COVID-19 Commons^™

Plasma Enzymatic Activity, Proteomics And Peptidomics In Covid-19-Induced Sepsis: A Novel Approach For The Analysis Of Hemostasis, Fernando Dos Santos, Joyce B Li, Nathalia Juocys, Rafi Mazor, Laura Beretta, Nicole G Coufal, Michael T Y Lam, Mazen F Odish, Maria Claudia Irigoyen, Anthony J O'Donoghue, Federico Aletti, Erik B Kistler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Infection by SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent COVID-19 can cause viral sepsis. We investigated plasma protease activity patterns in COVID-19-induced sepsis with bacterial superinfection, as well as plasma proteomics and peptidomics in order to assess the possible implications of enhanced proteolysis on major protein systems (e.g., coagulation). Methods: Patients (=4) admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center with confirmed positive test for COVID-19 by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were enrolled in a study approved by the UCSD Institutional Review Board (IRB# 190699, Protocol #20-0006). Informed consent was obtained …

Age And Sex-Specific Stroke Epidemiology In Covid-19, Youngran Kim, Maria A Parekh, Xiaojin Li, Yan Huang, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Bharti Manwani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has emerged as an independent risk factor for stroke. We aimed to determine age and sex-specific stroke incidence and risk factors with COVID-19 in the US using a large electronic health record (EHR) that included both inpatients and outpatients.

METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using individual-level data from Optum

RESULTS: Of 387,330 COVID-19 patients, 2,752 patients (0.71%, 95% CI 0.68-0.74) developed stroke during the 180-day follow-up, AIS in 0.65% (95% CI 0.62-0.67), and ICH in 0.11% (95% CI 0.10-0.12). Of strokes among COVID-19 patients, 57% occurred within 3 days. Advanced age was associated with a substantially …

Post-Acute Sequelae Of Covid-19 And Longitudinal Antibody Levels In A Community-Based Cohort, Noa Kopplin, Angie Garcia, Annika Reczek, Kate Wilkinson, Sruthi Yekkaluri, Caitlin C Murphy, Jasmin Tiro, Alagar R Muthukumar, Andrew Masica, Amit G Singal

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection invokes variable immune responses and poses a risk of post-acute sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) symptoms; however, most data on natural history are derived from patients with severe infection. Further data are needed among patients with mild infection, who comprise most cases.

METHODS: The Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW) COVID-19 Prevalence Study included 21,597 community-dwelling adults (ages 18-89) who underwent COVID-19 PCR and anti-nucleocapsid antibody testing between July 2020 and March 2021. We invited participants with positive COVID-19 results (cases) and a subset with negative results (controls), matched on age, sex, race/ethnicity, and ZIP code, to complete …

Pregnancy-Related Covid Worry, Depressive Symptom Severity, And Mediation Through Sleep Disturbance In A Low-Income, Primarily Latinx Population In California’S Central Valley, Jennifer N Felder, Patience A Afulani, Kimberly Coleman-Phox, Serwaa S Omowale, Charles E Mcculloch, Lauren Lessard, Miriam Kuppermann

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: This study (1) assessed the psychometric properties of a pregnancy-related COVID worry scale, (2) explored variations in pregnancy-related COVID worry over the course of the pandemic, and (3) examined associations between pregnancy-related COVID worry and depressive symptom severity, and evaluated sleep disturbance as a mediator.

Methods: Data were drawn from an ongoing randomized trial comparing the effectiveness of two enhanced forms of prenatal care. The current analysis includes baseline pre-randomization data collected from participants who enrolled November 2020-November 2021 (n = 201). Participants were pregnant individuals with low income and primarily Latinx.

