SRA and Genbank BioSample-Linked Submission with Mercury_Prep and Mercury_Batch v2

Submitting sequencing data to public data repositories is a meaningful yet tedious procedure. Linking submissions between SRA and Genbank will enhance the value of both submissions the the public health community. The Mercury protocols offered by Theiagen Genomics allows users to efficiently and accurately produce all required inputs for SRA and Genbank submissions (the Mercury workflows also allow for GISAID submission, but that will not be covered in this protocol). This protocol provides a detailed procedure for submitting BioSample-linked sequencing data to SRA and Genbank.

Digital visual communication for public health: a design proposal for a vaccinated emoji (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED In the 21st century, the internet and particularly social media have become essential platforms for the spread of health information (and disinformation). One of the distinguishing features of communication on these platforms is the widespread use of emojis. Though seemingly trivial, emojis are now used by many if not most public health figures and organizations alongside important health updates. Much of that information has had to do with vaccination. Vaccines are a critical public health tool but one surrounded by falsehoods and phobias, especially in the time of COVID-19. Part of that has to do with their lack of positive representation on social media: the syringe emoji is a plain needle which for many people is an uncomfortable image. We thus argue that vaccination deserves an entirely new emoji, and discuss a design proposal for a vaccinated emoji that has gained traction in the global public health community.

Giving Good Bacteria to Chickens to Keep Humans From Getting Sick

The bacteria Salmonella is a major cause of food poisoning. Poultry products are one of the leading foods that cause Salmonella outbreaks. While farmers, food processors, and the public health community already do a lot to prevent these illnesses, people are still getting sick. Our group is studying how we can use the “good” bacteria in the intestines of chickens to drive Salmonella out of chickens. To test this idea, we used various diets to change the bacterial populations in chicken intestines. We found that changes in the numbers of good bacteria can lead to lower levels of Salmonella. We are currently working to identify which bacteria are responsible for the changes in the amount of Salmonella in the chicken intestines, with the goal of making a diet that will eliminate Salmonella from chickens. Hopefully, this will reduce the number of people who get sick from eating poultry products.

Lessons Learnt From the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, has been characterized by unprecedented rates of spatio-temporal spread. Here, we summarize the main events in the pandemic's timeline and evaluate what has been learnt by the public health community. We also discuss the implications for future public health policy and, specifically, the practice of epidemic control. We critically analyze this ongoing pandemic's timeline and contrast it with the 2002–2003 SARS outbreak. We identify specific areas (e.g., pathogen identification and initial reporting) wherein the international community learnt valuable lessons from the SARS outbreak. However, we also identify the key areas where international public health policy failed leading to the exponential spread of the pandemic. We outline a clear agenda for improved pandemic control in the future.

Slim cigarette smoking in Urban China: Who are the early adopters and why?

Sales data in China indicate that slim cigarette consumption has increased dramatically over the last few years. This study examined who smoked slim cigarettes and the reasons for adopting these new products. A survey of an online panel from 19 Chinese cities was conducted from October 2018 to April 2019 with 20,055 members aged 16 and older. Among the 31.7% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 30.1–33.4] of panel members who reported currently smoking, 37.7% (95% CI = 34.8–40.5) smoked slim cigarettes. Among smokers, women were significantly more likely to smoke slim cigarettes than men [56.5% (95% CI = 50.8–62.2) vs. 35.5% (95% CI = 32.8–38.1)]. Smokers with a bachelor’s degree were more likely to smoke slim cigarettes than those without [41.3% (95% CI = 38.1–44.4) vs. 33.1% (95% CI = 30.0–36.1)]. Most slim cigarette smokers were dual smokers [77.7% (95% CI = 75.3–80.1)], smoking both regular and slim cigarettes. Among dual smokers, 97.5% (95% CI = 96.7–98.3) started smoking regular cigarettes before slim cigarettes. Of the many reasons given for smoking slim cigarettes, 37.0% (95% CI = 34.3–39.7) directly related to harm reduction with another 10.1% (95% CI = 8.4–11.7) reporting their reason as wanting “to reduce consumption of regular cigarettes,” a plausible indication of harm reduction. These findings suggest strong interest in harm reduction among the current Chinese smoking population and that the popularity of slim cigarettes is likely to increase, with the more educated as the early adopters. Given the absence of any evidence that these products actually reduce harm, it is urgent that the public health community be on high alert in order to avoid repeating the sad history of low-tar cigarettes, when a supposed harm-reduction product misled the field of tobacco control.

Addressing Inequity Through Public Health, Community Development, Arts, and Culture: Confluence of Fields and the Opportunity to Reframe, Retool, and Repair

As the public health field deepens its focus on social and environmental determinants of health and, as that field expands its attention to finding allied interests in the community development field, a critical opportunity to better understand the power of arts and culture in pursuit of shared goals has emerged. This is an extraordinary time in which the confluence of public health, community development, and the arts can lead to transformational ways of working, resulting in changes in industry standards in all three fields and most importantly, more healthy, just, and equitable communities. Drawing from 30 years of work to better understand the roles of arts and cultural activity in historically marginalized communities, this article presents reasons for and ways in which these fields can and should be allied. Specifically, it calls attention to gaps in community development and planning that have resulted in the fields’ lack of attention to historic and present harm in the form of often racialized dehumanization. It also draws attention to the role of the arts in the critical collective work of reframing community concerns and conditions, retooling or finding new more effective ways of working toward repair—the redress of historic and current harm experienced in low-income and historically marginalized communities. The essay lifts up the possibility of transformational work and also presents important barriers that must be overcome by stakeholders from all three fields.

A Data-Informed Approach to Targeting Social Determinants of Health as the Root Causes of COVID-19 Disparities

Racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes have called renewed attention to addressing systemic racism and health inequities in the United States. The drivers of these inequities have been debated but include social determinants of health (SDOH) such as poverty, employment in low-wage but essential worker occupations, crowded housing, and lack of access to regular medical care.1 For those in the public health community, the importance of addressing both upstream and midstream SDOH to achieve health equity has been long recognized and discussed. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print January 28, 2021: e1–e3. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306085 )

Stanowisko Komitetu Zdrowia Publicznego Polskiej Akademii Nauk w sprawie szczepień przeciw COVID-19

The Resolution of Public Health Committee Polish Academy of Science on Vaccination against COVID-19 Public health community worldwide encouraged by successes of former campaigns have always accepted vaccination as the most effective way to handle infectious diseases pandemics. Even before the outburst of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in many countries mandatory vaccination against many diseases, especially child related had been implemented. From among 193 countries under study in as many as 105 (54%) such obligation existed and in 62 of them (59%) at least one form of punishment or harm for those opposing was involved. Following this sort of available solutions and facing COVID-19 pandemic disaster the authors on behalf of the Public Health Committee of the Polish Academy of Science recommend to the government implementation od mandatory vaccination against COVID-19 for all workers in sectors of health care, education and welfare.