Organisms Commons^™

Diagnosis Of Urinary Tract Infections And Rapid Molecular Characterization Of Antibiotic Resistance, Mohammed Harris

All Dissertations

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common infectious clinical entities in both community and hospital settings. They have a broad range of clinical severity yet inflict large epidemiological burden of morbidity and mortality on patients and the healthcare system with billions of dollars in cost of treatment. Understanding what methods are optimal for diagnosing UTIs are critical to mitigate the marked impact and cost of these infections.

Chapter 1 and 2 in this work surveys the broad array of diagnostic modalities for UTIs and highlights their advantages and limitations in the context of the current standard of …

Investigating Differences In Iga Antibody Response Against Aspergillus Fumigatus In Wild Type And Tlr7 Protein Deficient Mice, Courtney Folk

Student Academic Conference

Aspergillus fumigatus is a commonly inhaled, respiratory fungal pathogen and an allergen found in flooded indoor environments, household dust, soil, and plant matter. While a competent immune system effectively clears the inhaled fungus, this same fungus poses a significant threat to weakened immune systems due to its potential to invade the lungs, bloodstream and brain tissue. The mouse genome is 99% similar to the human genome and can serve effectively model the effects of inhaled A. fumigatus (Guénet, 2005). Antibodies play a crucial role in neutralizing pathogens and in mediating an allergic response. In this study, we will investigate the …

The Effect Of Fluorouracil On Pathogenic And Non-Pathogenic Oral Microorganisms And Microbial Interactions With Preventative Measures: A Preliminary Study, Valeria Ortiz Jimenez, Lynn Lewis

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

Cancer chemotherapy compromises the patient’s oral health through dysbiosis of oral microbiota and increases the prevalence of dental cavities, gingivitis, oral mucositis, and xerostomia. This research aimed to evaluate the effect of a common chemotherapeutic agent, Fluorouracil (5-FU), on certain microorganisms that are common within the oral cavity. Varying concentrations (50 μM, 75 μM and 100μM) of 5-FU were used to simulate the dosage that reaches the oral cavity after intravenous delivery. The microorganisms tested were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Streptococcus salivarius. These are some of the most common ones found in the …

The Characterization Of The Sars-Cov-2 Receptor Binding Domain Interaction With The Human Ace2 Receptor And Potential Small Molecule Inhibitors, Camryn Carter

Honors Theses

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), was identified in Wuhan, China after numerous patients experienced pneumonia symptoms, but existing medicinal treatments were ineffective.1 The global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus caused an outbreak of the infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which was soon after declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, referred to as the COVID-19 pandemic. According to John Hopkins University, over 1,000,000 people have died from SARS-CoV-2 infection and about 104,000,000 cases have been confirmed in the United States (US). An infection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is caused by the …

The Presence Of Tetracycline-Resistant Bacteria In A Kean University Campus Soil Sample, Esther Blankson, Jessica Kobilas, Gianna Medeiros

Kean Quest

The spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment is a worldwide problem that threatens human health. Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics as the consumption of antibiotics grows. In particular, soil can be contaminated with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. As of today, there is no surveillance system that tracks the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, however, Tufts University aims to change this by implementing the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (PARE) project. The course-based PARE project consists of research students sampling soil in diverse locations and reporting the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The purpose of …

Exploring The Possible Phenomenon Of Viral Interference Between The Novel Coronavirus And Common Respiratory Viruses, Spencer Deleveaux, Alexandria Clarke-Kregor, Xavier Fonseca-Fuentes, Essam Mekhaiel

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

At the peak of the 2021 wave of the SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant in North America, there was concern for a superimposed wave of viral respiratory infections. There was, however, an apparent shift in the usual epidemiology of these pathogens, especially during the traditional influenza season from approximately October 2020 to March 2021. This article seeks to briefly describe the epidemiology of notable respiratory pathogens during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and to focus on one possible factor for the trends observed. There are many contributory elements to the observed viral trends, but in particular, we present a synopsis …

Independent Effects Of Hiv And Antiretroviral Therapy On The Oral Microbiome Identified By Multivariate Analyses, Clifford J. Beall, Elizabeth A. Lilly, Carolina Granada, Kelly Treas, Kenneth R. Dubois, Shahr B. Hashmi, Jose A. Vazquez, Michael E. Hagensee, Ann L. Griffen, Eugene J. Leys, Paul L. Fidel

