Public Health Commons^™

Results Of Duet: A Web-Based Weight Loss Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial Among Cancer Survivors And Their Chosen Partners, Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Robert A Oster, Tracy E Crane, Laura Q Rogers, W Walker Cole, Harleen Kaur, David Farrell, Kelsey B Parrish, Hoda J Badr, Kathleen Y Wolin, Dori W Pekmezi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Simple Summary

Effective and scalable diet, exercise, and weight management interventions are needed for primary cancer prevention in the general public, as well as for cancer control and tertiary prevention among the growing population of cancer survivors. A 6-month online intervention, entitled “Daughters, dUdes, mothErs, and others Together” (DUET), was designed to promote weight loss, a healthful diet, and increased physical activity among cancer survivors and their chosen partners. Fifty-six cancer survivor-partner dyads (n = 112 participants in total) were recruited into a randomized controlled trial that compared DUET to a waitlist control. The trial surpassed all feasibility endpoints …

Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychology: Insights And Lessons Learned During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nicole M Schneider, Dara M Steinberg, Andrea M Garcia, Jessy Guler, Emily Mudd, A Monica Agoston, Katherine N Schwartzkopf, Kristin A Kullgren, Laura Judd-Glossy

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

COVID-19 has presented a variety of challenges to the provision of psychology services. In the first month of the pandemic, pediatric consultation-liaison (CL) psychologists reported significant changes in methodology of service delivery (Steinberg et al. in Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol 9:1, 2020). To better understand how and if these changes persisted, as well as other emerging trends, a follow-up study examined changes and challenges six months into the pandemic. An anonymous questionnaire assessed topics related to pediatric CL psychology including practice changes, perception of changes, and institutional support. The questionnaire was sent to the APA Society of Pediatric Society's special …

Content Analysis Of American Network News Coverage Of Prevention Strategies During The Initial Wave Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cary M Cain, Nipa Kamdar, Rachael Veldman, Shahereez Budhwani, Patrick O'Mahen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Broadcast media is a method to communicate health information to the general public and has previously been used in prior public health emergencies. Despite the current ubiquity of social media, traditional news programming retains relatively large audiences, which increased during the COVID-19 pandemic's early days. Viewership of broadcast media networks' evening news skews toward older groups (age 65 and up) which were vulnerable to health complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The current study explored the trends in American broadcast network news media coverage of prevention during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DESIGN: Quantitative content analysis …

Covid-19 Induced Environments, Health-Related Quality Of Life Outcomes And Problematic Behaviors: Evidence From Children With Syndromic Autism Spectrum Disorders, Corneliu Bolbocean, Kayla B Rhidenour, Maria Mccormack, Bernhard Suter, J Lloyd Holder

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Between July 2020 and January 2021, 230 principal caregivers completed a questionnaire to measure proxy-assessed health-related quality of life outcomes (HRQoL), behavioral outcomes in children with syndromic autism spectrum disorders and COVID-19 induced changes to lifestyle and environments. HRQoL and behavioral outcomes reported earlier during the pandemic were generally worse compared to those reported later. COVID-19 induced reduction to a caregiver's mental health appointments, and hours spent watching TV were associated with decreases in HRQoL and increased the likelihood of problematic behaviors. Increasing time outdoors and time away from digital devices were positively associated with HRQoL and behaviors and might …

Asthma And Cardiovascular Disease: A Bidirectional Association?, Muhammad Adrish, Nicola A Hanania

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

2022 American College Of Rheumatology Guideline For Vaccinations In Patients With Rheumatic And Musculoskeletal Diseases, Anne R Bass, Eliza Chakravarty, Elie A Akl, Clifton O Bingham, Leonard Calabrese, Laura C Cappelli, Sindhu R Johnson, Lisa F Imundo, Kevin L Winthrop, Reuben J Arasaratnam, Lindsey R Baden, Roberta Berard, S Louis Bridges, Jonathan T L Cheah, Jeffrey R Curtis, Polly J Ferguson, Ida Hakkarinen, Karen B Onel, Grayson Schultz, Vidya Sivaraman, Benjamin J Smith, Jeffrey A Sparks, Tiphanie P Vogel, Eleanor Anderson Williams, Cassandra Calabrese, Joanne S Cunha, Joann Fontanarosa, Miriah C Gillispie-Taylor, Elena Gkrouzman, Priyanka Iyer, Kimberly S Lakin, Alexandra Legge, Mindy S Lo, Megan M Lockwood, Rebecca E Sadun, Namrata Singh, Nancy Sullivan, Herman Tam, Marat Turgunbaev, Amy S Turner, James Reston

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence-based recommendations on the use of vaccinations in children and adults with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).

