Significant and sustained decrease in non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viral infections during COVID-19 public health interventions.

Public health interventions to decrease the spread of SARS-CoV-2 were largely implemented in the United States during spring 2020. This study evaluates the additional effects of these interventions on non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viral infections from a single healthcare system in the San Francisco Bay Area. The results of a respiratory pathogen multiplex polymerase chain reaction panel intended for inpatient admissions were analyzed by month between 2019 and 2020. We found major decreases in the proportion and diversity of non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viral illnesses in all months following masking and shelter-in-place ordinances. These findings suggest real-world effectiveness of nonpharmaceutical interventions on droplet-transmitted respiratory infections.

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Precipitous Fall in Common Respiratory Viral Infections During COVID-19

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofaa511 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (11) ◽

Author(s):

Michael F Parry ◽

Asha K Shah ◽

Merima Sestovic ◽

Selma Salter

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Hand Hygiene ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Winter Season ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Control And Prevention ◽

Continued Use ◽

Respiratory Viral Infections ◽

The Difference

Abstract In the midst of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we were surprised to find that all other respiratory viral infections fell precipitously. The difference in respiratory viral infections during the 16-week period of our peak COVID-19 activity in 2020 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention weeks 14–29) was significantly lower than during the same period in the previous 4 years (a total of 4 infections vs an average of 138 infections; P < .0001). We attribute this to widespread use of public health interventions including wearing face masks, social distancing, hand hygiene, and stay-at-home orders. As these interventions are usually ignored by the community during most influenza seasons, we anticipate that their continued use during the upcoming winter season could substantially blunt the case load of influenza and other respiratory viral infections.

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Recent Attitudes toward ADHD in the Broader Community: A Systematic Review

Journal of Attention Disorders ◽

10.1177/10870547211003671 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 108705472110036

Author(s):

Matthew Bisset ◽

Leanne Winter ◽

Christel M. Middeldorp ◽

David Coghill ◽

Nardia Zendarski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Mental Health ◽

Social Distance ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

The United States ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Community Attitudes ◽

Standardized Protocol

Objective: This review aimed to understand the broader community’s attitudes toward ADHD, which could facilitate public health interventions to improve outcomes for individuals with ADHD. Methods: A standardized protocol identified peer-reviewed studies focusing on attitudes of broader community samples, published from January 2014 to February 2020 (inclusive). Results: A total of 1,318 articles were screened and 10 studies were included, examining attitudes of broader community samples from Australia, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Korea, Indonesia, and the United States. Findings revealed that broader community samples displayed varying degrees of ADHD-related knowledge, negative attitudes (that ADHD is over-diagnosed; that pharmacological treatment is not acceptable; that those with ADHD are more likely to exhibit poor behavior), and a desire for maintaining social distance from individuals with ADHD. Conclusion: Findings suggest that community attitudes are generally negative toward those with ADHD. Targeted mental health literacy could provide an important avenue for improving the broader community’s attitudes toward those with ADHD.

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Syphilis epidemiology and public health interventions in Western Australia from 1991 to 2009

Sexual Health ◽

10.1071/sh11102 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 272 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kellie S. H. Kwan ◽

Carolien M. Giele ◽

Heath S. Greville ◽

Carole A. Reeve ◽

P. Heather Lyttle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Western Australia ◽

Aboriginal People ◽

Congenital Syphilis ◽

The United States ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Sex With Men ◽

Notification Data ◽

The Impact

Objectives To describe the epidemiology of congenital and infectious syphilis during 1991–2009, examine the impact of public health interventions and discuss the feasibility of syphilis elimination among Aboriginal people in Western Australia (WA). Methods: WA congenital and infectious syphilis notification data in 1991–2009 and national infectious syphilis notification data in 2005–2009 were analysed by Aboriginality, region of residence, and demographic and behavioural characteristics. Syphilis public health interventions in WA from 1991–2009 were also reviewed. Results: During 1991–2009, there were six notifications of congenital syphilis (50% Aboriginal) and 1441 infectious syphilis notifications (61% Aboriginal). During 1991–2005, 88% of notifications were Aboriginal, with several outbreaks identified in remote WA. During 2006–2009, 62% of notifications were non-Aboriginal, with an outbreak in metropolitan men who have sex with men. The Aboriginal : non-Aboriginal rate ratio decreased from 173 : 1 (1991–2005) to 15 : 1 (2006–2009). Conclusions: These data demonstrate that although the epidemiology of syphilis in WA has changed over time, the infection has remained endemic among Aboriginal people in non-metropolitan areas. Given the continued public health interventions targeted at this population, the limited success in eliminating syphilis in the United States and the unique geographical and socioeconomic features of WA, the elimination of syphilis seems unlikely in this state.

