmed cases in Ontario.
Health-care workers need to remain healthy both to care for COVID patients and to continue clearing the pandemic deficit of delayed and deferred health-care services.
"When front-line health-care workers catch COVID, who will take care of everyone else?" asked Dr. Samantha Hill, president of the Ontario Medical Association. "You don't send soldiers to war without defences. You don't send firefighters into a fire without all the protection you can muster. When there was no vaccine, doctors did what we had to do to so we could care for our patients, but many personal support workers, nurses, doctors and other front-line workers paid a high price. We must learn from the last year, and from the world. When health-care systems and workers are overwhelmed, the mortality from COVID rises exponentially. We cannot allow that to happen."
Other groups of people who need to be prioritized for receiving the vacation in subsequent phases include:
Critical infrastructure workers at high risk of exposure (people who work in transit, grocery stores and food production)
Teachers and school staff
People living in shelters, group homes, prisons, or similar communal living facilities as well as their staff
All older adults not included in Phase 1
"We're encouraged that several vaccines appear close to being approved, but it's critical that planning and related communications begin now, so we are ready to start administering them as soon as they become available," said OMA CEO Allan. "Ontario's doctors will work with the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Task Force to ensure the ethical, timely and effective distribution of COVID vaccines in Ontario."
About the OMA
The Ontario Medical Association represents Ontario's 43,000-plus physicians, medical students and retired physicians, advocating for and supporting doctors while strengthening the leadership role of doctors in caring for patients. Our vision is to be the trusted voice in transforming Ontario's health-care system.
SOURCE Ontario Medical Association
Courageous Kids Must Save Santa in Time for Christmas
New York, NY, Dec. 2, 2020 — Amid the backdrop of an overindulgent culture and waning Christmas spirit, one company, Eastern Industries, is uniquely poised to monopolize the attention of children with the launch of its latest video game. But things have gotten way out of hand. Santa is missing, the North Pole is in a state of chaos, and Christmas may not happen at all! With the holiday traditions of the world hanging in the balance, can a team of intrepid youngsters drawn from the Naughty List, some toy soldiers and living snowmen save the day?
Author Thomas Conway sets the stage for worldwide adventure in The Naughty List, his imaginative, modern Christmas tale that blends elements of pop culture with the age-old tradition of Santa Claus. The story begins at a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade without Santa, where toy manufacturer Eastern Industries has just released a new holiday marketing scheme, which keeps kids glued to their devices and drains everyone’s holiday spirit. With Christmas fast approaching and Santa nowhere in sight, a team of daring youngsters recruited from Santa’s Naughty List aim to rescue Santa and save the holiday.
While primarily a Santa tale, The Naughty List cleverly incorporates Winter holiday beliefs from around the world, including the legend of Marduk, a Babylonian god; the Roman feast of Saturnalia; the epic story of Jangar from North Asia; Moravian traditions of animal communication; and the present real-life adventures of Israeli Santa Claus, Nicola Abdou.
Also sprinkled with references to holiday favorites such as Miracle on 34th Street, T’was the Night Before Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and others, this wonderfully rich tale promotes right over wrong, good over evil and love over fear.
Suitable for all ages, The Naughty List skillfully weaves valuable lessons about overindulgence and society’s tendency to put labels on children, with the overarching theme that when kids misbehave they should not be defined by their bad deeds but rather see it as a learning opportunity, since when we appreciate the best in humanity and combine our talents, we are capable of almost anything.
The Naughty List, winner of the 2020 Indie Book Award in the E-Book Fiction category, is the first release from Thomas Conway. His 30-year career spans various industries. When not at work, he devotes his time to environmental matters and inventing stories for his two children.
Spirit of Christmas Shines through in Uplifting, Small-Town Romance
Nashville, TN, Dec. 2, 2020 — Build a crackling fire, pour a cup of cocoa and immerse yourself in the holiday spirit with Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy, a heartwarming, small-town romance from Hallmark Publishing author Janice Lynn.
Set in the charming little town of Pine Hill, Kentucky, Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy introduces readers to quilt shop owner Sophie Davis and former Marine Cole Aaron, whose lives intersect at Pine Hill's Christmas festivities.