METHODS: This guideline follows American College of Rheumatology (ACR) policy guiding management of conflicts of interest and disclosures and the ACR guideline development process, which includes the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. It also adheres to the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) criteria. A core leadership team consisting of adult and pediatric rheumatologists and a guideline methodologist drafted clinical population, intervention, comparator, outcomes (PICO) questions. A review team performed a systematic literature review …

Hereditary Angioedema And Covid-19 During Pregnancy: Two Case Reports, Amanda Salih, Aaron Chin, Manisha Gandhi, Amir Shamshirsaz, Hennie Lombaard, Joud Hajjar

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Electrical Stimulation To Regain Lower Extremity Muscle Perfusion And Endurance In Patients With Post-Acute Sequelae Of Sars Cov-2: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Alejandro Zulbaran-Rojas, Myeounggon Lee, Rasha O Bara, Areli Flores-Camargo, Gil Spitz, M G Finco, Amir Behzad Bagheri, Dipaben Modi, Fidaa Shaib, Bijan Najafi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Muscle deconditioning and impaired vascular function in the lower extremities (LE) are among the long‐term symptoms experienced by COVID‐19 patients with a history of severe illness. These symptoms are part of the post‐acute sequelae of Sars‐CoV‐2 (PASC) and currently lack evidence‐based treatment. To investigate the efficacy of lower extremity electrical stimulation (E‐Stim) in addressing PASC‐related muscle deconditioning, we conducted a double‐blinded randomized controlled trial. Eighteen (n = 18) patients with LE muscle deconditioning were randomly assigned to either the intervention (IG) or the control (CG) group, resulting in 36 LE being assessed. Both groups received daily 1 h E‐Stim …

Electronic Health Records' Support For Primary Care Physicians' Situation Awareness: A Metanarrative Review, April Savoy, Himalaya Patel, Daniel R Murphy, Ashley N D Meyer, Jennifer Herout, Hardeep Singh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVE: Situation awareness (SA) refers to people's perception and understanding of their dynamic environment. In primary care, reduced SA among physicians increases errors in clinical decision-making and, correspondingly, patients' risk of experiencing adverse outcomes. Our objective was to understand the extent to which electronic health records (EHRs) support primary care physicians (PCPs)' SA during clinical decision-making.

METHOD: We conducted a metanarrative review of papers in selected academic databases, including CINAHL and MEDLINE. Eligible studies included original peer-reviewed research published between January 2012 and August 2020 on PCP-EHR interactions. We iteratively queried, screened, and summarized literature focused on EHRs supporting PCPs' …

Ferroptosis In Life: To Be Or Not To Be, Ling Xu, Yu'e Liu, Xi Chen, Hua Zhong, Yi Wang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Ferroptosis is a novel type of programmed cell death, characterized by a dysregulated iron metabolism and accumulation of lipid peroxides. It features the alteration of mitochondria and aberrant accumulation of excessive iron as well as loss of the cysteine-glutathione-GPX4 axis. Eventually, the accumulated lipid peroxides result in lethal damage to the cells. Ferroptosis is induced by the overloading of iron and the accumulation of ROS and can be inhibited by the activation of the GPX4 pathway, FS1-CoQ10 pathway, GCH1-BH4 pathway, and the DHODH pathway, it is also regulated by the oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Ferroptosis involves various physiological and pathological …

Trends In Up-To-Date Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Us Adults Aged 50-75 Years And Variations By Race/Ethnicity And Us Census Bureau Divisions, Itunu O Sokale, Omar Rosales, Jane R Montealegre, Abiodun O Oluyomi, Aaron P Thrift

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: Mortality rates from colorectal cancer have declined over the past decades owing to population-based life-saving screening interventions. However, screening inequalities continue among racial and ethnic minorities despite having a higher disease burden. In this study, we assessed the patterns of up-to-date colorectal cancer screening rates among racial/ethnic groups across the U.S. Census Bureau Divisions.