School of Dentistry Faculty Publications

The oral microbiome is an important predictor of health and disease. We recently reported significant yet modest effects of HIV under highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the oral microbiome (bacterial and fungal) in a large cohort of HIV-positive (HIV+) and matched HIV-negative (HIV-) individuals. As it was unclear whether ART added to or masked further effects of HIV on the oral microbiome, the present study aimed to analyze the effects of HIV and ART independently, which also included HIV- subjects on preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) therapy. Cross-sectional analyses of the effect of HIV devoid of ART (HIV+ ART- versus matched …

Benthic Beasts: The Ecological Significance Of Lake Sturgeon And Blue Catfish In Eastern Appalachian Waterways, Stewart Thacker

Research Day

East Tennessee freshwater ecosystems comprise an abundance of an extremely diverse selection of species. This presentation examines Acipenser fulvescens and Ictalurus furcatus, two of the largest freshwater fish in the Appalachian area, which play significant ecological roles within the benthic dimension of our freshwater environments. Commonly known as “bottom-feeders,” Benthivorous species enjoy a broad range of food sources including other fish, detritus, crustaceans, and more. The extensive variety of food consumed by A. fulvescens and I. furcatus permits population control of other, denser, aquatic populations inhabiting other regions of the water column, as well as other organisms included …

Facile Green Synthesis Of Cinnamomum Tamala Extract Capped Silver Nanoparticles And Its Biological Applications, Sajina Narath, S. Sharath Shankar, Saranya Kothaplamoottil Sivan, Bini George, T. Dennis Thomas, Sankarannair Sabarinath, Sajithkumar K. Jayaprakash, Stanisław Wacławek, Vinod V.T. Padil

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The plant mediated biogenic synthesis of nanoparticles is of magnificent concern due to its eco-benign and single pot nature. Here, Cinnamomum tamala (C. tamala) aqueous leaf extract was utilised for the silver nanoparticles’ (Ag NPs) synthesis. The phytoconstituents in the leaf extract were analysed by standard methods. These metabolites, especially carbohydrate polymers reduce Ag ions to Ag NPs accompanied by a reddish-brown coloration of the reaction mixture. The visual observation of intense brown colour is the first indication of the formation of Ag NPs. Various spectro-analytical techniques further characterise the Ag NPs. The green synthesised spherical Ag NPs were crystalline …

Moerv14 Mediates The Intracellular Transport Of Cell Membrane Receptors To Govern The Appressorial Formation And Pathogenicity Of Magnaporthe Oryzae, Bin Qian, Xiaotong Su, Ziyuan Ye, Xinyu Liu, Muxing Liu, Haifeng Zhang, Ping Wang, Zhengguang Zhang

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Magnaporthe oryzae causes rice blasts posing serious threats to food security worldwide. During infection, M. oryzae utilizes several transmembrane receptor proteins that sense cell surface cues to induce highly specialized infectious structures called appressoria. However, little is known about the mechanisms of intracellular receptor tracking and their function. Here, we described that disrupting the coat protein complex II (COPII) cargo protein MoErv14 severely affects appressorium formation and pathogenicity as the ΔMoerv14 mutant is defective not only in cAMP production but also in the phosphorylation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) MoPmk1. Studies also showed that either externally supplementing cAMP or …

Modeling The Tripartite Role Of Cyclin C In Cellular Stress Response Coordination, Steven J. Doyle

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

For normal cellular function, exogenous signals must be interpreted and careful coordination must take place to ensure desired fates are achieved. Mitochondria are key regulatory nodes of cellular fate, undergoing fission/fusion cycles depending on the needs of the cell, and help mediate cell death fates. The CKM or Cdk8 kinase module, is composed of cyclin C (CC), Cdk8, Med12/12L, and Med13/13L. The CKM controls RNA polymerase II, acting as a regulator of stress-response and growth-control genes. Following stress, CC translocates to the mitochondria and interacts with both fission and iRCD apoptotic mediators. We hypothesize that CC represents a key mediator, …

Investigating The Antibacterial And Immunomodulatory Properties Of Lactobacillus Acidophilus Postbiotics, Rachael M. Wilson

Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Probiotics are nonpathogenic microorganisms that have been extensively studied for their ability to prevent various infectious, gastrointestinal, and autoimmune diseases. The mechanisms underlying these probiotic effects have not been elucidated. However, we and other researchers have evidence suggesting that probiotic bacteria secrete metabolites that are antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. As such, we developed a methodology to collect the secreted metabolites from a probiotic bacterium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and tested this cell free filtrate (CFF) both in vitro and in vivo. Using this CFF, we have demonstrated that L. acidophilus secretes a molecule(s) that has specific bactericidal activity against the opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas …

Challenges In Forecasting Antimicrobial Resistance, Sen Pei, Seth Blumberg, Jaime Cascante Vega, Tal Robin, Yue Zhang, Richard J. Medford, Bijaya Adhikari, Jeffrey Shaman

Research on Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to human health. Since the 2000s, computational tools for predicting infectious diseases have been greatly advanced; however, efforts to develop real-time forecasting models for antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AMROs) have been absent. In this perspective, we discuss the utility of AMRO forecasting at different scales, highlight the challenges in this field, and suggest future research priorities. We also discuss challenges in scientific understanding, access to high-quality data, model calibration, and implementation and evaluation of forecasting models. We further highlight the need to initiate research on AMRO forecasting using currently available data and resources to galvanize the …

Prevalence Of Sars-Cov-2 Antibodies In Liberty University Student Population, Emily Bonus

Senior Honors Theses

In 2020, the virus SARS-CoV-2 gained attention as it spread around the world. Its antibodies are poorly understood, and little research focuses on those with few COVID-19 complications yet large numbers of close contacts: university students. This longitudinal study recorded SARS-CoV-2 antibody presence in 107 undergraduate Liberty University students twice during early 2021. After extensive data cleaning and the application of various statistical tests and ANOVAs, the data seems to show that in the case of COVID-19 infections, SARS-CoV-2 IgM antibodies are immediately produced, and then IgG antibodies follow later. However, the COVID-19 vaccine causes the production of both IgM …

Augmentation Of Bmp Signaling In Cranial Neural Crest Cells Leads To Premature Cranial Sutures Fusion Through Endochondral Ossification In Mice, Hiroki Ueharu, Haichun Pan, Xia Liu, Mamoru Ishii, Jessica Pongetti, Anshul K Kulkarni, Folasade E Adegbenro, Jaden Wurn, Robert E Maxson, Hongchen Sun, Yoshihiro Komatsu, Honghao Zhang, Jingwen Yang, Yuji Mishina

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Craniosynostosis is a congenital anomaly characterized by the premature fusion of cranial sutures. Sutures are a critical connective tissue that regulates bone growth; their aberrant fusion results in abnormal shapes of the head and face. The molecular and cellular mechanisms have been investigated for a long time, but knowledge gaps remain between genetic mutations and mechanisms of pathogenesis for craniosynostosis. We previously demonstrated that the augmentation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling through constitutively active BMP type 1A receptor (caBmpr1a) in neural crest cells (NCCs) caused the development of premature fusion of the anterior frontal suture, leading to craniosynostosis in …

Environmental Enrichment Devices Are Safe And Effective At Reducing Undesirable Behaviors In California Sea Lions And Northern Elephant Seals During Rehabilitation, Kirsten Donald, Amanda Benedetti, Vinícius Donisete Lima Rodrigues Goulart, Alissa Deming, Hendrik Nollens, Grey Stafford, Sabrina Brando

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Environmental enrichment devices (EEDs) have been proven to promote positive wellbeing in zoos and aquariums, and support animals' reintroduction success; however, their use in rehabilitation centers is still limited. This pilot study investigated the safety and efficacy of three EEDs, Artificial Kelp, Horse KONG™ and Wubba Kong™, and their ability to decrease and/or eliminate undesired stereotypic behaviors or looking at staff/staff areas in seven wild California sea lions (CSLs) and eight northern elephant seals (NESs) undergoing rehabilitation in Southern California. Observers conducted instantaneous sampling once a minute during a 30-min baseline, followed by a 30-min EED implementation on one focal …

Decoupling Body Shape And Mass Distribution In Birds And Their Dinosaurian Ancestors, Sophie Macaulay, Tatjana Hoehfurtner, Samuel R.R. Cross, Ryan D. Marek, John R. Hutchinson, Emma R. Schachner, Alice E. Maher, Karl T. Bates

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

It is accepted that non-avian theropod dinosaurs, with their long muscular tails and small forelimbs, had a centre-of-mass close to the hip, while extant birds, with their reduced tails and enlarged wings have their mass centred more cranially. Transition between these states is considered crucial to two key innovations in the avian locomotor system: crouched bipedalism and powered flight. Here we use image-based models to challenge this dichotomy. Rather than a phylogenetic distinction between ‘dinosaurian’ and ‘avian’ conditions, we find terrestrial versus volant taxa occupy distinct regions of centre-of-mass morphospace consistent with the disparate demands of terrestrial bipedalism and flight. …

Potential Mitigation Of Environmental Impacts Of Intensive Plum Production In Southeast China With Maintenance Of High Yields: Evaluation Using Life Cycle Assessment, Xiaojun Yan, Delian Ye, Yafu Tang, Muhammad Atif Muneer, Peter Christie, Congyue Tou, Weidong Xu, Bingrong Shen, Jinxian Xu, Jiangzhou Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Intensive plum production usually involves high yields but also high environmental costs due to excessive fertilizer inputs. Quantitative analysis of the environmental effects of plum production is thereby required in the development of optimum strategies to promote sustainable fruit production.

METHODS: We collected survey questionnaires from 254 plum production farms in Zhao'an county, Fujian province, southeast China to assess the environmental impacts by life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. The farms were categorized into four groups based on yield and environmental impacts, i.e., LL (low yield and low environmental impact), LH (low yield but high environmental impact), HL (high yield …

Topical Anesthetic Gel Interferes With Antibacterial Efficacy Of Povidone-Iodine Both In Vitro And In Vivo, Cecilly Kelleher Bs, Jacob Im Md, Linda Kang Bs, Aleksey Mishulin Md, Sukhvinder Singh Phd, Ashok Kumar Phd

Medical Student Research Symposium

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of viscous lidocaine gel on the antimicrobial efficacy of povidone-iodine (PI) and their order of application in both in vitro and in vivo models.

Methods: In vitro antibacterial effects were tested against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) with disc diffusion methods for application of lidocaine alone, PI alone, PI before lidocaine, and lidocaine before PI. Zones of inhibition were measured after incubation at 37°C overnight. Mouse eyes were colonized with S. aureus for in vivo study to which PI and/or lidocaine were applied in various combinations. Eyes were then rinsed with saline, and …

Longitudinal Ultrasound Imaging And Network Modeling In Rats Reveal Sex-Dependent Suppression Of Liver Regeneration After Resection In Alcoholic Liver Disease, Benjamin K. Barnhart, Toshiki Kan, Ankita Srivastava, Corinne E. Wessner, John Waters, Manju Ambelil, John R. Eisenbrey, Jan B. Hoek, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Liver resection is an important surgical technique in the treatment of cancers and transplantation. We used ultrasound imaging to study the dynamics of liver regeneration following two-thirds partial hepatectomy (PHx) in male and female rats fed via Lieber-deCarli liquid diet protocol of ethanol or isocaloric control or chow for 5–7 weeks. Ethanol-fed male rats did not recover liver volume to the pre-surgery levels over the course of 2 weeks after surgery. By contrast, ethanol-fed female rats as well as controls of both sexes showed normal volume recovery. Contrary to expectations, transient increases in both portal and hepatic artery blood flow …

Mycorrhiza-Mediated Recruitment Of Complete Denitrifying Pseudomonas Reduces N2o Emissions From Soil, Xia Li, Ruotong Zhao, Dandan Li, Guangzhou Wang, Shuikuan Bei, Xiaotang Ju, Ran An, Long Li, Thomas W Kuyper, Peter Christie, Franz S Bender, Ciska Veen, Marcel G A Van Der Heijden, Wim H Van Der Putten, Fusuo Zhang, Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Junling Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are key soil organisms and their extensive hyphae create a unique hyphosphere associated with microbes actively involved in N cycling. However, the underlying mechanisms how AMF and hyphae-associated microbes may cooperate to influence N2O emissions from "hot spot" residue patches remain unclear. Here we explored the key microbes in the hyphosphere involved in N2O production and consumption using amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. Chemotaxis, growth and N2O emissions of isolated N2O-reducing bacteria in response to hyphal exudates were tested using in vitro cultures and inoculation experiments.

Results: AMF hyphae reduced denitrification-derived N2O emission (max. 63%) …

Maize/Peanut Intercropping Has Greater Synergistic Effects And Home-Field Advantages Than Maize/Soybean On Straw Decomposition, Surigaoge Surigaoge, Hao Yang, Ye Su, Yu-He Du, Su-Xian Ren, Dario Fornara, Peter Christie, Wei-Ping Zhang, Long Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: The decomposition of plant litter mass is responsible for substantial carbon fluxes and remains a key process regulating nutrient cycling in natural and managed ecosystems. Litter decomposition has been addressed in agricultural monoculture systems, but not in intercropping systems, which produce species-diverse litter mass mixtures. The aim here is to quantify how straw type, the soil environment and their combined effects may influence straw decomposition in widely practiced maize/legume intercropping systems.

