Incidence of myeloid neoplasms in Spain (2002–2013): a population-based study of the Spanish network of cancer registries

Comprehensive population-based data on myeloid neoplasms (MNs) are limited, mainly because some subtypes were not recognized as hematological cancers prior to the WHO publication in 2001, and others are too rare to allow robust estimates within regional studies. Herein, we provide incidence data of the whole spectrum of MNs in Spain during 2002–2013 using harmonized data from 13 population-based cancer registries. Cases (n = 17,522) were grouped following the HAEMACARE groupings and 2013-European standardized incidence rates (ASRE), incidence trends, and estimates for 2021 were calculated. ASRE per 100,000 inhabitants was 5.14 (95% CI: 5.00–5.27) for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), 4.71 (95% CI: 4.59–4.84) for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), 3.91 (95% CI: 3.79–4.02) for acute myeloid leukemia, 0.83 (95% CI: 0.78–0.88) for MDS/MPN, 0.35 (95% CI: 0.32–0.39) for acute leukemia of ambiguous lineage, and 0.58 (95% CI: 0.53–0.62) for not-otherwise specified (NOS) cases. This study highlights some useful points for public health authorities, such as the remarkable variability in incidence rates among Spanish provinces, the increasing incidence of MPN, MDS, and MDS/MPN during the period of study, in contrast to a drop in NOS cases, and the number of cases expected in 2021 based on these data (8446 new MNs).

COVID-19 patient cohort identification during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak through a tertiary hospital Electronic Health Record alert system (Preprint)

BACKGROUND On 11th March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic caused by the coronavirus with 118.629 identified cases and 4.292 confirmed deaths. Up to date, 252 million cases and 5 million deaths have been identified as caused by COVID-19. An epidemic situation is characterized by an overload of patients suffering a particular clinical condition and needing acute medical attention in a short period. Usually, the pathogen n causing the epidemic is either new or emergent, and the knowledge a priori is limited. Information is crucial for public health authorities to establish policies to prevent transmission. Thus, the cycle of knowledge acquisition must be efficient and as short as possible. An interdisciplinary team adapted the electronic health record alert systems for real-time data tool collection for clinical characterization and epidemiological surveillance. This system has been working from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first outbreak up to date OBJECTIVE To share the experience of handling COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients' circuits through an Electronic Health Record (EHR) alert system during the pandemic. This system allowed the creation of a COVID-19 hospitalized patient cohort, with implications in the hospital circuit management, patients risk stratification and secondary use for research projects in a period of high uncertainty. Additionally, its integration as an epidemiological surveillance tool favored the submission of updated information to public health authorities. METHODS Almost 30,000 alerts related to COVID-19 were activated in the EHR. Overall, the most frequent were “COVID-19 ruled out” (N = 12,438) followed by “COVID-19 Confirmed Case” (N = 8,999). Up to 13,106 patients (65.7%) were labeled with just one alert during their in-patient stay, while 6,857 (34.3%) received two or more labels. For the alert sequences, 96% were considered logical sequences, 3,1% as low-quality logic sequences, and less than 1% aberrant sequences. Although some temporal variations, all periods had a high rate of logical sequences achieving more than 95%. Preventive medicine professionals activated most COVID-19 alerts and acted as auditors for data quality. When possible, automatic alerts were in place, which became the most frequent. RESULTS Almost 30,000 alerts related to COVID-19 were activated in the EHR. Overall, the most frequent were “COVID-19 ruled out” (N = 12,438) followed by “COVID-19 Confirmed Case” (N = 8,999). Up to 13,106 patients (65.7%) were labeled with just one alert during their in-patient stay, while 6,857 (34.3%) received two or more labels. For the alert sequences, 96% were considered logical sequences, 3,1% as low-quality logic sequences, and less than 1% aberrant sequences. Although some temporal variations, all periods had a high rate of logical sequences achieving more than 95%. Preventive medicine professionals activated most COVID-19 alerts and acted as auditors for data quality. When possible, automatic alerts were in place, which became the most frequent. CONCLUSIONS The EHR integrated system favored in-hospital management of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was helpful for both the institution and the health system, representing an example of interlevel integration. The performance was adequate and robust, with insights at different levels: infection control, patient safety, research, and pandemic response. Preventive Medicine teams should maximize EHR solutions for epidemiological surveillance. CLINICALTRIAL Not required.