METHODS: This population-based cross-sectional study used weighted data from 4 cycles of the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System (2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020) of adults aged 50‒75 years without a previous diagnosis of colorectal cancer. The primary outcome was guideline-recommended up-to-date colorectal cancer screening. We …

Role Of Biomarkers (Sflt-1/Plgf) In Cases Of Covid-19 For Distinguishing Preeclampsia And Guiding Clinical Management, Guilherme M Nobrega, Jose P Guida, Juliana M Novaes, Larissa M Solda, Luciana Pietro, Adriana G Luz, Giuliane J Lajos, Carolina C Ribeiro-Do-Valle, Renato T Souza, Jose G Cecatti, Indira U Mysorekar, Tabata Z Dias, Maria Laura Costa

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: To analyze soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1) and placental growth factors (PlGF) concentrations and their ratio in pregnant and postpartum women with suspected COVID-19, and further investigate conditions associated with an increased ratio (sFlt-1/PlGF > 38), including preeclampsia (PE) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

STUDY DESIGN: The present study is a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort. Blood samples were collected at time of COVID-19 investigation and the serum measurements of sFlt-1 and PlGF were performed. Clinical background, SARS-CoV-2 infection characteristics, maternal and perinatal outcomes were further analyzed.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum measurements of sFlt-1 and PlGF; obstetrics …

Types Of Diagnostic Errors Reported By Paediatric Emergency Providers In A Global Paediatric Emergency Care Research Network, Prashant Mahajan, Joseph A Grubenhoff, Jim Cranford, Maala Bhatt, James M Chamberlain, Todd Chang, Mark Lyttle, Rianne Oostenbrink, Damian Roland, Richard M Rudy, Kathy N Shaw, Robert Velasco Zuniga, Apoorva Belle, Nathan Kuppermann, Hardeep Singh

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Diagnostic errors, reframed as missed opportunities for improving diagnosis (MOIDs), are poorly understood in the paediatric emergency department (ED) setting. We investigated the clinical experience, harm and contributing factors related to MOIDs reported by physicians working in paediatric EDs.

Methods: We developed a web-based survey in which physicians participating in the international Paediatric Emergency Research Network representing five out of six WHO regions, described examples of MOIDs involving their own or a colleague's patients. Respondents provided case summaries and answered questions regarding harm and factors contributing to the event.

Results: Of 1594 physicians surveyed, 412 (25.8%) responded (mean age=43 …

Association Of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency With Outcomes In Us Veterans With Covid-19, Sarah H Elsea, Javad Razjouyan, Kyung Min Lee, Julie A Lynch, Sharyl Martini, Lavannya M Pandit

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

IMPORTANCE: The underlying biological risk factors for severe outcome due to SAR-CoV-2 infection are not well defined.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency and severity of COVID-19.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This retrospective cohort study included analysis of 24 700 veterans with G6PD enzyme testing prior to January 1, 2020, obtained through the US Veterans Health Administration national databases. These veterans were cross-referenced with the Veterans Administration COVID-19 Shared Data Resource for SARS-CoV-2 testing from February 15, 2020, to January 1, 2021. The final study population consisted of 4811 veterans who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Statistical …

Community-Onset Bacterial Coinfection In Children Critically Ill With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection, Kristin L Moffitt, Mari M Nakamura, Cameron C Young, Margaret M Newhams, Natasha B Halasa, J Nelson Reed, Julie C Fitzgerald, Philip C Spinella, Vijaya L Soma, Tracie C Walker, Laura L Loftis, Aline B Maddux, Michele Kong, Courtney M Rowan, Charlotte V Hobbs, Jennifer E Schuster, Becky J Riggs, Gwenn E Mclaughlin, Kelly N Michelson, Mark W Hall, Christopher J Babbitt, Natalie Z Cvijanovich, Matt S Zinter, Mia Maamari, Adam J Schwarz, Aalok R Singh, Heidi R Flori, Shira J Gertz, Mary A Staat, John S Giuliano, Saul R Hymes, Katharine N Clouser, John Mcguire, Christopher L Carroll, Neal J Thomas, Emily R Levy, Adrienne G Randolph

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Community-onset bacterial coinfection in adults hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is reportedly uncommon, though empiric antibiotic use has been high. However, data regarding empiric antibiotic use and bacterial coinfection in children with critical illness from COVID-19 are scarce.

