Epidemiology Commons^™

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, …

Quality Of Life Of Hypertensive Patients Undergoing Chronic Disease Management Program During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Widya Astuty Lolo, Gayatri Citraningtyas, Deby Afriani Mpila, Heri Wijaya, Sandeep Poddar

Kesmas

The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted some common activities for hypertensive patients undergoing the Chronic Disease Management Program/Program Pengelolaan Penyakit Kronis in primary health care, decreasing the quality of life. This study aimed to measure the quality of life of hypertensive patients undergoing the Chronic Disease Management Program at primary health care of Manado City, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, during the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the factors influencing hypertension such as sex, age, education, employment status, monthly income and duration of hypertension. This cross-sectional study was carried out on 150 hypertensive patients randomly sampled at primary health care from June to …

Lessons Learned: Covid-19 In Post-Corrections Secured Behavioral Rehabilitation, Jennifer G. Jones, Maria Devalpine, Erica J. Lewis

Virginia Journal of Public Health

Background: The COVID-19 case rate on June 5, 2020, for prisoners in the United States (US) was 5.5 times higher than the US population case rate (Saloner et al., 2020). Secure facilities were challenged to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. One secure behavioral rehabilitation facility made many changes to facility and program protocols to meet this challenge.

Methods: The purpose of this program evaluation was to assess newly implemented infection control measures at a secure behavioral rehabilitation facility and to inform policy and procedure recommendations for the mitigation of COVID-19 transmission in congregate living facilities in the future. Case rates, …

Association Between The Health Belief Model, Exercise, And Nutrition Behaviors During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Keagan Kiely, Bill Mase, Andrew R. Hansen, Jessica S. Schwind

Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Environmental Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our nation’s health further than the infection it causes. Physical activity levels and dietary intake have suffered while individuals grapple with the changes in behavior to reduce viral transmission. With unique nuances regarding the access to physical activity and nutrition during the pandemic, the constructs of Health Belief Model (HBM) may present themselves differently in nutrition and exercise behaviors compared to precautions implemented to reduce viral transmission studied in previous research. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of exercise and nutritional behavior change during the COVID-19 pandemic and explain the …

"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 …

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 …

Evaluation Of Mrna-1273 Vaccine In Children 6 Months To 5 Years Of Age, Evan J Anderson, C Buddy Creech, Vladimir Berthaud, Arin Piramzadian, Kimball A Johnson, Marcus Zervos, Fredric Garner, Carl Griffin, Khozema Palanpurwala, Mark Turner, Jeffrey Gerber, Richard L Bennett, Kashif Ali, Madhavi Ampajwala, Gary Berman, Jennifer Nayak, Carey Chronis, Barbara Rizzardi, William J Muller, Christopher A Smith, George Fuchs, Daniel Hsia, Joanne E Tomassini, Dianne Delucia, Caroline Reuter, Barbara Kuter, Xiaoping Zhao, Weiping Deng, Honghong Zhou, Daniela Ramirez Schrempp, Kelly Hautzinger, Bethany Girard, Karen Slobod, Roderick Mcphee, Rolando Pajon, Anne Aunins, Rituparna Das, Jacqueline M Miller, Sabine Schnyder Ghamloush, Kidcove Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The safety, reactogenicity, immunogenicity, and efficacy of the mRNA-1273 coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine in young children are unknown.

METHODS: Part 1 of this ongoing phase 2-3 trial was open label for dose selection; part 2 was an observer-blinded, placebo-controlled evaluation of the selected dose. In part 2, we randomly assigned young children (6 months to 5 years of age) in a 3:1 ratio to receive two 25-μg injections of mRNA-1273 or placebo, administered 28 days apart. The primary objectives were to evaluate the safety and reactogenicity of the vaccine and to determine whether the immune response in these …

Programmatic Impacts Of Utilizing Various Staffing Options For Covid-19 Contact Tracers: Recommendations And Lessons Learned, Michael Wiese, Alison Oberne, Laura Rusnak, Patrick Rodriguez, Matawal Makut