Results: Our 7-item scale was valid and …

Dietary Behaviours During Covid-19 Among Households At Risk For Food Insecurity, Maha Almohamad, Allison Marshall, Jayna Markand Dave, Ru-Jye Chuang, Christine Markham, Shreela Sharma

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The objective of the present study was to examine associations between variables of COVID-19-related concerns and changes in fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption among a sample of participants from the Brighter Bites program at risk for food insecurity. Cross-sectional data were collected during April-June 2020 using a rapid-response survey to understand social needs, COVID-19-related concerns and diet-related behaviours among families with children participating in Brighter Bites (

Covidanno, Covid-19 Annotation In Human, Yuzhou Feng, Mengyuan Yang, Zhiwei Fan, Weiling Zhao, Pora Kim, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the etiologic agent of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), has caused a global health crisis. Despite ongoing efforts to treat patients, there is no universal prevention or cure available. One of the feasible approaches will be identifying the key genes from SARS-CoV-2-infected cells. SARS-CoV-2-infected in vitro model, allows easy control of the experimental conditions, obtaining reproducible results, and monitoring of infection progression. Currently, accumulating RNA-seq data from SARS-CoV-2 in vitro models urgently needs systematic translation and interpretation. To fill this gap, we built COVIDanno, COVID-19 annotation in humans, available at http://biomedbdc.wchscu.cn/COVIDanno/. The aim …

Lessons Learned From Interdisciplinary Efforts To Combat Covid-19 Misinformation: Development Of Agile Integrative Methods From Behavioral Science, Data Science, And Implementation Science, Sahiti Myneni, Paula Cuccaro, Sarah Montgomery, Vivek Pakanati, Jinni Tang, Tavleen Singh, Olivia Dominguez, Trevor Cohen, Belinda Reininger, Lara S Savas, Maria E Fernandez

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Despite increasing awareness about and advances in addressing social media misinformation, the free flow of false COVID-19 information has continued, affecting individuals' preventive behaviors, including masking, testing, and vaccine uptake.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we describe our multidisciplinary efforts with a specific focus on methods to (1) gather community needs, (2) develop interventions, and (3) conduct large-scale agile and rapid community assessments to examine and combat COVID-19 misinformation.

METHODS: We used the Intervention Mapping framework to perform community needs assessment and develop theory-informed interventions. To supplement these rapid and responsive efforts through large-scale online social listening, we developed a …

Habitat Imaging Biomarkers For Diagnosis And Prognosis In Cancer Patients Infected With Covid-19, Muhammad Aminu, Divya Yadav, Lingzhi Hong, Elliana Young, Paul Edelkamp, Maliazurina Saad, Morteza Salehjahromi, Pingjun Chen, Sheeba J Sujit, Melissa M Chen, Bradley Sabloff, Gregory Gladish, Patricia M De Groot, Myrna C B Godoy, Tina Cascone, Natalie I Vokes, Jianjun Zhang, Kristy K Brock, Naval Daver, Scott E Woodman, Hussein A Tawbi, Ajay Sheshadri, J Jack Lee, David Jaffray, D Code Team, Carol C Wu, Caroline Chung, Jia Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Cancer patients have worse outcomes from the COVID-19 infection and greater need for ventilator support and elevated mortality rates than the general population. However, previous artificial intelligence (AI) studies focused on patients without cancer to develop diagnosis and severity prediction models. Little is known about how the AI models perform in cancer patients. In this study, we aim to develop a computational framework for COVID-19 diagnosis and severity prediction particularly in a cancer population and further compare it head-to-head to a general population.

METHODS: We have enrolled multi-center international cohorts with 531 CT scans from 502 general patients and …

Covid-19 Vaccines: The Imperfect Instruments Of Vaccine Diplomacy, Peter J Hotez

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Although true vaccine diplomacy in the form of sharing vaccine development technologies and scientific cooperation with low- and middle-income countries has not been a dominant theme in the COVID-19 pandemic, this aspect is now taking off and generating some exciting new possibilities.

Sentiment Analysis Of Insomnia-Related Tweets Via A Combination Of Transformers Using Dempster-Shafer Theory: Pre- And Peri-Covid-19 Pandemic Retrospective Study, Arash Maghsoudi, Sara Nowakowski, Ritwick Agrawal, Amir Sharafkhaneh, Mark E Kunik, Aanand D Naik, Hua Xu, Javad Razjouyan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed additional stress on population health that may result in a change of sleeping behavior.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we hypothesized that using natural language processing to explore social media would help with assessing the mental health conditions of people experiencing insomnia after the outbreak of COVID-19.

