COVID-19 Commons^™

The Association Of Baseline Plasma Sars-Cov-2 Nucleocapsid Antigen Level And Outcomes In Patients Hospitalized With Covid-19, Activ-3/Tico Study Group, Angela J Rogers, Deborah Wentworth, Andrew Phillips, Katy Shaw-Saliba, Robin L Dewar, Neil R Aggarwal, Abdel G Babiker, Weizhong Chang, Nila J Dharan, Victoria J Davey, Elizabeth S Higgs, Norman Gerry, Adit A Ginde, J W Awori Hayanga, Helene Highbarger, Jeroen L Highbarger, Mamta K Jain, Virginia Kan, Kami Kim, Perrine Lallemand, Bradley G Leshnower, Joseph K Lutaakome, Gail Matthews, Ahmad Mourad, Eleftherios Mylonakis, Ven Natarajan, Maria L Padilla, Lavannya M Pandit, Roger Paredes, Sarah Pett, Srikanth Ramachandruni, M Tauseef Rehman, Brad T Sherman, D Clark Files, Samuel M Brown, Michael A Matthay, B Taylor Thompson, James D Neaton, H Clifford Lane, Jens D Lundgren

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Levels of plasma SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) antigen may be an important biomarker in patients with COVID-19 and enhance our understanding of the pathogenesis of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether levels of plasma antigen can predict short-term clinical outcomes and identify clinical and viral factors associated with plasma antigen levels in hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of baseline plasma antigen level from 2540 participants enrolled in the TICO (Therapeutics for Inpatients With COVID-19) platform trial from August 2020 to November 2021, with additional data on day 5 outcome and time to discharge.

SETTING: 114 centers in 10 countries. …

From World War Ii To Covid-19: A Historical Perspective On The American Medical Supply Chain, Hunter D Bechtold, Andrea T Cruz, Brent D Kaziny

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

COVID-19 is the latest episode of shortages of critical medical supplies. Historically and to the present day, medical supplies have been sourced from single regions in the world, thus rendering the supply chain vulnerable to a myriad of harmful circumstances. We argue that shortages in medications related and unrelated to COVID have illustrated the need for the United States to diversify its medical supply sources before future pandemics, political crises, or natural disasters occur.

Covid Community-Engaged Testing In Alabama: Reaching Underserved Rural Populations Through Collaboration, Christopher Greer Mccollum, Thomas N Creger, Aadia I Rana, Lynn T Matthews, Stefan D Baral, Greer A Burkholder, William A Curry, Latesha Elopre, Faith E Fletcher, Sydney Grooms, Emily B Levitan, Max Michael, Barbara Van Der Pol, Michael J Mugavero

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rural communities are often underserved by public health testing initiatives in Alabama. As part of the National Institutes of Health's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics‒Underserved Populations initiative, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, along with community partners, sought to address this inequity in COVID-19 testing. We describe the participatory assessment, selection, and implementation phases of this project, which administered more than 23 000 COVID-19 tests throughout the state, including nearly 4000 tests among incarcerated populations. (

Pin-Pointing The Key Hubs In The Ifn-Γ Pathway Responding To Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Ayelen Toro, Sofia Lage-Vickers, Juan Bizzotto, Felipe Vilicich, Agustina Sabater, Gaston Pascual, Sabrina Ledesma-Bazan, Pablo Sanchis, Maria Sol Ruiz, Ana Paula Arevalo, Jorge L Porfido, Mercedes Abbate, Rocio Seniuk, Estefania Labanca, Nicolas Anselmino, Nora M Navone, Daniel F Alonso, Elba Vazquez, Martina Crispo, Javier Cotignola, Geraldine Gueron

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) may be potential adjuvant immunotherapy for COVID-19 patients. In this work, we assessed gene expression profiles associated with the IFN-γ pathway in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Employing a case-control study from SARS-CoV-2-positive and -negative patients, we identified IFN-γ-associated pathways to be enriched in positive patients. Bioinformatics analyses showed upregulation of MAP2K6, CBL, RUNX3, STAT1, and JAK2 in COVID-19-positive vs. -negative patients. A positive correlation was observed between STAT1/JAK2, which varied alongside the patient's viral load. Expression of MX1, MX2, ISG15, and OAS1 (four well-known IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs)) …

Veterans’ Ambulatory Care Experience During Covid-19: Veterans’ Access To And Satisfaction With Primary Care Early In The Pandemic, Brice Thomas, Aanchal Thadani, Patricia V Chen, Israel C Christie, Lisa M Kern, Mangala Rajan, Himabindu Kadiyala, Drew A Helmer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread changes to healthcare, but few studies focus on ambulatory care during the early phase of the pandemic. We characterize veterans' ambulatory care experience, specifically access and satisfaction, early in the pandemic.