Florida Public Health Review

Background: The rapidly expanding COVID-19 pandemic created an immediate demand for the Department of Health in Hillsborough County (DOH-Hillsborough) Epidemiology Program to supplement its contact tracing workforce; and, because of the long duration of the response, a sustained workforce was needed. The DOH-Hillsborough Epidemiology Program’s COVID-19 response, broadly referred to as “contact tracing”, included case investigations, outbreaks, and identification and notifications to exposed individuals. To meet contact tracing staffing needs, several staffing options were utilized, including Core Epidemiology Staff, Reassigned DOH-Hillsborough staff (Reassigned Staff), Contracted staffing agency hires (Contract Staff), State of Florida hires (State Level Hires), County hires (DOH-Hillsborough …

Outcomes Of Gynecologic Cancer Surgery During The Covid-19 Pandemic: An International, Multicenter, Prospective Covidsurg-Gynecologic Oncology Cancer Study, Christina Fotopoulou, Tabassum Khan, Juraj Bracinik, James Glasbey, Nadeem Abu-Rustum, Luis Chiva, Anna Fagotti, Keiichi Fujiwara, Rahel Ghebre, Murat Gutelkin, Thomas O Konney, Joseph Ng, Rene Pareja, Rajkumar Kottayasamy Seenivasagam, Jalid Sehouli, Shylasree T S Surappa, Aneel Bhangu, Elaine Leung, Sudha Sundar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The CovidSurg-Cancer Consortium aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 in surgical patients and services for solid cancers at the start of the pandemic. The CovidSurg-Gynecologic Oncology Cancer subgroup was particularly concerned about the magnitude of adverse outcomes caused by the disrupted surgical gynecologic cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are currently unclear.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the changes in care and short-term outcomes of surgical patients with gynecologic cancers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic had led to a delay in surgical cancer care, especially in patients who required more extensive …

Usefulness Of A Perfusion Balloon For Intraprocedural Stent Thrombosis In A Patient With St-Segment Elevated Myocardial Infarction Complicated With Cardiogenic Shock, Taro Takeyama, Yukiko Mizutani, Tetsuya Ishikawa, Kota Yamada, Hidehiko Nakamura, Shiro Nakahara, Isao Taguchi

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Intraprocedural stent thrombosis is a rare but serious complication of reperfusion therapy for acute coronary syndrome. There is currently no consensus on the intraprocedural management of intraprocedural stent thrombosis. It is difficult to attain thrombolysis in myocardial infarction flow grade 3, particularly in cases of cardiogenic shock. A 49-year-old man who presented with anterior ST-segment elevated acute myocardial infarction with cardiogenic shock underwent emergency percutaneous coronary intervention to diffuse proximal lesions in the left anterior descending artery under the support of intra-aortic balloon pumping. Intraprocedural stent thrombosis occurred following the postdilations with a 3.5- × 38-mm everolimus-eluting stent. Despite administration …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths In Texas, Karima Lalani, Christine Bakos-Block, Marylou Cardenas-Turanzas, Sarah Cohen, Bhanumathi Gopal, Tiffany Champagne-Langabeer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States was facing an epidemic of opioid overdose deaths, clouding accurate inferences about the impact of the pandemic at the population level. We sought to determine the existence of increases in the trends of opioid-related overdose (ORO) deaths in the Greater Houston metropolitan area from January 2015 through December 2021, and to describe the social vulnerability present in the geographic location of these deaths. We merged records from the county medical examiner's office with social vulnerability indexes (SVIs) for the region and present geospatial locations of the aggregated ORO deaths. Time series analyses …

A Comprehensive Update On Cido: The Community-Based Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology, Yongqun He, Hong Yu, Anthony Huffman, Asiyah Yu Lin, Darren A Natale, John Beverley, Ling Zheng, Yehoshua Perl, Zhigang Wang, Yingtong Liu, Edison Ong, Yang Wang, Philip Huang, Long Tran, Jinyang Du, Zalan Shah, Easheta Shah, Roshan Desai, Hsin-Hui Huang, Yujia Tian, Eric Merrell, William D Duncan, Sivaram Arabandi, Lynn M Schriml, Jie Zheng, Anna Maria Masci, Liwei Wang, Hongfang Liu, Fatima Zohra Smaili, Robert Hoehndorf, Zoë May Pendlington, Paola Roncaglia, Xianwei Ye, Jiangan Xie, Yi-Wei Tang, Xiaolin Yang, Suyuan Peng, Luxia Zhang, Luonan Chen, Junguk Hur, Gilbert S Omenn, Brian Athey, Barry Smith