The story begins when Sophie finds Cole’s journal among a box of books that had been donated to her church. She can’t help but peruse the personal entries, finding herself drawn to the stranger on the pages. As the daughter of a veteran and a seamstress who sews Quilts of Valor, she feels a deep connection to the former soldier who wrote the emotional entries, and she longs to heal his heart.
As a former Marine, Cole battled to find peace after returning to civilian life, and his journal was the conduit toward a truce with his past. Always needing to protect others, Cole now fights fires and is embracing his new life in Pine Hill. When Sophie shows up at the fire hall with his journal, he fears digging up the demons from his past and tells her to trash it.
Their paths continue to intertwine, with both Sophie and Cole volunteering for their community. But it’s hard for Cole to let down his guard, and he doesn’t need anyone’s pity. After all he’s been through in the past, can he find faith in a more hopeful future — one touched by joy?
Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy is the perfect small-town Christmas romance to warm readers’ hearts during the holiday season. It is the sequel to Janice’s first story, Wrapped Up in Christmas, and can also stand alone.
Janice Lynn is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She strives to write characters who evoke strong emotions and make readers want to go along on their journeys.
Her first sweet romance, Wrapped Up in Christmas, was a bestseller on Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Amazon (hit No. 13 overall in paid fiction in Kindle) and ibooks (hit number No. 1 paid ebook fiction); was Hallmark Publishing's first release to hit the USA TODAY and Wall Street Journal's bestseller lists; and was a finalist in the Bookseller's Best Award. Janice also writes contemporary Medical Romances for Harlequin, and her books have won numerous awards, including the National Readers' Choice Award, the Golden Quill for Best Short contemporary Romance and for Best First Book, Romantic Times Magazine's American Title, and the Holt Medallion Award of Merit.
Janice lives in Tennessee with her Prince Charming, their seven kids, her vivid imagination, an adorable Maltese named Halo who's the true princess of the house and a bunch of unnamed dust bunnies who took up permanent residence after Janice started her writing career. In addition to writing romance, Janice is a nurse practitioner, a quilter, an exercise queen, a military mama and a member of and an avid supporter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Just kidding on the exercise queen.
Home Opens the Door to Healing After Devastating Loss
Santa Rosa, CA, Dec. 2, 2020 — In the wee hours of October 9, 2017, the disoriented and panic-stricken Barnes family, with two little boys in tow, frantically scrambled to evacuate their Santa Rosa, California, home. Smoke burned their lungs. Ash stung their eyes. Nearby fires raged, engulfing homes as howling winds fed the flames. In the end, the Tubbs Fire, deemed one of the most destructive wildfires in California history, destroyed more than 5,643 homes, including the Barnes’.
They returned to the lot where their house once stood, to gain closure and confront the harsh reality that the house was truly gone. But seeing the empty lot had a profound — and lasting — impact on 7-year-old Brett.
When her search for relatable, child-centric resources to augment Brett’s recovery came up short, mother Carrie Lee Barnes used her family’s experiences to inform her compelling, inspirational book, Home: A Story of Resilience and Healing. Told from a child’s perspective, Home is one little boy’s account of the abrupt and devastating loss of his house and his emotional journey toward discovering the true meaning of home. Written primarily for young children from ages 3 to 7, Home is an uplifting story intended to bring hope and healing in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
“My goal is for this book to help comfort children as they find their new normal after the loss of their home due to any circumstance,” Barnes says. “When I read Home to my little ones, they immediately saw themselves in the story. It opened up a forum for dialogue and healing for my boys and allowed them to feel a part of something bigger.”
With wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters happening more and more frequently, it’s important for children to have age-appropriate resources for coping. Home is Barnes’ heartfelt contribution to this very worthy cause.
“My hope for Home is that it provides a much needed glimpse at an ending for natural disaster victims,” Barnes adds. “There is a moment when you find peace in the constants of the people you love who are around you every day. We need to find our center, the place we call home, in our human connections.”
Author Carrie Lee Barnes is a stay-at-home mom who previously trained surgeons on advanced robotic technology in the operating room. Home was written to help victims of natural disasters, especially children, who are emotionally affected by the loss of their home. She lives with her husband and two sons in Santa Rosa, California.
Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards recently recognized Home with a gold medal in the category of Best First Book: Picture Book.
Overcome Overeating—During the Holidays and Throughout the Year
San Francisco, CA, December 2, 2020 — Candied sweet potatoes. Egg nog. Mac ‘n’ cheese. Stuffing. Pumpkin pie. Traditional holiday meals are resplendent with taste-of-home fare that’s easy to overeat. Based on original research by holistic nutrition researcher Deborah Kesten, M.P.H., and behavioral scientist Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D., Whole Person Integrative Eating offers in-depth insights into the reasons we overeat and gain weight, and a science-backed, step-by-step dietary lifestyle that can halt—even reverse—overeating and weight gain during the holidays—and throughout the year.
“Now is the time to ‘reset’ and rethink what and how we eat; to replace traditional dieting with a scientifically sound way of eating that lessens overeating and that leads naturally to weight loss, health, and healing,” says Kesten.
In their award-winning book, Whole Person Integrative Eating: A Breakthrough Dietary Lifestyle to Treat the Root Causes of Overeating, Overweight, and Obesity, authors Kesten and Scherwitz share a simple yet powerful premise: Identify the reasons you overeat (your overeating styles) and gain weight—with the illuminating self-assessment quiz—then overcome overeating and lose weight by replacing your overeating styles with the antidotes: the elements of the Whole Person Integrative Eating program.
By shedding light on the root causes of overeating, Kesten and Scherwitz present a program that empowers readers with a personalized plan, and in turn new hope and new choices to help them reduce overeating, lose weight and keep it off.
WPIE is not a diet that a person goes on … then off. It is a scientifically sound, dietary lifestyle designed to be practiced for a lifetime.
"If people follow the revolutionary program outlined in this game-changing, insightful book, it may be the most helpful step they can take toward losing weight and keeping it off," says bestselling author Kenneth Pelletier, M.D., clinical professor of medicine at University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco.
The authors’ paradigm-shifting message is that food influences not only the physical dimensions of health, but also our emotional, spiritual and social well-being. Their dietary lifestyle can build bridges between the millions who struggle with overeating and weight issues and the medical community. And it can inspire us all to re-envision our relationships with food, eating and weight, so that each time we eat, we are nourished … for life.
Deborah Kesten, M.P.H.,is an international nutrition researcher, award-winning author and medical/health writer, with a specialty in preventing and reversing obesity and heart disease. She served as Nutritionist on Dean Ornish, M.D.’s first clinical trial for reversing heart disease through lifestyle changes, the results of which were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. She has served as Director of Nutrition at cardiovascular clinics in Europe and on the Board of Directors of the American Heart Association, San Francisco.
Kesten has published more than 400 nutrition and health articles. Her first book, Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul, received the first-place gold award in the Spirituality category from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Whole Person Integrative Eating has been honored with the No.1 gold, best-book award in the Health category by Book Excellence Awards and is a No. 1 Amazon best seller. Kesten is a VIP Contributor at Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global, and is married to behavioral scientist and co-author of Whole Person Integrative Eating, Larry Scherwitz, Ph.D.
Great for the Holidays, Kid’s Book Celebrates Diversity, Equality and Blended Families
New York, NY, Dec. 1, 2020 — Celebrating the subject of the blended family and diversity is a great new book for kids that teaches them sensitive subjects like race and equality, which we know are permeating the airwaves and social media. Gold Mom’s Choice Award-winner and authorNadine Haruni is addressing these hot button issues with acceptance and understanding in Freeda the Frog& Her New Blue Family. Appropriate for ages 3 to 11 (pre-K to Grade 3), the book encourages children (and their parents) to be sensitive to people of all different racial, ethnic, religious and gender backgrounds—and to celebrate the blended family.