Examining trends in gun violence injuries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across six trauma centers

ObjectivesThe onset of the national stay-at-home orders accompanied by a surge in firearm sales has elevated the concerns of clinicians and public health authorities. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the stay-at-home orders among gunshot wound (GSW) trauma admissions.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study at six level I trauma centers across four states. Patients admitted after the onset of COVID-19 restrictions (March 16, 2020–June 30, 2020) were compared with those admitted during the same period in 2019. We compared (1) rate of patients with GSW and (2) characteristics of patients with GSW, by period using Χ2 tests or Fisher’s exact tests, as appropriate.ResultsThere were 6996 trauma admissions across the study period; 3707 (53%) in 2019 and 3289 (47%) in 2020. From 2019 to 2020, there was a significant increase in GSW admissions (4% vs. 6%, p=0.001); 4 weeks specifically had significant increases (March 16–March 23: 4%, April 1–April 8: 5%, April 9–April 16: 6%, and May 11–May 18: 5%). Of the 334 GSWs, there were significant increases in patients with mental illness (5% vs. 11%, p=0.03), alcohol use disorder (2% vs. 10%, p=0.003), substance use disorder (11% vs. 25%, p=0.001), and a significant decrease in mortality (14% vs. 7%, p=0.03) in 2020. No other significant differences between time periods were identified.ConclusionOur data suggest that trauma centers admitted significantly more patients with GSW following the national guidelines, including an increase in those with mental illness and substance use-related disorders. This could be attributable to the stay-at-home orders.Level of evidenceLevel III, retrospective study.

Evaluating the impacts of non-pharmaceutical interventions on the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in Canada based on mobile network

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused two waves and spread to more than 90% of Canada’s provinces since it was first reported more than a year ago. During the COVID-19 epidemic, Canadian provinces have implemented many Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs). However, the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic continues due to the complex dynamics of human mobility. We develop a meta-population network model to study the transmission dynamics of COVID-19. The model takes into account the heterogeneity of mitigation strategies in different provinces of Canada, such as the timing of implementing NPIs, the human mobility in retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residences due to work and recreation. To determine which activity is most closely related to the dynamics of COVID-19, we use the cross-correlation analysis to find that the positive correlation is the highest between the mobility data of parks and the weekly number of confirmed COVID-19 from February 15 to December 13, 2020. The average effective reproduction numbers in nine Canadian provinces are all greater than one during the time period, and NPIs have little impact on the dynamics of COVID-19 epidemics in Ontario and Saskatchewan. After November 20, 2020, the average infection probability in Alberta became the highest since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic in Canada. We also observe that human activities around residences do not contribute much to the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic. The simulation results indicate that social distancing and constricting human mobility is effective in mitigating COVID-19 transmission in Canada. Our findings can provide guidance for public health authorities in projecting the effectiveness of future NPIs.

Assessment of the psychological impact of vaccination on COVID-19 pandemic stress among B. Sc nursing students

Background: In January 2020 the world health organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of a new coronavirus disease, COVID-19, to be a public health emergency of international concern. WHO stated that there is a high risk of COVID-19 spreading to other countries around the world. In March 2020, WHO made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. WHO and public health authorities around the world are acting to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. To assess the level of COVID-19 pandemic stress before and after vaccination and to find out the association of COVID-19 pandemic stress scores with selected demographic variables of B. Sc nursing students. Methods: A pre-experimental study was done on 150 Nursing students in selected various nursing colleges at Meerut. The convenience sampling technique was used. Nursing Students stress were assessed by using standardized Sheldon Cohen modified stress scale. Results: The result showed that mean score before and after vaccination of stress with SD for was (0.237) nursing students was 13.20±2.202, 6.20±1.202 and correlation of patient with COVID-19 suggesting a negative significant correlation between the stress ‘r’ value was less than table value (0.273) with df 149. At (0.05) level of significance. Conclusions: there was no significant association between level of stress and demographic variables among Nursing students. It is inferred that there is moderate to severe level of stress before and moderate to mild level of stress after vaccination.