METHODS: We employed a semi-structured telephone interview to capture quantitative and qualitative data from patients scheduled with a primary care provider between March 1 - June 30, 2020. Forty veterans were randomly identified at a single large urban Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical center. The interview guide utilized 56 closed and open-ended questions to characterize veterans' perceptions of access to and satisfaction with …

Where Have All The Flowers Gone? A Multicenter Investigation Of Frequent Users Of Midwest Emergency Department Services During The Covid-19 Stay-At-Home Orders., Howard W Levitin, Bruce G Jones, Marie M Lockhart, Christopher M Lloyd, Meenal D Sharkey, Paul A Willette, Andrew F Kalnow

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

INTRODUCTION: In this study we aimed to determine the impact of the mandatory coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic stay-at-home order on the proportional makeup of emergency department (ED) visits by frequent users and super users.

METHODS: We conducted a secondary analysis of existing data using a multisite review of the medical records of 280,053 patients to measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home order on ED visits. The primary outcomes included analysis before and during the lockdown in determining ED use and unique characteristics of non-frequent, frequent, and super users of emergency services.

RESULTS: During the mandatory COVID-19 stay-at-home …

Remission Of Liquid Tumors And Sars-Cov-2 Infection: A Literature Review, Dong Ho Shin, Andrew Gillard, Arie Van Wieren, Candelaria Gomez-Manzano, Juan Fueyo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has produced a new global challenge for patients with cancer. The disease and the immunosuppression induced by cancer therapies have generated a perfect storm of conditions to increase the severity of the symptoms and worsen the prognosis. However, a few clinical reports showcased the power of viruses to induce remission in some patients suffering from liquid tumors. Here, we reviewed six cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that resulted in cancer remission, simultaneously highlighting the strengths and the unique challenges of oncolytic virotherapy. Virotherapy has become a special case of cancer …

A Review Of The Effectiveness, Feasibility, And Acceptability Of Art Therapy For Children And Adolescents During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Minh Ngoc Le Vu, Anh Linh Do, Laurent Boyer, Quy Chi Tran, Stefan Kohler, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Andreea Molnar, Tung Son Vu, Nhan Trong Huynh Vo, Linh Mai Vu Nguyen, Linh Gia Vu, Vu Anh Trong Dam, Thomy Duong, Dan Linh Nguyen Do, Ngoc Minh Do, Roger S Mclntyre, Carl Latkin, Roger Chun Man Ho, Cyrus Su Hui Ho

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Art therapy has been widely offered to reduce symptoms of psychological disturbance. Pooled evidence about its effectiveness in epidemic contexts, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has not been yet established. This study reviewed the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of art therapy on children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and past epidemics. We searched PubMed/Medline, PsycINFO, CENTRAL (Cochrane Library), and CINAHL for articles on art therapy during COVID-19. Included studies reported improvements in measures of mental health, sleep quality, and psychological well-being in children with or without disabilities in the epidemic context. Results also showed that art therapy was highly …

Covid-19 And Children, Carl A Pierce, Kevan C Herold, Betsy C Herold, Janet Chou, Adrienne Randolph, Binita Kane, Sammie Mcfarland, Deepti Gurdasani, Christina Pagel, Peter Hotez, Sarah Cobey, Scott E Hensley

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

There has been substantial research on adult COVID-19 and how to treat it. But how do severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections afflict children? The COVID-19 pandemic has yielded many surprises, not least that children generally develop less severe disease than older adults, which is unusual for a respiratory disease. However, some children can develop serious complications from COVID-19, such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) and Long Covid, even after mild or asymptomatic COVID-19. Why this occurs in some and not others is an important question. Moreover, when children do contract COVID-19, understanding their role in …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Adolescent Mental Health And Substance Use, Jeff R Temple, Elizabeth Baumler, Leila Wood, Shannon Guillot-Wright, Elizabeth Torres, Melanie Thiel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to determine whether COVID-19-induced financial impact, stress, loneliness, and isolation were related to perceived changes in adolescent mental health and substance use.