Green tadpoles Frannie and Frank are surprised and filled with questions when they first meet blue frog Samson and his blue son Jack. Why are they blue and not green like them? Why is Freeda going to marry Samson? Will their new blue stepfather be replacing their green biological father? Will they get along with their new blue step-tadpole? Their momma, Freeda, encourages them to get to know the blue frogs. Before long, the tadpoles discover that Samson and Jack are just like them: really cool amphibians! While spending time with the blue frogs, the green tadpoles learn a lifetime lesson: a frog is who they are on the inside, not to be judged by the color of their skin.
The Freeda the Frogseries serves as a tool to help parents, educators and school counselors open up conversations about difficult topics with children in an upbeat and non-scary way. Toward that goal, each book offers discussion questions at the end. The entire series has been leveled for the schools to align with National Education standards, and all five books in the series have a Readers’ Favorite 5-star review and the Gold Mom’s Choice Award for excellence in the family-friendly picture book category.
“We are happy to award deserving books like Freeda the Frog & Her New Blue Family,” says Dawn Matheson, CEO, Mom’s Choice Awards. “Our panel of judges really felt this book merited a place on our list of the best in family-friendly products that parents and educators can feel confident in using.”
Future topics for Freeda and her tadpoles to explore include adoption, Special Needs kids, a new baby sibling and a parent returning to work. Each book reinforces Nadine Haruni’s mission of “helping families of all species, one tadpole at a time.”
Author Nadine Haruni has gone through a divorce herself and is now the mother of five kids in a blended family. She has appeared on TV, radio, print, online and does virtual storytime events across the country. Haruni has also created a lesson plan inspired by her books for Garden State Equality in New Jersey, her home state. For more information, please visit www.freedathefrog.com.
Freeda the Frog& Her New Blue Family
Publisher: Mascot Books
Hardcover / $14.95
ISBN: 978-1-68401-132-2
###
NEWLY RELEASED STUDY REVEALS HEALTH BENEFITS OF EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS
In a new study done by CertaPet of 298 people from nine different countries, 100% of participants reported that their quality of life had noticeably improved with an ESA (emotional support animal) dog. 95% of participants said they would get another ESA. The other 5% said they would prefer a service dog instead, which is afforded even more protections and accomodations than an ESA.
99.29% felt an increased sense of security and activity levels
98.93% reported an increased zest for life
98.58% reported an increased sense of motivation in everyday life
94.4% mentioned less generalized anxiety disorders
88.89% experienced a reduction in panic attacks
88.89% felt able to resume education, work, or training
83.33% felt an improvement in compulsive thoughts
77.78% felt an improvement in compulsive acts
This positive news is echoed in another recent study done by PLOS on human-animal relationships during COVID-19 lockdown. They found that having a pet led to smaller decreases in mental health, and smaller increases in loneliness, regardless of the type of animal they had.
Licensed mental health professional, Prairie Conlon LPC, NPC, & Clinical Director of CertaPet, says: "This profound study demonstrates what those in the animal-assisted therapy space have long known: that having a pet can drastically increase your quality of life. ESA's are often frowned upon by society or disregarded as pseudoscience, but this research shows how valuable they actually are."
Emotional support animals are protected in the United States under the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act - those with ESA's are afforded accommodations during air travel as well as in rental properties. This means someone cannot be denied or charged a fee for having their ESA with them on a domestic flight or when living in an apartment. Please feel free to use the research or infographics with proper citation and link. For more information or to request CertaPet/Prairie for an interview, please contact press@one.pet. Thanks! ABOUT CERTAPETCertaPet is the #1 Emotional Support Letter Service, and is 100% compliant with all State and Federal regulations. If qualified, a client goes through a guided process that involves a free screening, a licensed therapist session, and a customer support team dedicated to providing all necessary information. ABOUT PRAIRIE CONLONPrairie is a licensed mental health professional and is considered the world’s leading expert on Emotional Support Animals. She is the Clinical Director of Therapetic and consults for CertaPet, one of the largest telehealth companies in the nation. Prairie has a Master’s Degree in professional counseling and a Postgraduate Degree in Military Behavioral health counseling. She is certified as an equine assisted psychotherapist. Prairie is a certified Accelerated Resolution Therapist and helps train future trauma therapist in this modality. She consults for several nonprofits for veterans and first responder trauma, including The Lone Survivor Foundation and Horses that Heal.
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