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The current COVID-19 pandemic and the previous SARS/MERS outbreaks of 2003 and 2012 have resulted in a series of major global public health crises. We argue that in the interest of developing effective and safe vaccines and drugs and to better understand coronaviruses and associated disease mechenisms it is necessary to integrate the large and exponentially growing body of heterogeneous coronavirus data. Ontologies play an important role in standard-based knowledge and data representation, integration, sharing, and analysis. Accordingly, we initiated the development of the community-based Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology (CIDO) in early 2020.

RESULTS: As an Open Biomedical Ontology …

Association Of Mrna Vaccination With Clinical And Virologic Features Of Covid-19 Among Us Essential And Frontline Workers, The Heroes-Recover Network, Mark G Thompson, Sarang K Yoon, Allison L Naleway, Jennifer Meece, Thomas P Fabrizio, Alberto J Caban-Martinez, Jefferey L Burgess, Manjusha Gaglani, Lauren E W Olsho, Allen Bateman, Jessica Lundgren, Lauren Grant, Andrew L Phillips, Holly C Groom, Elisha Stefanski, Natasha Schaefer Solle, Katherine Ellingson, Karen Lutrick, Kayan Dunnigan, Meredith G Wesley, Kyley Guenther, Angela Hunt, Josephine Mak, Kurt T Hegmann, Jennifer L Kuntz, Adam Bissonnette, James Hollister, Spencer Rose, Tyler C Morrill, Karley Respet, Ashley L Fowlkes, Matthew S Thiese, Patrick Rivers, Meghan K Herring, Marilyn J Odean, Young M Yoo, Matthew Brunner, Edward J Bedrick, Deanna E Fleary, John T Jones, Jenna Praggastis, James Romine, Monica Dickerson, Sana M Khan, Julie Mayo Lamberte, Shawn Beitel, Richard J Webby, Harmony L Tyner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Data on the epidemiology of mild to moderately severe COVID-19 are needed to inform public health guidance.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate associations between 2 or 3 doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine and attenuation of symptoms and viral RNA load across SARS-CoV-2 viral lineages.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A prospective cohort study of essential and frontline workers in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, and Utah with COVID-19 infection confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction testing and lineage classified by whole genome sequencing of specimens self-collected weekly and at COVID-19 illness symptom onset. This analysis was conducted among 1199 participants with SARS-CoV-2 …

Case Growth Analysis To Inform Local Response To Covid-19 Epidemic In A Diverse Us Community, Marcia C De Oliveira Otto, Frances A Brito, Ji Yun Tark, Eric Bakota, Jose-Miguel Yamal, Dritana Marko, Shreela V Sharma, Michael R Brown, Savitri N Appana, Alison M Rector, Stephen H Linder, Jennifer Kiger, Karen C Tseng, Alanna C Morrison, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Early detection of new outbreak waves is critical for effective and sustained response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a growth rate analysis using local community and inpatient records from seven hospital systems to characterize distinct phases in SARS-CoV-2 outbreak waves in the Greater Houston area. We determined the transition times from rapid spread of infection in the community to surge in the number of inpatients in local hospitals. We identified 193,237 residents who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 via molecular testing from April 8, 2020 to June 30, 2021, and 30,031 residents admitted within local healthcare institutions with a positive …