METHODS: Data were from Baseline (2018) and Wave 3 (2020; mean age = 14.8; 50% female) of 1,188 adolescents recruited from 12 Texas public middle schools as part of a randomized controlled trial. Participants were primarily Black (23%), Latinx (41%), Asian (11%), and White (9%). We assessed mental health and substance use (Baseline and Wave 3) and pandemic-related physical interaction, loneliness, stress, family conflict, and economic situation (Wave 3).

RESULTS: COVID-19-induced …

Agreement Between Sars-Cov-2 Pcr Test Results Using Nasopharyngeal And Mid-Turbinate Specimens Among Asymptomatic Working-Age Adults, Judy Wendt Hess, Faiyaz Bhojani, Derrick Cameron, Mary Freire De Carvalho, Fayaz Momin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether mid-turbinate specimens reliably detect active infection in asymptomatic adults undergoing regular COVID-19 PCR testing.

METHODS: Qualitative agreement between 2481 paired nasopharyngeal and mid-turbinate PCR results was assessed. Mean cycle threshold values for each positive result were evaluated as an indicator of active infection.

RESULTS: Overall agreement between nasopharyngeal and mid-turbinate tests was 98.4%. Positive percent agreement was 37.2%, and negative percent agreement was ~100%. Test pairs with lower cycle thresholds (≤30 and ≤25) reached 67% and 100% positive percent agreement, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 infections with high viral loads were detected …

Agreement Between Sars-Cov-2 Pcr Test Results Using Nasopharyngeal And Mid-Turbinate Specimens Among Asymptomatic Working-Age Adults, Judy Wendt Hess, Faiyaz Bhojani, Derrick Cameron, Mary Freire De Carvalho, Fayaz Momin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether mid-turbinate specimens reliably detect active infection in asymptomatic adults undergoing regular COVID-19 PCR testing.

METHODS: Qualitative agreement between 2481 paired nasopharyngeal and mid-turbinate PCR results was assessed. Mean cycle threshold values for each positive result were evaluated as an indicator of active infection.

RESULTS: Overall agreement between nasopharyngeal and mid-turbinate tests was 98.4%. Positive percent agreement was 37.2%, and negative percent agreement was ~100%. Test pairs with lower cycle thresholds (≤30 and ≤25) reached 67% and 100% positive percent agreement, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2 infections with high viral loads were detected …

The Effect Of Body Mass Index On Therapeutic Response To Bacterial Vaginosis In Pregnancy, Kevin P Lee, Misha V Koshelev, D3code Team, Omar Pacha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Covid-19 And Blood Clots: A Report Of Massive Pulmonary Embolism In Covid-19 Patient Supported On Veno-Venous Ecmo And The Utility Of Thrombolysis, Bindu Akkanti, Joseph Zwischenberger, Mark T Warner, Kha Dinh, Rahat Hussain, Farah Kazzaz, Pascal Kingah, Lisa M Janowiak, Biswajit Kar, Igor D Gregoric

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

COVID-19 morbidity and mortality are not equivalent to other etiologies of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) as fulminant activation of coagulation can occur, thereby resulting in widespread microvascular thrombosis and consumption of coagulation factors. A 53-year-old female presented to an emergency center on two occasions with progressive gastrointestinal and respiratory symptoms. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia and admitted to a satellite intensive care unit with hypoxemic respiratory failure. She was intubated and mechanically ventilated, but her ARDS progressed over the next 48 hours. The patient was emergently cannulated for veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) and transferred to our …

Will Anti-Vaccine Activism In The Usa Reverse Global Goals?, Peter J Hotez

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

In the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-vaccine activism in the USA accelerated, amplified and formed an alliance with political groups and even extremists. An organized, well-funded and empowered anti-science movement now threatens to spill over and threaten all childhood immunizations in the USA and globally.