METHODS: We evaluated children and adolescents agedadmission, we adjudicated whether patients had community-onset bacterial coinfection. We compared demographic and clinical characteristics of those who did and did not (1) receive antibiotics and (2) have bacterial coinfection early in admission. Using Poisson regression models, we assessed factors associated with these outcomes.

RESULTS: Of the 532 patients, 63.3% received empiric antibiotics, but …

Sars-Cov-2 Variants Offer A Second Chance To Fix Vaccine Inequities, Peter J Hotez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Global COVID-19 vaccine equity remains aspirational for much of the world. But the emergence of rapidly evolving SARS-CoV-2 variants provides new opportunities to correct past public policies, support local vaccine production and combat rising anti-vaccine aggression.

Excess Folic Acid Intake Increases Dna De Novo Point Mutations, Xuanye Cao, Jianfeng Xu, Ying L Lin, Robert M Cabrera, Qiuying Chen, Chaofan Zhang, John W Steele, Xiao Han, Steven S Gross, Bogdan J Wlodarczyk, James R Lupski, Wei Li, Hongyan Wang, Richard H Finnell, Yunping Lei

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Multitrait Genome-Wide Analyses Identify New Susceptibility Loci And Candidate Drugs To Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, Younghun Han, Jinyoung Byun, Catherine Zhu, Ryan Sun, Julia Y Roh, Heather J Cordell, Hyun-Sung Lee, Vikram R Shaw, Sung Wook Kang, Javad Razjouyan, Matthew A Cooley, Manal M Hassan, Katherine A Siminovitch, Trine Folseraas, David Ellinghaus, Annika Bergquist, Simon M Rushbrook, Andre Franke, Tom H Karlsen, Konstantinos N Lazaridis, Kathryn A. Mcglynn, Katherine A Mcglynn, Lewis R Roberts, Christopher I Amos, International Psc Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a rare autoimmune bile duct disease that is strongly associated with immune-mediated disorders. In this study, we implemented multitrait joint analyses to genome-wide association summary statistics of PSC and numerous clinical and epidemiological traits to estimate the genetic contribution of each trait and genetic correlations between traits and to identify new lead PSC risk-associated loci. We identified seven new loci that have not been previously reported and one new independent lead variant in the previously reported locus. Functional annotation and fine-mapping nominated several potential susceptibility genes such as MANBA and IRF5. Network-based in silico drug …

Asprosin Promotes Feeding Through Sk Channel-Dependent Activation Of Agrp Neurons, Bing Feng, Hesong Liu, Ila Mishra, Clemens Duerrschmid, Peiyu Gao, Pingwen Xu, Chunmei Wang, Yanlin He

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Asprosin, a recently identified adipokine, activates agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus (ARH) via binding to protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor δ (Ptprd) to increase food intake. However, the intracellular mechanisms responsible for asprosin/Ptprd-mediated activation of AgRPARH neurons remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channel is required for the stimulatory effects of asprosin/Ptprd on AgRPARH neurons. Specifically, we found that deficiency or elevation of circulating asprosin increased or decreased the SK current in AgRPARH neurons, respectively. AgRPARH-specific deletion of SK3 (an SK channel subtype highly expressed in AgRPARH neurons) blocked asprosin-induced …

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic Unmasked The Challenges Faced By Early-Stage Faculty In Infectious Diseases: A Call To Action, Erin M Scherer, Martin Backer, Karen Carvajal, Lara Danziger-Isakov, Sharon Frey, Leigh M Howard, Felicia Scaggs Huang, Angelica C Kottkamp, Tara Reid, Maria C Rodriguez-Barradas, Helen C Stankiewicz Karita, Zheyi Teoh, Anna Wald, Jennifer Whitaker, Zanthia Wiley, Igho Ofotokun, Kathryn M Edwards, Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (Idcrc) Mentorship Program Writing Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and associated increase in family care responsibilities resulted in unsustainable personal and professional workloads for infectious diseases (ID) faculty on the front lines. This was especially true for early-stage faculty (ESF), many of whom had caregiving responsibilities. In addition, female faculty, underrepresented in medicine and science faculty and particularly ESF, experienced marked declines in research productivity, which significantly impacts career trajectories. When combined with staffing shortages due to an aging workforce and suboptimal recruitment and retention in ID, these work-life imbalances have brought the field to an inflection point. We propose actionable recommendations and …

Evaluation Of Bnt162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine In Children Younger Than 5 Years Of Age, Flor M Muñoz, Lawrence D Sher, Charu Sabharwal, Alejandra Gurtman, Xia Xu, Nicholas Kitchin, Stephen Lockhart, Robert Riesenberg, Joanna M Sexter, Hanna Czajka, Grant C Paulsen, Yvonne Maldonado, Emmanuel B Walter, Kawsar R Talaat, Janet A Englund, Uzma N Sarwar, Caitlin Hansen, Martha Iwamoto, Chris Webber, Luke Cunliffe, Benita Ukkonen, Silvina N Martínez, Barbara A Pahud, Iona Munjal, Joseph B Domachowske, Kena A Swanson, Hua Ma, Kenneth Koury, Susan Mather, Claire Lu, Jing Zou, Xuping Xie, Pei-Yong Shi, David Cooper, Özlem Türeci, Uğur Şahin, Kathrin U Jansen, William C Gruber

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Safe and effective vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) are urgently needed in young children.

METHODS: We conducted a phase 1 dose-finding study and are conducting an ongoing phase 2-3 safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy trial of the BNT162b2 vaccine in healthy children 6 months to 11 years of age. We present results for children 6 months to less than 2 years of age and those 2 to 4 years of age through the data-cutoff dates (April 29, 2022, for safety and immunogenicity and June 17, 2022, for efficacy). In the phase 2-3 trial, participants were randomly assigned (in a …

Evaluation Of Bnt162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine In Children Younger Than 5 Years Of Age, Flor M Muñoz, Lawrence D Sher, Charu Sabharwal, Alejandra Gurtman, Xia Xu, Nicholas Kitchin, Stephen Lockhart, Robert Riesenberg, Joanna M Sexter, Hanna Czajka, Grant C Paulsen, Yvonne Maldonado, Emmanuel B Walter, Kawsar R Talaat, Janet A Englund, Uzma N Sarwar, Caitlin Hansen, Martha Iwamoto, Chris Webber, Luke Cunliffe, Benita Ukkonen, Silvina N Martínez, Barbara A Pahud, Iona Munjal, Joseph B Domachowske, Kena A Swanson, Hua Ma, Kenneth Koury, Susan Mather, Claire Lu, Jing Zou, Xuping Xie, Pei-Yong Shi, David Cooper, Özlem Türeci, Uğur Şahin, Kathrin U Jansen, William C Gruber, C4591007 Clinical Trial Group

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Safe and effective vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) are urgently needed in young children.

METHODS: We conducted a phase 1 dose-finding study and are conducting an ongoing phase 2-3 safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy trial of the BNT162b2 vaccine in healthy children 6 months to 11 years of age. We present results for children 6 months to less than 2 years of age and those 2 to 4 years of age through the data-cutoff dates (April 29, 2022, for safety and immunogenicity and June 17, 2022, for efficacy). In the phase 2-3 trial, participants were randomly assigned (in a …

Optimized Workplace Risk Mitigation Measures For Sars-Cov-2 In 2022, Rowland Pettit, Bo Peng, Patrick Yu, Peter G Matos, Alexander L Greninger, Julie Mccashin, Christopher Ian Amos