METHODS: We designed a retrospective study that used public social media content from Twitter. We categorized insomnia-related tweets based on time, using the following two intervals: the prepandemic (January 1, 2019, to January 1, 2020) and peripandemic (January 1, 2020, to January 1, 2021) intervals. We performed a …

Risk Factors For Sars-Cov-2 Transmission In Close Contacts Of Adults At High Risk Of Infection Due To Occupation: Results From The Contact Tracing Strategy Of The Covida Epidemiological Surveillance Study In Bogotá, Colombia, In 2020-2021, Andrea Ramírez Varela, Sandra Contreras-Arrieta, Guillermo Tamayo-Cabeza, Leonardo Salas Zapata, Yuldor Caballero-Díaz, Luis Jorge Hernández Florez, Andrés Patiño Benavidez, Rachid Laajaj, Fernando De La Hoz, Giancarlo Buitrago Gutierrez, Silvia Restrepo, Eduardo Behrentz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in close contacts of adults at high risk of infection due to occupation, participants of the CoVIDA study, in Bogotá D.C., Colombia.

SETTING: The CoVIDA study was the largest COVID-19 intensified sentinel epidemiological surveillance study in Colombia thus far, performing over 60 000 RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study implemented a contact tracing strategy (via telephone call) to support traditional surveillance actions performed by the local health authority.

PARTICIPANTS: Close contacts of participants from the CoVIDA study.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: SARS-CoV-2 testing results were obtained (RT-PCR with CoVIDA …

Does Receiving A Sars-Cov-2 Antibody Test Result Change Covid-19 Protective Behaviors? Testing Risk Compensation In Undergraduate Students With A Randomized Controlled Trial, Christina Ludema, Molly S Rosenberg, Jonathan T Macy, Sina Kianersi, Maya Luetke, Chen Chen, Lilian Golzarri-Arroyo, Erin Ables, Kevin Maki, David B Allison

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Risk compensation, or matching behavior to a perceived level of acceptable risk, can blunt the effectiveness of public health interventions. One area of possible risk compensation during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is antibody testing. While antibody tests are imperfect measures of immunity, results may influence risk perception and individual preventive actions. We conducted a randomized control trial to assess whether receiving antibody test results changed SARS-CoV-2 protective behaviors.

Purpose: Assess whether objective information about antibody status, particularly for those who are antibody negative and likely still susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, increases protective behaviors. Secondarily, assess whether a positive antibody test …

The Challenges And Opportunities Of Scrna-Seq In Covid-19 Research And Clinical Translation, Wendao Liu, Xiaohua Ye, Zhiqiang An, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The application of single-cell RNA sequencing in COVID-19 research has greatly improved our understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis and immunological characteristics. In this commentary, we discuss the current challenges, limitations, and perspectives in harnessing the power of single-cell RNA sequencing to accelerate both basic research and therapeutic development for COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases.

Fulminant Lung Fibrosis In Non-Resolvable Covid-19 Requiring Transplantation, Soma S K Jyothula, Andrew Peters, Yafen Liang, Weizhen Bi, Pooja Shivshankar, Simon Yau, Puneet S Garcha, Xiaoyi Yuan, Bindu Akkanti, Scott Collum, Nancy Wareing, Rajarajan A Thandavarayan, Fernando Poli De Frias, Ivan O Rosas, Bihong Zhao, L Maximilian Buja, Holger K Eltzschig, Howard J Huang, Harry Karmouty-Quintana

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) can lead to the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In some patients with non-resolvable (NR) COVID-19, lung injury can progress rapidly to the point that lung transplantation is the only viable option for survival. This fatal progression of lung injury involves a rapid fibroproliferative response and takes on average 15 weeks from initial symptom presentation. Little is known about the mechanisms that lead to this fulminant lung fibrosis (FLF) in NR-COVID-19.

METHODS: Using a pre-designed unbiased PCR array for fibrotic markers, we analyzed the fibrotic signature in a subset of NR-COVID-19 lungs. We …

Impact Of Colchicine On Mortality And Morbidity In Covid-19: A Systematic Review., Devang Sanghavi, Pankaj Bansal, Ikwinder Preet Kaur, Mohsin Sheraz Mughal, Chandana Keshavamurthy, Austin Cusick, Jennifer Schram, Siva Naga S Yarrarapu, Abhishek R Giri, Nirmaljot Kaur, Pablo Moreno Franco, Andy Abril, Fawad Aslam

Pharmacy Articles

INTRODUCTION: Colchicine, because of its anti-inflammatory and possible anti-viral properties, has been proposed as potential therapeutic option for COVID-19. The role of colchicine to mitigate "cytokine storm" and to decrease the severity and mortality associated with COVID-19 has been evaluated in many studies.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the role of colchicine on morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients.

METHODS: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA recommendations. The literature search was conducted in 6 medical databases from inception to February 17, 2021 to identify studies evaluating colchicine as a therapeutic agent in COVID-19. All included studies were evaluated …

Association Of Initial Sars-Cov-2 Test Positivity With Patient-Reported Well-Being 3 Months After A Symptomatic Illness, Lauren E Wisk, Michael A Gottlieb, Erica S Spatz, Huihui Yu, Ralph C Wang, Benjamin H Slovis, Sharon Saydah, Ian D Plumb, Kelli N O'Laughlin, Juan Carlos C Montoy, Samuel A Mcdonald, Zhenqiu Lin, Jin-Mann S Lin, Katherine Koo, Ahamed H Idris, Ryan M Huebinger, Mandy J Hill, Nicole L Gentile, Anna Marie Chang, Jill Anderson, Bala Hota, Arjun K Venkatesh, Robert A Weinstein, Joann G Elmore, Graham Nichol, Inspire Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Long-term sequelae after symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection may impact well-being, yet existing data primarily focus on discrete symptoms and/or health care use.

OBJECTIVE: To compare patient-reported outcomes of physical, mental, and social well-being among adults with symptomatic illness who received a positive vs negative test result for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study was a planned interim analysis of an ongoing multicenter prospective longitudinal registry study (the Innovative Support for Patients With SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry [INSPIRE]). Participants were enrolled from December 11, 2020, to September 10, 2021, and comprised adults (aged ≥18 years) with acute symptoms suggestive …

Liver Injury After Sars‐Cov‐2 Vaccination: Features Of Immune-Mediated Hepatitis, Role Of Corticosteroid Therapy And Outcome, Cumali Efe, Anand V Kulkarni, Benedetta Terziroli Beretta-Piccoli, Bianca Magro, Albert Stättermayer, Mustafa Cengiz, Daniel Clayton-Chubb, Craig Lammert, Christine Bernsmeier, Özlem Gül, Fatima Higuera-De La Tijera, Margarita Anders, Ellina Lytvyak, Mete Akın, Tugrul Purnak, Rodrigo Liberal, Mirta Peralta, Berat Ebik, Serkan Duman, Nurhan Demir, Yasemin Balaban, Álvaro Urzua, Fernando Contreras, Maria Grazia Venturelli, Yılmaz Bilgiç, Adriana Medina, Marcos Girala, Fulya Günşar, Maria-Carlota Londoño, Theodoros Androutsakos, Ayelen Kisch, Alper Yurci, Fatih Güzelbulut, Yasir Furkan Çağın, Enver Avcı, Murat Akyıldız, Emine Kübra Dindar-Demiray, Murat Harputluoğlu, Rahul Kumar, Sanjaya K Satapathy, Manuel Mendizabal, Marcelo Silva, Stefano Fagiuoli, Stuart K Roberts, Neşe Karadağ Soylu, Ramazan Idilman, Eric M Yoshida, Aldo J Montano-Loza, George N Dalekos, Ezequiel Ridruejo, Thomas D Schiano, Staffan Wahlin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A few case reports of autoimmune hepatitis-like liver injury have been reported after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination. We evaluated clinical features, treatment response and outcomes of liver injury following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in a large case series.

APPROACH AND RESULTS: We collected data from cases in 18 countries. The type of liver injury was assessed with the R-value. The study population was categorized according to features of immune-mediated hepatitis (positive autoantibodies and elevated immunoglobulin G levels) and corticosteroid therapy for the liver injury. We identified 87 patients (63%, female), median age 48 (range: 18-79) …

Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial Of Oral Tannin Supplementation On Covid-19 Symptoms, Gut Dysbiosis And Cytokine Response, Silvia Molino, Andrea Pisarevsky, Shyam Badu, Qinglong Wu, Fabiana López Mingorance, Patricia Vega, Juan Pablo Stefanolo, Julieta Repetti, Guillermina Ludueña, Pablo Pepa, Juan Ignacio Olmos, Marcelo Rodriguez Fermepin, Tatiana Uehara, Elisa Viciani, Andrea Castagnetti, Tor Savidge, María Marta Piskorz

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The clinical study aim was to investigate whether a tannin-based dietary supplementation could improve the efficacy of standard-of-care treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients by restoring gut microbiota function. Adverse events and immunomodulation post-tannin supplementation were also investigated. A total of 124 patients receiving standard-of-care treatment were randomized to oral tannin-based supplement or placebo for a total of 14 days. Longitudinal blood and stool samples were collected for cytokine and 16S rDNA microbiome profiling, and results were compared with 53 healthy controls. Although oral tannin supplementation did not result in clinical improvement or significant gut microbiome shifts after 14-days, a reduction …

A New Chapter In An Evolving Pandemic: Successful Pediatric Liver Transplantation With Sars-Cov-2+ Donors, Matthew Benjamin Goss, Daniel Hao Bin Leung, Stephanie Marie Pouch, Flor M Munoz, Elizabeth Andrea Moulton, Tyler Malcolm Mccann Lambing, Sarah Koohmaraie, Nicolas Fernando Moreno, Christine A O'Mahony, John A Goss, Nhu Thao Nguyen Galván

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Amid a viral pandemic with poorly understood transmissibility and pathogenicity in the pediatric patient, we report the first pediatric liver transplants utilizing allografts from SARS-CoV-2+ donors.

METHODS: We describe the outcomes of two pediatric liver transplant recipients who received organs from SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test-positive (NAT+) donors. Data were obtained through the respective electronic medical record system and UNet DonorNet platform.

RESULTS: The first donor was a 3-year-old boy succumbing to head trauma. One of four nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs and 1 of 3 bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) NAT tests demonstrated SARS-CoV-2 infection before organ procurement. The second donor was a …

Pediatric Lung Transplantation For Covid-19: Unique Clinical And Psychosocial Barriers, Anupam Kumar, Gloria W Li, Justin M Segraves, Aladdein Mattar, Maheshwari Ramineni, Gabriel Loor, Puneet S Garcha

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 infection in the age group of 0-17 years contributes to approximately 22% of all laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections. Fortunately, this age group has a lower death rate (0.5 per 100 000) that accounts for only 4% of the total deaths due to COVID-19. Despite the low mortality rate in the pediatric population, children of minority groups represented 78% of the deaths highlighting the existing disparities in access to health care.

METHODS: With the emergence of the more contagious COVID-19 variants and the relatively slow pace of vaccination among the pediatric population, it is possible to see more cases of …

Abnormalities In Cardiac And Inflammatory Biomarkers In Ambulatory Subjects After Covid-19 Infection, Joshua A Keefe, Vasanthi Avadhanula, Erin G Nicholson, Sridevi Devaraj, Pedro A Piedra, Biykem Bozkurt, Xander H T Wehrens

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) is known to affect the heart and is associated with a pro-inflammatory state. Most studies to date have focused on clinically sick subjects. Here, we report cardiac and proinflammatory biomarkers levels in ambulatory young adults with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 infection compared to those without infection 4-8 weeks after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) testing.

METHODS: 131 asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic subjects were enrolled following testing for SARS-COV-2. Fifty subjects tested negative, and 81 subjects tested positive. Serum samples were collected for measurement of C-reactive protein, ferritin, interleukin-6, NT-pro-B-type natriuretic peptide, and cardiac troponin 28-55 …

Incidence Of An Insulin-Requiring Hyperglycemic Syndrome In Sars-Cov-2-Infected Young Individuals: Is It Type 1 Diabetes?, Massimo Pietropaolo, Peter Hotez, Nick Giannoukakis

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Pancreatic ACE2 receptor expression, together with increased prevalence of insulin-requiring hyperglycemia in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), suggested that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pancreatic infection might trigger a β-cell-selective inflammation precipitating autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D). We examined T1D incidence in patients with COVID-19 inside a large, global population using a "big data" approach. The incidence in 0-30-year-old patients with confirmed COVID-19 over an ∼15-month period from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was compared with an age-matched population without COVID-19 inside the TriNetX COVID-19 Research Network (>80 million deidentified patient electronic medical records globally). …

Stellate Ganglion Block For Long Covid Symptom Management: A Case Report, Mashfee H Khan, Kennedy P Kirkpatrick, Yi Deng, Krishna B Shah

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Stellate ganglion block (SGB) is gaining increasing acceptance as a treatment modality for various medical conditions. It works by blocking neuronal transmissions which in turn alleviates sympathetically-driven disease processes. Many of the prolonged sequelae of long COVID are thought to be mediated by dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system, and SGB is being investigated as a potential option for symptomatic management of long COVID. This case report demonstrates the efficacy of SGB in a previously healthy patient for the management of long COVID symptoms including fatigue, post-exertional malaise, shortness of breath, and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Massive Macroglossia, A Rare Side Effect Of Covid-19: Clinical, Histologic, And Genomic Findings In Covid-19-Positive Versus Covid-19-Negative Patients, Victoria A Mañón, David Chubb, Laura S Farach, Rachid Karam, Mary C Farach-Carson, Nadarajah Vigneswaran, Karan Saluja, Simon Young, Mark Wong, James C Melville

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: The primary purpose of this study is to identify if there is an underlying genetic predisposition for COVID-related macroglossia and if this susceptibility is higher among individuals of African heritage. Secondary objectives include determining if genetic testing of COVID-infected patients who are intubated and prone could identify patients with higher susceptibility to the development of macroglossia.

METHODS: A retrospective chart review was completed for each patient, and prospectively, genetic and histopathologic analyses were completed. Whole-exome sequencing was completed on two patients; immunohistochemistry was completed on the COVID-positive tissue samples.

RESULTS: Histopathology of the COVID-positive patient revealed significant peri-lymphocytic infiltrate, …

Chemical Explosion, Covid-19, And Environmental Justice: Insights From Low-Cost Air Quality Sensors, Guning Liu, Katie Moore, Wei-Chung Su, George L Delclos, David Gimeno Ruiz De Porras, Bing Yu, Hezhong Tian, Bin Luo, Shao Lin, Grace Tee Lewis, Elena Craft, Kai Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: to examine the impact of the Intercontinental Terminals Company (ITC) fire and COVID-19 on airborne particulate matter (PM) concentrations and the PM disproportionally affecting communities in Houston using low-cost sensors.

METHODS: We compared measurements from a network of low-cost sensors with a separate network of monitors from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Houston metropolitan area from Mar 18, 2019, to Dec 31, 2020. Further, we examined the associations between neighborhood-level sociodemographic status and air pollution patterns by linking the low-cost sensor data to EPA environmental justice screening and mapping systems.

FINDINGS: We found increased PM levels during …

Factors Associated With Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Natalia I Heredia, Michael Machiorlatti, Belinda M Reininger, Candace Robledo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted individual physical activity levels. Less is known regarding how factors such as sociodemographic and built environment were associated with physical activity engagement during the pandemic. Understanding these factors is critical to informing future infectious disease mitigation policies that promote, rather than hinder physical activity. The purpose of this study was to assess predictors of physical activity levels during the beginning of the pandemic (April-June 2020), including Stay-at-Home length and orders, neighborhood safety, and sociodemographic characteristics.