Efficacy And Safety Of Ensovibep For Adults Hospitalized With Covid-19 : A Randomized Controlled Trial, Christina Barkauskas, Eleftherios Mylonakis, Garyfallia Poulakou, Barnaby E Young, David M Vock, Lianne Siegel, Nicole Engen, Greg Grandits, Nilima R Mosaly, Andrew M Vekstein, Ralph Rogers, Fadi Shehadeh, Matthew Kaczynski, Evangelia K Mylona, Konstantinos N Syrigos, Vasiliki Rapti, David C Lye, Diong Shiau Hui, Lindsay Leither, Kirk U Knowlton, Mamta K Jain, Rubria Marines-Price, Alice Osuji, J Scott Overcash, Ioannis Kalomenidis, Zafeiria Barmparessou, Michael Waters, Karla Zepeda, Peter Chen, Sam Torbati, Francis Kiweewa, Nicholus Sebudde, Eyad Almasri, Alyssa Hughes, Sanjay R Bhagani, Alison Rodger, Uriel Sandkovsky, Robert L Gottlieb, Eriobu Nnakelu, Barbara Trautner, Vidya Menon, Joseph Lutaakome, Michael Matthay, Philip Robinson, Konstantinos Protopapas, Nikolaos Koulouris, Ivan Kimuli, Amiran Baduashvili, Dominique L Braun, Huldrych F Günthard, Srikanth Ramachandruni, Robert Kidega, Kami Kim, Timothy J Hatlen, Andrew N Phillips, Daniel D Murray, Tomas O Jensen, Maria L Padilla, Evan X Accardi, Katy Shaw-Saliba, Robin L Dewar, Marc Teitelbaum, Ven Natarajan, Sylvain Laverdure, Helene C Highbarger, M Tauseef Rehman, Susan Vogel, David Vallée, Page Crew, Negin Atri, Adam J Schechner, Sarah Pett, Fleur Hudson, Jonathan Badrock, Giota Touloumi, Samuel M Brown, Wesley H Self, Crystal M North, Adit A Ginde, Christina C Chang, Anthony Kelleher, Stephanie Nagy-Agren, Shikha Vasudeva, David Looney, Hien H Nguyen, Adriana Sánchez, Amy C Weintrob, Birgit Grund, Shweta Sharma, Cavan S Reilly, Roger Paredes, Agnieszka Bednarska, Norman P Gerry, Abdel G Babiker, Victoria J Davey, Annetine C Gelijns, Elizabeth S Higgs, Virginia Kan, Gail Matthews, B Taylor Thompson, Philippe Legenne, Richa Chandra, H Clifford Lane, James D Neaton, Jens D Lundgren

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Ensovibep (MP0420) is a designed ankyrin repeat protein, a novel class of engineered proteins, under investigation as a treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if ensovibep, in addition to remdesivir and other standard care, improves clinical outcomes among patients hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with standard care alone.

DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04501978).

SETTING: Multinational, multicenter trial.

PARTICIPANTS: Adults hospitalized with COVID-19.

INTERVENTION: Intravenous ensovibep, 600 mg, or placebo.

MEASUREMENTS: Ensovibep was assessed for early futility on the basis of pulmonary ordinal scores at day 5. The primary outcome was time to sustained recovery through day …

Virtual Global Health In Graduate Medical Education: A Systematic Review, Lisa Umphrey, Nora Lenhard, Suet Kam Lam, Nathaniel E Hayward, Shaina Hecht, Priya Agrawal, Amy Chambliss, Jessica Evert, Heather Haq, Stephanie M Lauden, George Paasi, Mary Schleicher, Megan Song Mchenry

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

OBJECTIVES: To synthesize recent virtual global health education activities for graduate medical trainees, document gaps in the literature, suggest future study, and inform best practice recommendations for global health educators.

METHODS: We systematically reviewed articles published on virtual global health education activities from 2012-2021 by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, ERIC, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I. We performed bibliography review and search of conference and organization websites. We included articles about primarily virtual activities targeting for health professional trainees. We collected and qualitatively analyzed descriptive data about activity type, evaluation, audience, and drivers or barriers. …

Assessing Age-Specific Vaccination Strategies And Post-Vaccination Reopening Policies For Covid-19 Control Using Seir Modeling Approach, Xia Wang, Hulin Wu, Sanyi Tang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

As the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, it is badly needed to develop vaccination guidelines to prioritize the vaccination delivery in order to effectively stop COVID-19 epidemic and minimize the loss. We evaluated the effect of age-specific vaccination strategies on the number of infections and deaths using an SEIR model, considering the age structure and social contact patterns for different age groups for each of different countries. In general, the vaccination priority should be given to those younger people who are active in social contacts to minimize the number of infections, while the vaccination priority should be given to the elderly …