Case Growth Analysis To Inform Local Response To Covid-19 Epidemic In A Diverse Us Community, Marcia C De Oliveira Otto, Frances A Brito, Ji Yun Tark, Eric Bakota, Jose-Miguel Yamal, Dritana Marko, Shreela V Sharma, Michael R Brown, Savitri N Appana, Alison M Rector, Stephen H Linder, Jennifer Kiger, Karen C Tseng, Alanna C Morrison, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Early detection of new outbreak waves is critical for effective and sustained response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a growth rate analysis using local community and inpatient records from seven hospital systems to characterize distinct phases in SARS-CoV-2 outbreak waves in the Greater Houston area. We determined the transition times from rapid spread of infection in the community to surge in the number of inpatients in local hospitals. We identified 193,237 residents who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 via molecular testing from April 8, 2020 to June 30, 2021, and 30,031 residents admitted within local healthcare institutions with a positive …

The Impact Of Intraoperative Glucagon On The Diagnostic Accuracy Of Intraoperative Cholangiogram For The Diagnosis Of Choledocholithiasis: Experience From A Large Tertiary Care Center, Artem Boyev, Srinivas Sanjeevi, Martha M Estrada, Tien C Ko, Curtis J Wray

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals reported decreased admissions for acute surgical diagnoses, but scant data was available to quantify the decrease and its consequences. The objective of this study was to examine the incidence of acute care surgery encounters before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed at a single, urban, United States safety-net hospital. Emergency room encounters, admissions, non-elective surgical procedures, patient acuity, and surgical complications were compared before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary outcome of the study was the incidence rate (IR) and …

The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System Is Necessary For Long-Term Synaptic Depression In Aplysia, Jennifer S Love, Dana L Karshenas, Meghan B Spyres, Lynn A Farrugia, A Min Kang, Hoanvu Nguyen, Sharan L Campleman, Shao Li, Paul M Wax, Jeffery Brent, Kim Aldy, Toxicology Investigators Consortium Study Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Toxicology Investigators Consortium (ToxIC) Core Registry was established by the American College of Medical Toxicology in 2010. The Core Registry collects data from participating sites with the agreement that all bedside and telehealth medical toxicology consultations will be entered. This twelfth annual report summarizes the registry's 2021 data and activity with its additional 8552 cases. Cases were identified for inclusion in this report by a query of the ToxIC database for any case entered from January 1 to December 31, 2021. Detailed data was collected from these cases and aggregated to provide information, which included demographics, reason for medical …

Monkeypox: What Do Dental Professionals Need To Know?, Charifa Zemouri, Edgar O Beltrán, Richard Holliday, Nicholas S Jakubovics, James R Allison

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Infection control is critical for the safe delivery of dental care. Infection control practices must be responsive to emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and outbreaks, as was clearly seen during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. An emerging global outbreak of the monkeypox virus has again raised potential challenges for infection control in dentistry. Monkeypox is an infectious disease, characterised by a rash affecting the skin and soft tissues, including the oral cavity. Previously, cases were mostly seen following contact with infected animals in Central and West Africa, with limited human-to-human transmission within and outside of these areas. However, since …

Characterization And Determinant Factors Of Critical Illness And In-Hospital Mortality Of Covid-19 Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Of 1,792 Patients In Kenya, Isinta M. Elijah, Endawoke Amsalu, Xuening Jian, Mingyang Cao, Eric K. Mibei, Danvas O. Kerosi, Francis G. Mwatsahu, Wei Wang, Faith Onyangore, Youxin Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Limited data is available on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), critical illness rate, and in-hospital mortality in the African setting. This study investigates determinants of critical illness and in-hospital mortality among COVID-19 patients in Kenya. We conducted a retrospective cohort study at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) in Kenya. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard regression were employed to determine predictor factors for intensive care unit (ICU) admission and in-hospital mortality, respectively. In addition, the Kaplan-Meier model was used to compare the survival times using log-rank tests. As a result, 346 (19.3 %) COVID-19 patients were admitted to ICU, and …

Transmission Roles Of Symptomatic And Asymptomatic Covid-19 Cases: A Modelling Study, Jianbin Tan, Yang Ge, Leonardo Martinez, Jimin Sun, Changwei Li, Adrianna Westbrook, Enfu Chen, Jinren Pan, Yang Li, Wei Cheng, Feng Ling, Zhinping Chen, Ye Shen, Hui Huang