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

596 million SARS-CoV-2 cases have been reported and over 12 billion vaccine doses have been administered. As vaccination rates increase, a gap in knowledge exists regarding appropriate thresholds for escalation and de-escalation of workplace COVID-19 preventative measures. We conducted 133,056 simulation experiments, evaluating the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus in hypothesized working environments subject to COVID-19 infections from the community. We tested the rates of workplace-acquired infections based on applied isolation strategies, community infection rates, methods and scales of testing, non-pharmaceutical interventions, variant predominance, vaccination coverages, and vaccination efficacies. When 75% of a workforce is vaccinated with a 70% efficacious vaccine …

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (Sars-Cov-2) Testing And Detection During Peripartum Hospitalizations Among A Multicenter Cohort Of Pregnant Persons: March 2020-February 2021, Miranda J Delahoy, Flor Munoz, De-Kun Li, Carmen Sofia Arriola, Nanette Lee Bond, Michael Daugherty, Jeannette Ferber, Nickolas Ferguson, Louise Hadden, Jillian T Henderson, Stephanie A Irving, Mary Juergens, Venkatesh Kancharla, Mara Greenberg, Roxana Odouli, Gabriella Newes-Adeyi, Erin G Nicholson, Lawrence Reichle, Momodou Sanyang, Margaret Snead, Fatimah S Dawood, Allison L Naleway

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Identifying severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections during peripartum hospitalizations is important to guide care, implement prevention measures, and understand infection burden.

METHODS: This cross-sectional analysis used electronic health record data from hospitalizations during which pregnancies ended (peripartum hospitalizations) among a cohort of pregnant persons at 3 US integrated healthcare networks (sites 1-3). Maternal demographic, medical encounter, SARS-CoV-2 testing, and pregnancy and neonatal outcome information was extracted for persons with estimated delivery and pregnancy end dates during March 2020-February 2021 and ≥1 antenatal care record. Site-stratified multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with testing …

Transfusing Convalescent Plasma As Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (Sars-Cov-2) Infection: A Double-Blinded, Phase 2 Randomized, Controlled Trial, Shmuel Shoham, Evan M Bloch, Arturo Casadevall, Daniel Hanley, Bryan Lau, Kelly Gebo, Edward Cachay, Seble G Kassaye, James H Paxton, Jonathan Gerber, Adam C Levine, Arash Naeim, Judith Currier, Bela Patel, Elizabeth S Allen, Shweta Anjan, Lawrence Appel, Sheriza Baksh, Paul W Blair, Anthony Bowen, Patrick Broderick, Christopher A Caputo, Valerie Cluzet, Marie Elena Cordisco, Daniel Cruser, Stephan Ehrhardt, Donald Forthal, Yuriko Fukuta, Amy L Gawad, Thomas Gniadek, Jean Hammel, Moises A Huaman, Douglas A Jabs, Anne Jedlicka, Nicky Karlen, Sabra Klein, Oliver Laeyendecker, Karen Lane, Nichol Mcbee, Barry Meisenberg, Christian Merlo, Giselle Mosnaim, Han-Sol Park, Andrew Pekosz, Joann Petrini, William Rausch, David M Shade, Janna R Shapiro, J Robinson Singleton, Catherine Sutcliffe, David L Thomas, Anusha Yarava, Martin Zand, Jonathan M Zenilman, Aaron A R Tobian, David J Sullivan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) convalescent plasma (CCP) for preventing infection in exposed, uninfected individuals is unknown. CCP might prevent infection when administered before symptoms or laboratory evidence of infection.

METHODS: This double-blinded, phase 2 randomized, controlled trial (RCT) compared the efficacy and safety of prophylactic high titer (≥1:320 by Euroimmun ELISA) CCP with standard plasma. Asymptomatic participants aged ≥18 years with close contact exposure to a person with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the previous 120 hours and negative SARS-CoV-2 test within 24 hours before transfusion were eligible. The primary outcome was …