Controlling Multiple Covid-19 Epidemic Waves: An Insight From A Multi-Scale Model Linking The Behaviour Change Dynamics To The Disease Transmission Dynamics, Biao Tang, Weike Zhou, Xia Wang, Hulin Wu, Yanni Xiao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

COVID-19 epidemics exhibited multiple waves regionally and globally since 2020. It is important to understand the insight and underlying mechanisms of the multiple waves of COVID-19 epidemics in order to design more efficient non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and vaccination strategies to prevent future waves. We propose a multi-scale model by linking the behaviour change dynamics to the disease transmission dynamics to investigate the effect of behaviour dynamics on COVID-19 epidemics using game theory. The proposed multi-scale models are calibrated and key parameters related to disease transmission dynamics and behavioural dynamics with/without vaccination are estimated based on COVID-19 epidemic data (daily reported …

Years Of Life Lost Associated With Covid-19 Deaths In The Usa During The First 2 Years Of The Pandemic, Troy Quast, Ross Andel, Sean Gregory, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Background: Prior estimates of the years of life lost (YLLs) in the USA associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were 1.2 million through 11 July 2020 and 3.9 million through 31 January 2021 (which roughly coincides with the first full year of the pandemic). The aim of this study is to update YLL estimates through the first 2 years of the pandemic.

Methods: We employed data regarding COVID-19 deaths through 5 February 2022 by jurisdiction, gender and age group. We used actuarial life expectancy tables by gender and age to estimate YLLs.

Results: We estimated roughly 9.7 million YLLs due …

Effectiveness And Adherence To Closed Face Shields In The Prevention Of Covid-19 Transmission: A Non-Inferiority Randomized Controlled Trial In A Middle-Income Setting (Covproshield), Andrea Ramirez Varela, Alejandro Pacheco Gurruchaga, Silvia Restrepo Restrepo, Juan David Martin, Yessica Daniela Campaz Landazabal, Guillermo Tamayo-Cabeza, Sandra Contreras-Arrieta, Yuldor Caballero-Díaz, Luis Jorge Hernandez Florez, John Mario González, Juan Carlos Santos-Barbosa, José David Pinzón, Juan José Yepes-Nuñez, Rachid Laajaj, Giancarlo Buitrago Gutierrez, Martha Vives Florez, Janner Fuentes Castillo, Gianni Quinche Vargas, Andres Casas, Antonio Medina, Eduardo Behrentz, Covida Working Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The use of respiratory devices can mitigate the spread of diseases such as COVID-19 in community settings. We aimed to determine the effectiveness of closed face shields with surgical face masks to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission in working adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bogotá, Colombia.

METHODS: An open-label non-inferiority randomized controlled trial that randomly assigned participants to one of two groups: the intervention group was instructed to wear closed face shields with surgical face masks, and the active control group was instructed to wear only surgical face masks. The primary outcome was a positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction …

Cross-Sector Decision Landscape In Response To Covid-19: A Qualitative Network Mapping Analysis Of North Carolina Decision-Makers, Caitlin B Biddell, Karl T Johnson, Mehul D Patel, Raymond L Smith, Hillary K Hecht, Julie L Swann, Maria E Mayorga, Kristen Hassmiller Lich

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic response has demonstrated the interconnectedness of individuals, organizations, and other entities jointly contributing to the production of community health. This response has involved stakeholders from numerous sectors who have been faced with new decisions, objectives, and constraints. We examined the cross-sector organizational decision landscape that formed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina.