Faculty Publications

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) asymptomatic cases are hard to identify, impeding transmissibility estimation. The value of COVID-19 transmissibility is worth further elucidation for key assumptions in further modelling studies. Through a population-based surveillance network, we collected data on 1342 confirmed cases with a 90-days follow-up for all asymptomatic cases. An age-stratified compartmental model containing contact information was built to estimate the transmissibility of symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases. The difference in transmissibility of a symptomatic and asymptomatic case depended on age and was most distinct for the middle-age groups. The asymptomatic cases had a 66.7% lower transmissibility rate than symptomatic …

Omicron Variants Of The Sars-Cov-2: A Potentially Significant Threat In A New Wave Of Infections, Lukasz Szarpak, Michal Pruc, Alla Navolokina, Kavita Batra, Francesco Chirico, Charles De Roquetaillade

School of Medicine Faculty Research

From the beginning, the COVID-19 pandemic turned out to be a huge challenge and burden for medical services [1]. Currently, humanity is dealing with a new wave of the virus that has evolved and presents a new challenge, mainly due to its ability to avoid immune surveillance. Indeed, our main line of defense — vaccines — may be compromised. Omicron variants are characterized by an evolutionary force unprecedented so far. Among the several sublines that have already emerged, the BA.5 strain exhibit higher transmissibility and demonstrates a worrisome immune evasion. According to several laboratory investigations, vaccination-induced antibodies are less successful …

Phylogenetic Diversity Of Animal Oral And Gastrointestinal Viromes Useful In Surveillance Of Zoonoses, Anthony Michael Esposito, Michelle Marie Esposito, Albert Ptashnik

Publications and Research

Great emphasis has been placed on bacterial microbiomes in human and animal systems. In recent years, advances in metagenomics have allowed for the detection and characterization of more and more native viral particles also residing in these organisms. The digestive tracts of animals and humans—from the oral cavity, to the gut, to fecal excretions—have become one such area of interest. Next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic analyses have uncovered vast phylogenetic virome diversity in companion animals, such as dogs and cats, as well as farm animals and wildlife such as bats. Zoonotic and arthropod-borne illnesses remain major causes of worldwide outbreaks, as …

Informing Healthcare Operations With Integrated Pathology, Clinical, And Epidemiology Data: Lessons From A Single Institution In Kenya During Covid-19 Waves, Allan Njau, Jemimah Kimeu, Jaimini Gohil, David Nganga

Pathology, East Africa

Pathology, clinical care teams, and public health experts often operate in silos. We hypothesized that large data sets from laboratories when integrated with other healthcare data can provide evidence that can be used to optimize planning for healthcare needs, often driven by health-seeking or delivery behavior. From the hospital information system, we extracted raw data from tests performed from 2019 to 2021, prescription drug usage, and admission patterns from pharmacy and nursing departments during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya (March 2020 to December 2021). Proportions and rates were calculated. Regression models were created, and a t-test for differences between …

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 …

Sars-Cov-2 Antibody Seroprevalence In Jakarta, Indonesia, Iwan Ariawan, Hafizah Jusril, Muhammad N Farid, Pandu Riono, Wiji Wahyuningsih, Widyastuti Widyastuti, Dwi Oktavia T L Handayani, Endang Sri Wahyuningsih, Rebekka Daulay, Retno Henderiawati, Safarina G. Malik, Rintis Noviyanti, Leily Trianty, Nadia Fadila, Khin Saw Aye Myint, Frilasita A. Yudhaputri, Neeraja Venkateswaran, Kodumudi Venkateswaran, Venkatachalam Udhayakumar, William A. Hawley, Juliette Morgan, Paul M. Pronyk

Kesmas

The SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics in low- and middle-income countries remain poorly understood. This study aimed to estimate the SARS-CoV-2 antibodies seroprevalence in Jakarta, Indonesia, and to increase knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in urban settings. A population-based serosurvey among individuals aged one year or older was conducted in Jakarta. Employing a multistage sampling design, samples were stratified by district, slum, and non-slum residency, sex, and age group. Blood samples were tested for IgG against three different SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Seroprevalence was estimated after applying sample weights and adjusting for cluster characteristics. In March 2021, this study collected 4,919 respondents. The weighted estimate …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …