Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Chukwuma Mbaeyi, Shahzad Baig, Rana Muhammad Safdar, Zainul Khan, Hamish Young, Jaume Jorba, Zubair M. Wadood, Hamid Jafari, Muhammad Masroor Alam, Richard Franka
Summary: This report provides an update on Pakistan's progress towards polio eradication from January 2022 to June 2023. In 2022, Pakistan reported 20 cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), with all cases concentrated in three districts in south Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As of June 23, 2023, only one WPV1 case has been reported in Bannu district, compared to 13 cases during the same period in 2022. Additionally, 11 WPV1 isolates have been detected in environmental surveillance samples, including in Karachi. The report highlights the need for improved supplementary immunization activities and targeted vaccination efforts to interrupt WPV1 transmission.
MMWR-MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT
(2023)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Chukwuma Mbaeyi, Shahzad Baig, Rana Muhammad Safdar, Zainul Khan, Hamish Young, Jaume Jorba, Zubair M. Wadood, Hamid Jafari, Muhammad Masroor Alam, Richard Franka
Summary: This report highlights the progress and challenges faced by Pakistan in polio eradication. Despite a decrease in cases, there are still significant gaps in vaccination coverage in certain areas. In order to interrupt transmission, innovative strategies and targeted vaccination efforts are crucial.
MMWR-MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT
(2023)
Letter
Medicine, General & Internal
T. Jacob John, Norbert Hirschhorn, Dhanya Dharmapalan, Konstantin Chumakov, Stanley Plotkin
Summary: The authors agree with Chumakov et al.'s dissatisfaction with the use of oral polio vaccine (OPV) and propose using inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) to eradicate polio. They provide examples of countries that have successfully eliminated polio using this method.
NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
(2023)
Letter
Medicine, General & Internal
Alaleh Azhir, Zachary H. Strasser, Shawn N. Murphy, Hossein Estiri
Summary: This study creates a temporal profile of the severity of COVID-19 in Massachusetts from July 2021 to December 2022 using hospitalization and 30-day mortality risks.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yuanyuan Ma, Xiaoxue Hu, Yiting Chen, Zhiyuan Hu, Taichen Feng, Guolin Feng
Summary: In the summer of 2022, Pakistan experienced unprecedented and long-lasting abnormal monsoon rainfall, leading to severe flooding. This study investigated the sub-seasonal characteristics and mechanisms of this extreme precipitation event. Both the monthly rainfall in July and August 2022 and the extreme precipitation during the summer far exceeded historical records and had unique spatial distribution. The extreme precipitation in July was mainly due to the unusually strong Indian monsoon, while the extreme precipitation in August was a combination of the Indian monsoon and European blocking.
Editorial Material
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Konstantin Chumakov, Ellie Ehrenfeld, Vadim Agol, Eckard Wimmer
Summary: The initiative to eradicate polio needs a reassessment of its strategy and proposes a new strategic goal of eradicating the disease rather than the virus. This can be achieved by implementing global immunisation programmes with improved vaccines to create and maintain high rates of population immunity indefinitely.
LANCET GLOBAL HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Sarah Aheron, Kerton R. Victory, Amnah Imtiaz, Ian Fellows, Sara I. Gilani, Bilal Gilani, Christie Reed, Avi J. Hakim
Summary: The study found that one quarter of the participants believed COVID-19 was inevitable, and about one-tenth had undergone COVID-19 testing. Those who considered COVID-19 inevitable tended to reside in urban areas, have concerns about the virus, and perceive it as a serious medical threat. On the other hand, individuals who had taken COVID-19 tests shared similarities in terms of employment status, education level, and other factors.
EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Allison D. Miller, Anna R. Yousaf, Ethan Bornstein, Michael J. Wu, Katherine Lindsey, Michael Melgar, Matthew E. Oster, Laura D. Zambrano, Angela P. Campbell
Summary: This study describes 2116 cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from July 2021 to January 2022 during the Delta and Omicron circulation. The findings show that half of the MIS-C patients were aged 5-11 years, 52% received intensive care unit-level care, and 1.1% died. Only 3.0% of eligible patients were fully vaccinated prior to MIS-C onset.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Erin L. Winkler, Shauna L. Stahlman, Natalie Y. Wells, Aparna V. Chauhan, Kayli M. Hiban, Amy A. Costello, James D. Mancuso
Summary: A study found that the uptake of COVID-19 booster vaccine among U.S. military servicemembers was lower compared to the general U.S. population. The vaccine uptake was associated with factors such as age, education level, income, gender, and overseas deployment. Additionally, previous COVID-19 infection and use of the Janssen vaccine were associated with lower booster vaccine uptake. The low vaccination rates increase the risk of COVID-19 health effects among servicemembers and affect the overall readiness of the U.S. military.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ashok Kumar Gupta, Ralf Bennartz, Kristen E. Fauria, Tushar Mittal
Summary: This article evaluates the eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai using satellite remote sensing, providing information on the heights, longevities, water contents, and volumetric flow rates of the umbrella clouds. The study also reveals that the umbrella clouds contained a high concentration of ice.
COMMUNICATIONS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Ravit Bassal, Lital Keinan-Boker, Dani Cohen, Ella Mendelson, Yaniv Lustig, Victoria Indenbaum
Summary: The study investigated the seropositivity for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among adults in Israel before and after the introduction of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. They found that low socio-economic rank and certain populations were more likely to test positive between January and December 2020. After the vaccine introduction, there was a significant increase in seropositivity, followed by stable rates.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Nico Dragano, Olga Dortmann, Joerg Timm, Matthias Mohrmann, Rosemarie Wehner, Christoph J. Rupprecht, Maria Scheider, Ertan Mayatepek, Morten Wahrendorf
Summary: This population-based cohort study found that children from disadvantaged households have a higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. This highlights the need to pay attention to children from vulnerable families and consider closer monitoring. Although some explanatory factors were taken into account, no clear conclusion was drawn about the underlying processes.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Anna A. Minta, Matt Ferrari, Sebastien Antoni, Allison Portnoy, Alyssa Sbarra, Brian Lambert, Cynthia Hatcher, Christopher H. Hsu, Lee Lee Ho, Claudia Steulet, Marta Gacic-Dobo, Paul A. Rota, Mick N. Mulders, Anindya Sekhar Bose, William Perea Caro, Patrick O'Connor, Natasha S. Crowcroft
Summary: This report describes the progress of measles elimination from 2000 to 2022. Although there has been an improvement in measles vaccination coverage globally, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a decline in coverage in 2021, reaching the lowest level since 2008. In 2022, there was a recovery in measles vaccination coverage, but about half of the countries did not achieve the measles surveillance target. The number of measles cases and deaths increased during 2021-2022. Urgent measures are needed to restore vaccination coverage and accelerate measles elimination.
MMWR-MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY WEEKLY REPORT
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Erin N. O'Leary, Melinda M. Neuhauser, Arjun Srinivasan, Heather Dubendris, Amy K. Webb, Minn M. Soe, Lauri A. Hicks, Hsiu Wu, Sarah Kabbani, Jonathan R. Edwards
Summary: This study analyzed antimicrobial use data reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network's Antimicrobial Use and Resistance Module between January 2019 and July 2022 to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on inpatient antimicrobial use.
CLINICAL INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Oliver Eales, Haowei Wang, David Haw, Kylie E. C. Ainslie, Caroline E. Walters, Christina Atchison, Graham Cooke, Wendy Barclay, Helen Ward, Ara Darzi, Deborah Ashby, Christl A. Donnelly, Paul Elliott, Steven Riley
Summary: The study analyzed the data from the REACT-1 project and found that the lockdown measures were effective in reducing infection prevalence in England. However, as restrictions were lifted, the infection prevalence started to increase again. The analysis also suggests that school holidays/closures played a significant role in the changes of infection rates. The increase in vaccination rates may have offset the rise in infection rates.
PLOS COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