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Accurate spatiotemporal mapping of drug overdose deaths by machine learning of drug-related web-searches

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0243622 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. e0243622

Author(s):

David S. Campo ◽

Joseph W. Gussler ◽

Amanda Sue ◽

Pavel Skums ◽

Yury Khudyakov

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Machine Learning ◽

Strong Association ◽

The United States ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Morbidity And Mortality ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Mortality Trends ◽

Spatiotemporal Mapping ◽

Increased Risk

Persons who inject drugs (PWID) are at increased risk for overdose death (ODD), infections with HIV, hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), and noninfectious health conditions. Spatiotemporal identification of PWID communities is essential for developing efficient and cost-effective public health interventions for reducing morbidity and mortality associated with injection-drug use (IDU). Reported ODDs are a strong indicator of the extent of IDU in different geographic regions. However, ODD quantification can take time, with delays in ODD reporting occurring due to a range of factors including death investigation and drug testing. This delayed ODD reporting may affect efficient early interventions for infectious diseases. We present a novel model, Dynamic Overdose Vulnerability Estimator (DOVE), for assessment and spatiotemporal mapping of ODDs in different U.S. jurisdictions. Using Google® Web-search volumes (i.e., the fraction of all searches that include certain words), we identified a strong association between the reported ODD rates and drug-related search terms for 2004–2017. A machine learning model (Extremely Random Forest) was developed to produce yearly ODD estimates at state and county levels, as well as monthly estimates at state level. Regarding the total number of ODDs per year, DOVE’s error was only 3.52% (Median Absolute Error, MAE) in the United States for 2005–2017. DOVE estimated 66,463 ODDs out of the reported 70,237 (94.48%) during 2017. For that year, the MAE of the individual ODD rates was 4.43%, 7.34%, and 12.75% among yearly estimates for states, yearly estimates for counties, and monthly estimates for states, respectively. These results indicate suitability of the DOVE ODD estimates for dynamic IDU assessment in most states, which may alert for possible increased morbidity and mortality associated with IDU. ODD estimates produced by DOVE offer an opportunity for a spatiotemporal ODD mapping. Timely identification of potential mortality trends among PWID might assist in developing efficient ODD prevention and HBV, HCV, and HIV infection elimination programs by targeting public health interventions to the most vulnerable PWID communities.

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Differential impact of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions on COVID-19 epidemics in the United States

10.21203/rs.3.rs-60056/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaoshuang Liu ◽

Xiao Xu ◽

Guanqiao Li ◽

Xian Xu ◽

Yuyao Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Decision Making ◽

The United States ◽

School Closure ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Health Crisis ◽

The Us ◽

Individualized Decision

Abstract Background: The widespread pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses an unprecedented global health crisis. In the United States (US), different state governments have adopted various combinations of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions (NPIs), such as non-essential business closures and gathering bans, to mitigate the epidemic from February to April, 2020. Quantitative assessment on the effectiveness of NPIs is greatly needed to assist in guiding individualized decision making for adjustment of interventions in the US and around the world. However, the impacts of these approaches remain uncertain.Methods: Based on the reported cases, the effective reproduction number (Rt) of COVID-19 epidemic for 50 states in the US was estimated. Measurements on the effectiveness of nine different NPIs were conducted by assessing risk ratios (RRs) between R t and NPIs through a generalized linear model (GLM). Results: Different NPIs were found to have led to different levels of reduction in Rt. Stay-at-home contributed approximately 51% (95% CI 46%-57%), wearing (face) masks 29% (15%-42%), gathering ban (more than 10 people) 19% (14%-24%), non-essential business closure 16% (10%-21%), declaration of emergency 13% (8%-17%), interstate travel restriction 11% (5%-16%), school closure 10% (7%-14%), initial business closure 10% (6%-14%), and gathering ban (more than 50 people) 7% (2%-11%).Conclusions: This retrospective assessment of NPIs on Rt has shown that NPIs played critical roles on epidemic control in the US in the past several months. The quantitative results could guide individualized decision making for future adjustment of NPIs in the US and other countries for COVID-19 and other similar infectious diseases.

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Public Health Interventions’ Effect on Hospital Use in Patients With COVID-19: Comparative Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.25174 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaofeng Wang ◽

Rui Ren ◽

Michael W Kattan ◽

Lara Jehi ◽

Zhenshun Cheng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

New York ◽

New York State ◽

The United States ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Social Distancing ◽

Transmission Rates ◽

Hospital Use

BACKGROUND Different states in the United States had different nonpharmaceutical public health interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects of those interventions on hospital use have not been systematically evaluated. The investigation could provide data-driven evidence to potentially improve the implementation of public health interventions in the future. OBJECTIVE We aim to study two representative areas in the United States and one area in China (New York State, Ohio State, and Hubei Province), and investigate the effects of their public health interventions by time periods according to key interventions. METHODS This observational study evaluated the numbers of infected, hospitalized, and death cases in New York and Ohio from March 16 through September 14, 2020, and Hubei from January 26 to March 31, 2020. We developed novel Bayesian generalized compartmental models. The clinical stages of COVID-19 were stratified in the models, and the effects of public health interventions were modeled through piecewise exponential functions. Time-dependent transmission rates and effective reproduction numbers were estimated. The associations of interventions and the numbers of required hospital and intensive care unit beds were studied. RESULTS The interventions of social distancing, home confinement, and wearing masks significantly decreased (in a Bayesian sense) the case incidence and reduced the demand for beds in all areas. Ohio’s transmission rates declined before the state’s “stay at home” order, which provided evidence that early intervention is important. Wearing masks was significantly associated with reducing the transmission rates after reopening, when comparing New York and Ohio. The centralized quarantine intervention in Hubei played a significant role in further preventing and controlling the disease in that area. The estimated rates that cured patients become susceptible in all areas were small (<0.0001), which indicates that they have little chance to get the infection again. CONCLUSIONS The series of public health interventions in three areas were temporally associated with the burden of COVID-19–attributed hospital use. Social distancing and the use of face masks should continue to prevent the next peak of the pandemic.