METHODS: We conducted virtual semi-structured interviews with 44 organizational decision-makers representing nine sectors in North Carolina between October 2020 and January 2021 to understand the decision-making landscape within the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with a complexity/systems thinking …

Improved Sars-Cov-2 Sequencing Surveillance Allows The Identification Of New Variants And Signatures In Infected Patients, Antonio Grimaldi, Francesco Panariello, Patrizia Annunziata, Teresa Giuliano, Michela Daniele, Biancamaria Pierri, Chiara Colantuono, Marcello Salvi, Valentina Bouché, Anna Manfredi, Maria Concetta Cuomo, Denise Di Concilio, Claudia Tiberio, Mariano Fiorenza, Giuseppe Portella, Ilaria Cimmino, Antonio Sorrentino, Giovanna Fusco, Maria Rosaria Granata, Pellegrino Cerino, Antonio Limone, Luigi Atripaldi, Andrea Ballabio, Davide Cacchiarelli

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: Genomic surveillance of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the only approach to rapidly monitor and tackle emerging variants of concern (VOC) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such scrutiny is crucial to limit the spread of VOC that might escape the immune protection conferred by vaccination strategies or previous virus exposure. It is also becoming clear now that efficient genomic surveillance would require monitoring of the host gene expression to identify prognostic biomarkers of treatment efficacy and disease progression. Here we propose an integrative workflow to both generate thousands of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences per week and analyze host …

Risk Of Transmission Of Respiratory Viruses During Aerosol-Generating Medical Procedures (Agmps) Revisited In The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review, Jenine Leal, Brenlea Farkas, Liza Mastikhina, Jordyn Flanagan, Becky Skidmore, Charleen Salmon, Devika Dixit, Stephanie Smith, Stephen Tsekrekos, Bonita Lee, Joseph Vayalumkal, Jessica Dunn, Robyn Harrison, Melody Cordoviz, Roberta Dubois, Uma Chandran, Fiona Clement, Kathryn Bush, John Conly, Oscar Larios

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: In many jurisdictions healthcare workers (HCWs) are using respirators for aerosol-generating medical procedures (AGMPs) performed on adult and pediatric populations with all suspect/confirmed viral respiratory infections (VRIs). This systematic review assessed the risk of VRIs to HCWs in the presence of AGMPs, the role respirators versus medical/surgical masks have on reducing that risk, and if the risk to HCWs during AGMPs differed when caring for adult or pediatric patient populations.

MAIN TEXT: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central, Cochrane SR, CINAHL, COVID-19 specific resources, and MedRxiv for English and French articles from database inception to September 9, 2021. Independent …

A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis On Prevalence Of And Risk Factors Associated With Depression, Anxiety And Insomnia In Infectious Diseases, Including Covid-19: A Call To Action, Kai Yuan, Yong-Bo Zheng, Yi-Jie Wang, Yan-Kun Sun, Yi-Miao Gong, Yue-Tong Huang, Xuan Chen, Xiao-Xing Liu, Yi Zhong, Si-Zhen Su, Nan Gao, Yi-Long Lu, Zhe Wang, Wei-Jian Liu, Jian-Yu Que, Ying-Bo Yang, An-Yi Zhang, Meng-Ni Jing, Chen-Wei Yuan, Na Zeng, Michael V Vitiello, Vikram Patel, Seena Fazel, Harry Minas, Graham Thornicroft, Teng-Teng Fan, Xiao Lin, Wei Yan, Le Shi, Jie Shi, Thomas Kosten, Yan-Ping Bao, Lin Lu

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Infectious disease epidemics have become more frequent and more complex during the 21st century, posing a health threat to the general public and leading to psychological symptoms. The current study was designed to investigate the prevalence of and risk factors associated with depression, anxiety and insomnia symptoms during epidemic outbreaks, including COVID-19. We systematically searched the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, OVID, Medline, Cochrane databases, bioRxiv and medRxiv to identify studies that reported the prevalence of depression, anxiety or insomnia during infectious disease epidemics, up to August 14th, 2020. Prevalence of mental symptoms among different populations including the general public, …

Covid-19: Perceived Infection Risk And Barriers To Uptake Of Pfizer-Biontech And Moderna Vaccines Among Community Healthcare Workers, Tolulope B Famuyiro, Abayomi Ogunwale, Jude Des Bordes, Mukaila Raji

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The health and economic ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic have prompted the need for a timely and effective vaccine development. While the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in record time is being hailed as a scientific feat, skepticism about the safety, side effects, and even its long-term effects remain. Acceptance of the vaccine may therefore be a challenge among healthcare workers (HCWs), whose role is considered a proxy to determining the COVID-19 vaccine uptake response by the general population.

