The 1918 Influenza Epidemic in New York City: A Review of the Public Health Response

AbstractSerological testing remains a passive component of the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a transmission model, we examine how serological testing could have enabled seropositive individuals to increase their relative levels of social interaction while offsetting transmission risks. We simulate widespread serological testing in New York City, South Florida, and Washington Puget Sound and assume seropositive individuals partially restore their social contacts. Compared to no intervention, our model suggests that widespread serological testing starting in late 2020 would have averted approximately 3300 deaths in New York City, 1400 deaths in South Florida and 11,000 deaths in Washington State by June 2021. In all sites, serological testing blunted subsequent waves of transmission. Findings demonstrate the potential benefit of widespread serological testing, had it been implemented in the pre-vaccine era, and remain relevant now amid the potential for emergence of new variants.

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THE PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF NEW YORK CITY

Science ◽

10.1126/science.94.2427.13-a ◽

1941 ◽

Vol 94 (2427) ◽

pp. 13-14

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

New York ◽

New York City ◽

York City ◽

Health Research ◽

Public Health Research ◽

The Public ◽

Research Institute

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The Expert Weighs In: New York City and the Public Health: Interview with Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H., Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

Obesity Management ◽

10.1089/obe.2007.0063 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 201-203

Author(s):

Xavier Pi-Sunyer

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

New York ◽

New York City ◽

York City ◽

Mental Hygiene ◽

The Public ◽

York City Department ◽

Department Of Health ◽

Health Interview

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Rebuilding the Public Health Infrastructure: The Challenge of Tuberculosis Control in New York City

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/j.1748-720x.1993.tb01260.x ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 21 (3-4) ◽

pp. 352-359 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Margaret A. Hamburg

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

New York ◽

New York City ◽

York City ◽

Tuberculosis Control ◽

Urban Centers ◽

The Public ◽

Public Health Infrastructure ◽

Health Infrastructure

Nowhere in this nation is the return of tuberculosis more visible or more pronounced than in New York City. Fueled by poverty, homelessness and AIDS, tuberculosis has again reached epidemic proportions. New York City is at the forefront of the battle against this advancing disease. For this reason, and because the dynamics at work in New York City are a microcosm of those same forces at work in the larger society, what transpires here often foreshadows the direction that other urban centers will take. It is in this context that our New York experience provides a valuable framework for learning and for action.

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Outcomes of COVID-19 Admissions in the New York City Public Health System and Variations by Hospitals and Boroughs During the Initial Pandemic Response

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.570147 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Anant Dinesh ◽

Taha Mallick ◽

Tatiana M. Arreglado ◽

Brian L. Altonen ◽

Ryan Engdahl

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

New York ◽

New York City ◽

Health System ◽

York City ◽

Public Health System ◽

Public Hospitals ◽

Mortality Trends ◽

The Public ◽

Pandemic Response

Introduction: In the initial pandemic regional differences may have existed in COVID-19 hospitalizations and patient outcomes in New York City. Whether these patterns were present in public hospitals is unknown. The aim of this brief study was to investigate COVID-19 hospitalizations and outcomes in the public health system during the initial pandemic response.Methods: A retrospective review was conducted on COVID-19 admissions in New York City public hospitals during the exponential phase of the pandemic. All data were collected from an integrated electronic medical records system (Epic Health Systems, Verona, WI). Overall, 5,422 patients with at least one admission each for COVID-19 were reviewed, with a study of demographic characteristics (including age, gender, race, BMI), pregnancy status, comorbidities, facility activity, and outcomes. Data related to hospitalization and mortality trends were also collected from City of New York website. These data often involved more than one facility and/or service line resulting in more location or treatment facility counts than patients due to utilization of services at more than one location and transfers between locations and facilities.Results: Higher mortality was associated with increasing age with the highest death rate (51.9%) noted in the age group >75 years (OR 7.88, 95%CI 6.32–10.08). Comorbidities with higher mortality included diabetes (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.33–1.70), hypertension (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.44–1.83), cardiovascular conditions (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.47–1.87), COPD (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.39–2.50). It was deduced that 20% of all New York City COVID-19 positive admissions were in public health system during this timeframe. A high proportion of admissions (21.26%) and deaths (19.93%) were at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens. Bellevue and Metropolitan Hospitals had the lowest number of deaths, both in borough of Manhattan. Mortality in public hospitals in Brooklyn was 29.9%, Queens 28.1%, Manhattan 20.4%.Conclusion: Significant variations existed in COVID-19 hospitalizations and outcomes in the public health system in New York City during the initial pandemic. Although outcomes are worse with older age and those with comorbidities, variations in hospitals and boroughs outside of Manhattan are targets to investigate and strategize efforts.

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Successful, Easy to Access, Online Publication of COVID-19 Data During the Pandemic, New York City, 2020

American Journal of Public Health ◽

10.2105/ajph.2021.306446 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 111 (S3) ◽

pp. S193-S196

Author(s):

Matthew Peter Mannix Montesano ◽

Kimberly Johnson ◽

Andrew Tang ◽

Jennifer Sanderson Slutsker ◽

Pui Ying Chan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

New York ◽

New York City ◽

York City ◽

Data Communication ◽

Web Based ◽

The Public ◽

Department Of Health ◽

Public Health Data ◽

Pandemic Response

Making public health data easier to access, understand, and use makes it more likely that the data will be influential. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Web-based data communication became a cornerstone of NYC’s response and allowed the public, journalists, and researchers to access and understand the data in a way that supported the pandemic response and brought attention to the deeply unequal patterns of COVID-19’s morbidity and mortality in NYC. (Am J Public Health. 2021;111(S3):S193–S196. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306446 )

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