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Differential impact of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions on COVID-19 epidemics in the United States

10.21203/rs.3.rs-60056/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaoshuang Liu ◽

Xiao Xu ◽

Guanqiao Li ◽

Xian Xu ◽

Yuyao Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Decision Making ◽

The United States ◽

School Closure ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

The Us ◽

The Impact ◽

Individualized Decision

Abstract The widespread pandemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses an unprecedented global health crisis. In the United States (US), different state governments have adopted various combinations of non-pharmaceutical public health interventions (NPIs) to mitigate the epidemic from February to April, 2020. Quantitative assessment on the effectiveness of NPIs is in great need to assist in guiding the individualized decision making for adjustment of interventions in the US and around the world. However, the impact of these approaches remain uncertain. Based on the reported cases, the effective reproduction number of COVID-19 epidemic for 50 states in the US was estimated. The measurement on the effectiveness of eight different NPIs was conducted by assessing risk ratios (RRs) between and NPIs through a generalized linear model (GLM). Different NPIs were found to have led to different levels of reduction in. Stay-at-home contributed approximately 51% (95% CI 46%-57%), gathering ban (more than 10 people) 19% (14%-24%), non-essential business closure 16% (10%-21%), declaration of emergency 13% (8%-17%), interstate travel restriction 11% (5%-16%), school closure 10% (7%-13%), initial business closure 10% (6%-14%), and gathering ban (more than 50 people) 6% (2%-11%). This retrospective assessment of NPIs on has shown that NPIs played critical roles on epidemic control in the US in the past several months. The quantitative results could guide individualized decision making for future adjustment of NPIs in the US and other countries for COVID-19 and other similar infectious diseases.

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Revealing fine-scale spatiotemporal differences in SARS-CoV-2 introduction and spread

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-020-19346-z ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gage K. Moreno ◽

Katarina M. Braun ◽

Kasen K. Riemersma ◽

Michael A. Martin ◽

Peter J. Halfmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

The United States ◽

Health Interventions ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Full Genome ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Viral Spread ◽

Milwaukee County ◽

Local Patterns

Abstract Evidence-based public health approaches that minimize the introduction and spread of new SARS-CoV-2 transmission clusters are urgently needed in the United States and other countries struggling with expanding epidemics. Here we analyze 247 full-genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences from two nearby communities in Wisconsin, USA, and find surprisingly distinct patterns of viral spread. Dane County had the 12th known introduction of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States, but this did not lead to descendant community spread. Instead, the Dane County outbreak was seeded by multiple later introductions, followed by limited community spread. In contrast, relatively few introductions in Milwaukee County led to extensive community spread. We present evidence for reduced viral spread in both counties following the statewide “Safer at Home” order, which went into effect 25 March 2020. Our results suggest patterns of SARS-CoV-2 transmission may vary substantially even in nearby communities. Understanding these local patterns will enable better targeting of public health interventions.

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Modelling COVID-19 Transmission in the United States through Interstate and Foreign Travels and Evaluating Impact of Governmental Public Health Interventions

10.1101/2020.05.23.20110999 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nita H. Shah ◽

Nisha Sheoran ◽

Ekta Jayswal ◽

Dhairya Shukla ◽

Nehal Shukla ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Equilibrium Points ◽

The United States ◽

Health Interventions ◽

United States Government ◽

Optimal Controls ◽

Public Health Interventions ◽

Foreign Travel ◽

Travel Restrictions

AbstractBackgroundThe first case of COVID-19 was reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. The disease has spread to 210 countries and has been labelled as pandemic by WHO. Modelling, evaluating, and predicting the rate of disease transmission is crucial for epidemic prevention and control. Our aim is to assess the impact of interstate and foreign travel and public health interventions implemented by the United States government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.MethodsA disjoint mutually exclusive compartmental model is developed to study transmission dynamics of the novel coronavirus. A system of non-linear differential equations was formulated and the basic reproduction number R0 was computed. Stability of the model was evaluated at the equilibrium points. Optimal controls were applied in the form of travel restrictions and quarantine. Numerical simulations were conducted.ResultsAnalysis shows that the model is locally asymptomatically stable, at endemic and foreigners free equilibrium points. Without any mitigation measures, infectivity and subsequent hospitalization of the population increases while placing interstates individuals and foreigners under quarantine, decreases the chances of exposure and subsequent infection, leading to an increase in the recovery rate.ConclusionInterstate and foreign travel restrictions, in addition to quarantine, help in effectively controlling the epidemic.

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