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Introduction: Seasonal influenza remains a challenge in the United Arab Emirates, and vaccination is an important preventive measure. However, fear of needles may be an obstacle in vaccination efforts. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine, in a non-clinical sample obtained from the UAE, how much of an impact fear of needles has on the decision to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine. Methods: In the period September-December 2022, 372 participants were surveyed on their willingness to be vaccinated, their level of vaccine knowledge, and their level of fear of needles. Logistic regression models were used to assess the impact of fear of needles and vaccine knowledge on the decision to accept the seasonal influenza vaccine. Results: Fear of needles and vaccine knowledge are significant predictors in the decision to receive the vaccine. There were no gender or ethnic differences in fear of needles, but there were differences in the decision to receive the vaccines, with women and non-Arabs being more hesitant. Conclusion: Fear of needles may be an important variable to account for in public policies designed to improve vaccination rates in the UAE. For public health policy in the UAE, this implies that authorities must dedicate efforts to manage fear of needles in the general population. Efforts to address fear of vaccines in the general population must be made with proper training of nurses. Alternatively, authorities may need to seek oral alternatives for the administration of the seasonal influenza vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The management of the coronavirus pandemic required huge worldwide vaccination efforts. In this endeavour, healthcare workers faced the twofold challenge of reaching remote areas, and persuading people to take the vaccine. As it happens, this is nothing new in the history of medicine. Health workers may indeed continue to take inspiration from Francisco Xavier Balmis, a Spanish physician of the 19th century who realised the importance of Jenner's vaccine against smallpox, and led a successful expedition to administer the vaccines in the Spanish colonial possessions of the Western hemisphere and Asia. This article presents a biographical sketch of Balmis, focusing on his expedition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After being ravished by a bloody civil war in the 1860 s, Venezuela's healthcare system was very precarious. In this context, one particularly bright medical student stood out, José Gregorio Hernández. As part of a program to modernize medicine in Venezuela, José Gregorio was sent on a scholarship to pursue medical studies in Europe. He brought back to Venezuela equipment and medical knowledge in bacteriology and pathophysiology. This was instrumental in laying the foundations for major healthcare modernization in Venezuela. Throughout his life, José Gregorio negotiated his intense Catholic faith, with his scientific leanings as a physician. His untimely tragic death in 1919 elevated him to a saintly status amongst Venezuelans. Consequently, his image became a powerful symbol for practitioners of prescientific medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses some convergences in Rene Girard and Anton LaVey's understandings of Satan. Rene Girard understood Satan as the representation of both mimetic desire and the scapegoat mechanism, both of which have detrimental influences on human culture. In that sense, in continuation with Christian orthodoxy, Girard did not find any positive aspect in Satanism. By contrast, Anton LaVey had a more positive approach to Satan. LaVey was an unsophisticated Nietzschean, who nevertheless understood well that the German philosopher's views were not dissimilar to what Satan represents. Rene Girard's understanding of who (or what) Satan is, makes this clearer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]