Methods: In December 2020, prior to the arrival and receipt of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, we conducted a …

International Prevalence And Mechanisms Of Sars-Cov-2 In Childhood Arterial Ischemic Stroke During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lauren A Beslow, Shannon C Agner, Jonathan D Santoro, Dipak Ram, Jenny L Wilson, Dana Harrar, Brian Appavu, Stuart M Fraser, Thomas Rossor, Marcela D Torres, Manoëlle Kossorotoff, Yenny C Zuñiga Zambrano, Marta Hernández-Chávez, Sahar M A Hassanein, Dimitrios Zafeiriou, Michael M Dowling, Ilona Kopyta, Nicholas V Stence, Timothy J Bernard, Nomazulu Dlamini

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Data from the early pandemic revealed that 0.62% of children hospitalized with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had an acute arterial ischemic stroke (AIS). In a larger cohort from June 2020 to December 2020, we sought to determine whether our initial point estimate was stable as the pandemic continued and to understand radiographic and laboratory data that may clarify mechanisms of pediatric AIS in the setting of SARS-CoV-2.

METHODS: We surveyed international sites with pediatric stroke expertise to determine numbers of hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 patients <18 >years, numbers of incident AIS cases among children (29 days to <18 >years), frequency …

Patient Preference For Virtual Versus In-Person Visits In Neuromuscular Clinical Practice, Komal Hafeez, Hani Kushlaf, Husam Al-Sultani, Anny-Claude Joseph, Zoya Zaeem, Zaeem Siddiqi, Shannon Laboy, Michael Pulley, Ali A Habib, Nathaniel M Robbins, Sean Zadeh, Muhammad Ubaid Hafeez, Yessar Hussain, Alexandria Melendez-Zaidi, Charles Kassardjian, Kristin Johnson, Holly Leonhard, Suur Biliciler, Jorge E Patino Murillas, Aziz I Shaibani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION/AIMS: It is unknown if patients with neuromuscular diseases prefer in-person or virtual telemedicine visits. We studied patient opinions and preference on virtual versus in-person visits, and the factors influencing such preferences.

METHODS: Telephone surveys, consisting of 11 questions, of patients from 10 neuromuscular centers were completed.

RESULTS: Five hundred and twenty surveys were completed. Twenty-six percent of respondents preferred virtual visits, while 50% preferred in-person visits. Sixty-four percent reported physical interaction as "very important." For receiving a new diagnosis, 55% preferred in-person vs 35% reporting no preference. Forty percent were concerned about a lack of physical examination vs 20% …

Sars-Cov-2 Infection: Host Response, Immunity, And Therapeutic Targets, Pooja Shivshankar, Harry Karmouty-Quintana, Tingting Mills, Marie-Francoise Doursout, Yanyu Wang, Agnieszka K Czopik, Scott E Evans, Holger K Eltzschig, Xiaoyi Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has resulted in a global pandemic with severe socioeconomic effects. Immunopathogenesis of COVID-19 leads to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and organ failure. Binding of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) on bronchiolar and alveolar epithelial cells triggers host inflammatory pathways that lead to pathophysiological changes. Proinflammatory cytokines and type I interferon (IFN) signaling in alveolar epithelial cells counter barrier disruption, modulate host innate immune response to induce chemotaxis, and initiate the resolution of inflammation. Here, we discuss experimental models to study SARS-CoV-2 …

Antibody Evasion By Sars-Cov-2 Omicron Subvariants Ba2121, Ba4 And Ba5, Qian Wang, Yicheng Guo, Sho Iketani, Manoj S Nair, Zhiteng Li, Hiroshi Mohri, Maple Wang, Jian Yu, Anthony D Bowen, Jennifer Y Chang, Jayesh G Shah, Nadia Nguyen, Zhiwei Chen, Kathrine Meyers, Michael T Yin, Magdalena E Sobieszczyk, Zizhang Sheng, Yaoxing Huang, Lihong Liu, David D Ho

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/5 have surged notably to become dominant in the United States and South Africa, respectively1,2. These new subvariants carrying further mutations in their spike proteins raise concerns that they may further evade neutralizing antibodies, thereby further compromising the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutic monoclonals. We now report findings from a systematic antigenic analysis of these surging Omicron subvariants. BA.2.12.1 is only modestly (1.8-fold) more resistant to sera from vaccinated and boosted individuals than BA.2. However, BA.4/5 is substantially (4.2-fold) more resistant and thus more likely to lead to vaccine breakthrough infections. Mutation at spike …