METHODS: Three decomposition experiments were conducted over 341 days within a long-term intercropping field experiment which included two nitrogen (N) addition levels (i.e. no-N and N-addition) and five …

Dpc29 Promotes Post-Initiation Mitochondrial Translation In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Kyle A. Hubble, Michael F. Henry

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Mitochondrial ribosomes synthesize essential components of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) system in a tightly regulated process. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mitochondrial mRNAs require specific translational activators, which orchestrate protein synthesis by recognition of their target gene's 5'-untranslated region (UTR). Most of these yeast genes lack orthologues in mammals, and only one such gene-specific translational activator has been proposed in humans-TACO1. The mechanism by which TACO1 acts is unclear because mammalian mitochondrial mRNAs do not have significant 5'-UTRs, and therefore must promote translation by alternative mechanisms. In this study, we examined the role of the TACO1 orthologue in yeast. We …

Performance Of A Sars-Cov-2 Rt-Pcr Assay With Non-Traditional Specimen Types, Subathra Marimuthu, Holly Aliesky, Heather Ness, Daniya Sheikh, Sathya Rashmit, Dawn Balcom, Leslie A. Wolf

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

During the first two years of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, nasopharyngeal (NP) specimens were the gold standard for clinical diagnostic testing. As information about the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing the pandemic continued to be shared, it was clear that the virus could be detected in other specimen types during an active infection. The University of Louisville Infectious Diseases Laboratory accepted non-traditional specimen types, most without a paired, positive NP result, for research purposes only to support local epidemiology efforts. A real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay originally validated for NP specimens was used …

What? Now A Respiratory Syncytial Virus Epidemic, Aya Allam, Steven B Lippmann

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

No abstract provided.

Endogenous Mirna-Based Innate-Immunity Against Sars-Cov-2 Invasion Of The Brain, Walter J. Lukiw, Aileen I. Pogue

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

The severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19, possesses an unusually large positive-sense, single-stranded viral RNA (ssvRNA) genome of about ~29,903 nucleotides (nt). In many respects, this ssvRNA resembles a very large, polycistronic messenger RNA (mRNA) possessing a 5′-methyl cap (m7GpppN), a 3′- and 5′-untranslated region (3′-UTR, 5′-UTR), and a poly-adenylated (poly-A+) tail. As such, the SARS-CoV-2 ssvRNA is susceptible to targeting by small non-coding RNA (sncRNA) and/or microRNA (miRNA), as well as neutralization and/or inhibition of its infectivity via the human body’s natural complement of about ~2650 miRNA species. Depending on host cell and tissue …

Long-Lasting Chews Elicit Positive Emotional States In Dogs During Short Periods Of Social Isolation, Hannah E Flint, Megan Atkinson, James Lush, Alysia B G Hunt, Tammie King

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Dogs may experience negative emotional states when isolated from human caregivers and conspecifics. This study aimed to evaluate how dogs interact with different enrichments during a short period of social isolation, as a first step towards identifying methods for improving their emotional wellbeing. Using a cross-over design, dogs (n = 20) at the Waltham Petcare Science Institute were exposed to four different food-based enrichments while left alone in a familiar room for 20 min: long-lasting chew (Chew), kibble in a treat-dispensing toy (Toy), and kibble dispensed through a smart treat-dispensing device with (Device + Voice) and without (Device) a …

Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus After Mrna-Based Sars-Cov-2 Vaccination, Sarah Rimmer, Long Ly, Erin Boh

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Implementation Of Mrsa Nasal Swabs As An Antimicrobial Stewardship Intervention To Decrease Anti-Mrsa Therapy In Covid-19 Infection, Alaina Dekerlegand, Emily Johnston, Britney Mellor, Melanie Rae Schrack, Catherine O’Neal

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

In the early stages of treating patients with SARS-CoV-2, limited information was available to guide antimicrobial stewardship interventions. The COVID-19 Task Force and Antimicrobial Stewardship Committee, at a 988-bed academic medical center, implemented the use of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal swab polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to assist with the de-escalation of anti-MRSA therapy in patients with suspected superimposed bacterial pneumonia in COVID-19. A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the impact of MRSA nasal swab PCR testing on the rate of anti-MRSA therapy between 13 April 2020 and 26 July 2020. A total of 122 patients were included …

Investigating Stigma During The Early Stages Of A Pandemic Through The Lens Of Covid-19, Zach Thornton, Bethany Hodge, Sheridan Langford

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: Individuals face stigma associated with numerous health conditions. Stigma can arise rapidly during the early spread of a new disease, adding to the burden felt by those affected. COVID-19 can be used as an example to study stigma during the early phases of a pandemic. This narrative review is a descriptive analysis that tracks the ways in which COVID-19 stigma was discussed in the scholarly literature during the first year of the pandemic to understand how stigma was viewed in the context of a rapidly spreading pandemic.

Methods: PubMed was used as a non-exhaustive sample of the literature. Searches …