Bnt162b2 Mrna Vaccination Against Coronavirus Disease 2019 Is Associated With A Decreased Likelihood Of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome In Children Aged 5-18 Years-United States, July 2021 - April 2022, Laura D Zambrano, Margaret M Newhams, Samantha M Olson, Natasha B Halasa, Ashley M Price, Amber O Orzel, Cameron C Young, Julie A Boom, Leila C Sahni, Aline B Maddux, Katherine E Bline, Satoshi Kamidani, Keiko M Tarquinio, Kathleen Chiotos, Jennifer E Schuster, Melissa L Cullimore, Sabrina M Heidemann, Charlotte V Hobbs, Ryan A Nofziger, Pia S Pannaraj, Melissa A Cameron, Tracie C Walker, Stephanie P Schwartz, Kelly N Michelson, Bria M Coates, Heidi R Flori, Elizabeth H Mack, Laura Smallcomb, Shira J Gertz, Samina S Bhumbra, Tamara T Bradford, Emily R Levy, Michele Kong, Katherine Irby, Natalie Z Cvijanovich, Matt S Zinter, Cindy Bowens, Hillary Crandall, Janet R Hume, Manish M Patel, Angela P Campbell, Adrienne G Randolph, Overcoming Covid-19 Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), linked to antecedent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, is associated with considerable morbidity. Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection or coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by vaccination might also decrease MIS-C likelihood.

METHODS: In a multicenter, case-control, public health investigation of children ages 5-18 years hospitalized from 1 July 2021 to 7 April 2022, we compared the odds of being fully vaccinated (2 doses of BNT162b2 vaccine ≥28 days before hospital admission) between MIS-C case-patients and hospital-based controls who tested negative for SARS-CoV-2. These associations were examined by age group, timing of vaccination, …

Inflammatory Biomarkers Differ Among Hospitalized Veterans Infected With Alpha, Delta, And Omicron Sars-Cov-2 Variants, Catherine Park, Shahriar Tavakoli-Tabasi, Amir Sharafkhaneh, Benjamin J Seligman, Bret Hicken, Christopher I Amos, Andrew Chou, Javad Razjouyan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Mortality due to COVID-19 has been correlated with laboratory markers of inflammation, such as C-reactive protein (CRP). The lower mortality during Omicron variant infections could be explained by variant-specific immune responses or host factors, such as vaccination status. We hypothesized that infections due to Omicron variant cause less inflammation compared to Alpha and Delta, correlating with lower mortality. This was a retrospective cohort study of veterans hospitalized for COVID-19 at the Veterans Health Administration. We compared inflammatory markers among patients hospitalized during Omicron infection with those of Alpha and Delta. We reported the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of the first …

Hmgb1/Gpc3 Dual Targeting Vaccine Induces Dendritic Cells-Mediated Cd8+T Cell Immune Response And Elicits Potential Therapeutic Effect In Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Xiaoqing Shi, Jiage Ding, Yanyan Zheng, Jiawei Wang, Navid Sobhani, Praveen Neeli, Gang Wang, Junnian Zheng, Dafei Chai

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a fatal malignant tumor, but effective clinical interventions are limited. PLGA/PEI-mediated DNA vaccine encoding the dual targets of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) or GPC3 was developed for HCC treatment. Compared with PLGA/PEI-GPC3 immunization, PLGA/PEI-HMGB1/GPC3 co-immunization significantly inhibited the subcutaneous tumor growth, while increasing the infiltration of CD8

Dynamic Errors In Pulse Oximetry Preclude Use Of Correction Factor, Ashraf Fawzy, Valeria S M Valbuena, Christopher F Chesley, Tianshi David Wu, Theodore J Iwashyna

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Multiple Sclerosis And Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder: Onset Following Acute Covid-19 Infection, A Case Series, Mirla Avila, Yuanyuan Tan, Roberto Hernandez, Hafsa Zuberi, Victor M Rivera

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Acute COVID-19 infection has been associated with neurological involvement. We report a case series of newly diagnosed patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) developed in a short period of time after acute COVID-19 infection.

METHODS: New MS patients developing initial symptoms shortly after an acute COVID-19 infection were diagnosed based on the 2017 McDonald Criteria [Garcia-Ramos et al. in Cells, 2021]. The patients diagnosed with NMOSD met the 2015 International Panel criteria for the diagnosis of NMOSD (IPDN) [Thompson et al. in Lancet Neurol 17:162-173, 2018].

RESULTS FROM THE MS PATIENT GROUP: …