METHODS: Data included 517 participants who responded to an anonymous online survey. Physical activity was assessed with a modified Godin …

Expanding The Focus Of Occupational Safety And Health: Lessons From A Series Of Linked Scientific Meetings, Paul A Schulte, George L Delclos, Sarah A Felknor, Jessica M K Streit, Michelle Mcdaniel, L Casey Chosewood, Lee S Newman, Faiyaz A Bhojani, Rene Pana-Cryan, Naomi G Swanson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There is widespread recognition that the world of work is changing, and agreement is growing that the occupational safety and health (OSH) field must change to contribute to the protection of workers now and in the future. Discourse on the evolution of OSH has been active for many decades, but formalized support of an expanded focus for OSH has greatly increased over the past 20 years. Development of approaches such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)'s total Worker Health

"Everything…Fell Apart Once Covid-19 Hit"-Leveraging The Covid-19 Response To Strengthen Public Health Activities Toward Ending The Hiv Epidemic: A Qualitative Study, Samantha A Devlin, Moctezuma Garcia, Kayo Fujimoto, Camden Hallmark, Marlene Mcneese, John Schneider, Moira C Mcnulty

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

COVID-19 caused widespread disruption of activities for Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE). In this study we assessed public health perspectives on leveraging the COVID-19 response to advance the goals of EHE. We conducted a qualitative study with 33 public health partners in the Midwestern and Southern United States from October 2020 to February 2022. Participants were asked how the strategies developed for COVID-19 could be applied to the HIV epidemic. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and examined using rapid qualitative analysis. Four themes emerged: (1) Rebuilding teams and adapting culture for success in EHE activities; (2) Recognizing and modernizing the role …

Sars-Cov-2 Incubation Period According To Vaccination Status During The Fifth Covid-19 Wave In A Tertiary-Care Center In Spain: A Cohort Study, Jordi Cortés Martínez, Daewoo Pak, Gabriela Abelenda-Alonso, Klaus Langohr, Jing Ning, Alexander Rombauts, Mireia Colom, Yu Shen, Guadalupe Gómez Melis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The incubation period of an infectious disease is defined as the elapsed time between the exposure to the pathogen and the onset of symptoms. Although both the mRNA-based and the adenoviral vector-based vaccines have shown to be effective, there have been raising concerns regarding possible decreases in vaccine effectiveness for new variants and variations in the incubation period.

Methods: We conducted a unicentric observational study at the Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge, Barcelona, using a structured telephone survey performed by trained interviewers to estimate the incubation period of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in a cohort of Spanish hospitalized patients. The …

A High-Resolution 3d Atlas Of The Spectrum Of Tuberculous Andcovid-19 Lung Lesions, Gordon Wells, Joel N Glasgow, Kievershen Nargan, Kapongo Lumamba, Rajhmun Madansein, Kameel Maharaj, Leon Y Perumal, Malcolm Matthew, Robert L Hunter, Hayden Pacl, Jacelyn E Peabody Lever, Denise D Stanford, Satinder P Singh, Prachi Bajpai, Upender Manne, Paul V Benson, Steven M Rowe, Stephan Le Roux, Alex Sigal, Muofhe Tshibalanganda, Carlyn Wells, Anton Du Plessis, Mpumelelo Msimang, Threnesan Naidoo, Adrie J C Steyn

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Our current understanding of the spectrum of TB and COVID-19 lesions in the human lung is limited by a reliance on low-resolution imaging platforms that cannot provide accurate 3D representations of lesion types within the context of the whole lung. To characterize TB and COVID-19 lesions in 3D, we applied micro/nanocomputed tomography to surgically resected, postmortem, and paraffin-embedded human lung tissue. We define a spectrum of TB pathologies, including cavitary lesions, calcium deposits outside and inside necrotic granulomas and mycetomas, and vascular rearrangement. We identified an unusual spatial arrangement of vasculature within an entire COVID-19 lobe, and 3D segmentation of …