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance is associated with Vaccine Hesitancy, Perceived Risk and Previous Vaccination Experiences

Objective: This study examines the factors associated with the willingness to get the coronavirus vaccine among individuals aged 18 and above. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Turkey. The participants aged 18 and older were recruited between December 2020 and January 2021 through conventional social media sites. Snowball sampling was used. An anonymous questionnaire consisted of demographics, vaccination experiences, and perceived risk of coronavirus disease. Results: 1202 women and 651 men were included in the data analysis. Findings showed that demographics, vaccinations experience, and perceived risk of getting COVID-19 were explained 37% of the variance in people’s willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccination according to hierarchical logistic regression. Furthermore, increasing age, being male, acquiring positive information about COVID-19 vaccines, having a lower level of vaccine hesitancy, the high level of worry about the COVID-19 and low level of perceptions of the possibility of becoming infected by the COVID-19 were the main predictors of COVID-19 vaccine willingness. Conclusions: Factors affecting adults’ willingness to be inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines were related to demographics, vaccination experiences, and perceived risk of getting COVID-19. We recommend that public health authorities and practitioners should consider these multiple factors regarding vaccine confidence to achieve herd immunity.

Shortcomings in Public Health Authorities’ Videos on COVID-19: Limited Reach and a Creative Gap

Video communication has played a key role in relaying important and complex information on the COVID-19 pandemic to the general public. The aim of the present study is to compare Norwegian health authorities’ and WHO’s use of video communication during the COVID-19 pandemic to the most viewed COVID-19 videos on YouTube, in order to identify how videos created by health authorities measure up to contemporary video content, both creatively and in reaching video consumers. Through structured search on YouTube we found that Norwegian health authorities have published 26 videos, and the WHO 29 videos on the platform. Press briefings, live videos, news reports, and videos recreated/translated into other languages than English or Norwegian, were not included. A content analysis comparing the 55 videos by the health authorities to the 27 most viewed videos on COVID-19 on YouTube demonstrates poor reach of health authorities’ videos in terms of views and it elucidates a clear creative gap. While the videos created by various YouTube creators communicate using a wide range of creative presentation means (such as professional presenters, contextual backgrounds, advanced graphic animations, and humour), videos created by the health authorities are significantly more homogenous in style often using field experts or public figures, plain backgrounds or PowerPoint style animations. We suggest that further studies into various creative presentation means and their influence on reach, recall, and on different groups of the population, are carried out in the future to evaluate specific factors of this creative gap.

Comparison of Health Literacy of the Population Regarding Healthy Diet and Chronic Liver Diseases – West vs. East of Slovakia

Introduction: The health status of the population is aresult of the complex action of several components of society. Chronic non-communicable diseases are the leading cause of death. They are often aresult of smoking, alcohol consump- tion, poor diet and lack of exercise. Objectives: To obtain and compare information on health lit- eracy of the population (Western versus Eastern Slovakia) re- garding the most common liver diseases, risk factors for chronic liver diseases and healthy diet. Research sample group and methodology: Aself-designed questionnaire was composed of 30 questions. 400 respondents helped us to carry out the research: 145 men and 255 women. 200 respondents came from Western Slovakia and 200 respon- dents from Eastern Slovakia. Results: We established several hypotheses, based on which we determined health literacy of the population in Eastern and Western Slovakia. Health literacy is statistically significantly higher in aselected sample of respondents from the western part of Slovakia. Conclusions: In order to improve the health of the population, it is necessary to pay great attention to the education of the population about chronic diseases and healthy diet by all, the public health authorities, medicine and nursing. Close coop- eration with general practitioners is abasic prerequisite for the successful solving of this problem.

Rapid and direct method to extract SARS-CoV-2 RNA from municipal wastewater using the Chemagic™ 360 12-rod head platform v1

Wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a strategy to identify, locate, predict, and manage outbreaks of COVID-19, as an early warning signal to public health authorities of an expected surge in cases that may overwhelm local and global health care resources.. The WBE process is based on assaying municipal wastewater for molecular markers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The standard process for sampling municipal wastewater is time-consuming and requires the handling of large quantities of wastewater, which negatively affects throughput and timely reporting, and can increase safety risks. We report on a rapid and direct mostly automated method to assay multiple sub-samples of a bulk wastewater sample using a 75 minute run on the Chemagic™ 360 12 rod head platform. Including a preceding setup and incubation step, twelve 10 ml samples can be processed to purified RNA in 2.5 hrs. Up to 10 ml of wastewater from 12 different collection sites can be processed in 2.5 hrs.