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Overview and links to articles mentioned this month.
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June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Noelle M. Cocoros details the development of the RAVIOLI algorithm, a new method using electronic health records to enhance surveillance of respiratory viruses beyond traditional influenza-like illness methods. This approach notably improved detection of respiratory illnesses including SARS-CoV-2 and RSV, providing early warnings of emerging respiratory infection trends. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0473_article
• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Park et al. explore severe Human Parainfluenza Virus pneumonia in adults at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, highlighting its prevalence and severe impact, especially in the immunocompromised. The study emphasizes the significant role of fungal co-infections in mortality rates. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0670_article
• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: A study on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) finds no transmission to human cerebral organoids, suggesting a strong species barrier, which is crucial for understanding the zoonotic potential of CWD. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-1568_article
• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Marta Zlotnick examines foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. linked to foods eligible for irradiation. The findings suggest a significant prevention potential through irradiation, which is currently underutilized. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0922_article
• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Katrine Finderup Nielsen's follow-up study on the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in Denmark shows moderate and persistent effectiveness against invasive pneumococcal disease, except for serotype 3. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0975_article
• May 2024, Clinical Microbiology Reviews: Trisha Greenhalgh and colleagues provide a comprehensive review on masks and respirators, affirming their effectiveness in reducing transmission of respiratory infections and outlining future research directions for improving their use and public acceptance. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00124-23
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• June 2024, Nature Communications: Research by Haddrell et al. discusses the correlation between ambient CO2 levels and SARS-CoV-2 stability, revealing that increased CO2 concentrations can significantly enhance the virus's survival in aerosols, emphasizing the importance of ventilation in public health strategies. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47777-5
• June 2024 BMJ Public Health - a paper alleging that much of the excess mortality associated with the pandemic is actually due to COVID vaccines. Perhaps it did receive usual BMJ review? https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000282
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Podcast text below:
Electronic Health Record–Based Algorithm for Monitoring Respiratory Virus–Like Illness, by Noelle M. Cocoros, in June 2024 Emerging Infectious Diseases
Multiple respiratory viruses circulate and cause significant illness and death, but public health has traditionally focused surveillance efforts on influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI). Syndromic surveillance systems provide little information on which pathogens are circulating and often require fever, lowering...

By way of overview, first up a study in May Emerging Infectious Diseases providing a detailed description of Hepatitis E viral dynamics in a group of asymptomatic people tested every 4 days, showing rapid viral load rises and declines with parallel antibody responses.
Next, a report in May EID of a cluster of invasive meningococcal disease caused by an expanding serogroup B strain in older adults in England, highlighting the critical role of genomic surveillance in linking cases and guiding public health responses.
Then, a study in May EID investigating the evolution and dynamics of Legionella pneumophila sequence type 1905 in Portugal, finding that this atypical strain has persisted since a major 2014 outbreak and continues to pose a public health risk for recurrent Legionnaires' disease cases and outbreaks and a note that something unusual is happening in legionella globally with many examples of locally persistent virulent strains.
Following that, an interventional study in May EID comparing COVID-19 incidence rates among cruise ship populations applying different sets of measures, finding a greater than 14-fold protection of passengers in ships that used masking and physical distancing.
Next, a study in April's American Journal of Infection Control using whole genome sequencing to investigate a hospital outbreak, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 remained infectious in aerosols for up to 5 hours after the room was vacated by an infected patient.
Then, a study in March's Lancet Infectious Diseases investigating fecal shedding of SARS-CoV-2 variants, finding that the BA.2.86 and JN.1 variants showed significantly higher rates of viral shedding compared to other variants,– potentially disrupting correlations between sewage viral concentrations and human disease rates.
Followed by a study in April's Journal of Infectious Diseases investigating the association between preceding SARS-CoV-2 infection and post-COVID-19–related symptoms among fully vaccinated Canadian paramedics, finding no association between prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and the prevalence of post-COVID-19–related symptoms.
Lastly we revisit the continued spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza among dairy cattle in the USA that we reported on last episode.
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Welcome to our selected article summaries from some great
public health journals including the April 2024 issue of the CDC's Emerging
Infectious Diseases Journal, March Eurosurveillance, and other leading journals.
From the April issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases,
we will cover:
A report on deaths associated with pediatric hepatitis of unknown etiology in the USA, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/23-1140_articleAn article on concurrent outbreaks of hepatitis A, invasive meningococcal disease, and mpox in Florida, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/23-1392_articleThe global threat due to antimicrobial resistance of Salmonella Infantis associated with poultry https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/23-1031_articleA study on bus riding as an amplification mechanism for SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Germany, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/23-1299_articleFindings on a Chlamydia pneumoniae upsurge at a tertiary hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/23-1610_articleA commentary titled "Ten Years of High-Consequence Pathogens— discussing challenges in dealing with pathogens like ebola viruses, henipavirus and monkeypox virus over the past decade. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/4/24-0160_article
Additionally, the MMWR examines the detection of measles vaccine virus in children with rash illness, https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/pdfs/mm7312a3-H.pdf
from Eurosurveillance,
a report on the increase in invasive Streptococcus pyogenes UKM1 infections linking-Iceland and Scotland,
Briefs
Then a series of brief reports, including vaccine adverse events reporting associated with political inclination, effectiveness of updated COVID-19 vaccines among immunocompromised adults, cephtriaxone resistant gonorrhea in China, atypical age distribution and severity in children with RSV infections during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a systematic review on the potential for person-to-person transmission of Henipaviruses. Plus some late breakers from Promed including the H5N1 outbreak among dairy cattle in the USA.
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Briefs –
Reports of COVID-19 Vaccine Adverse Events in
Predominantly Republican vs Democratic States
A cross-sectional study found that the more states were
inclined to vote Republican, the more likely their vaccine recipients or their
clinicians reported COVID-19 vaccine AEs. All AEs were increased but severe
adverse event rates were reported at an odds ratio 1.2 for a 10% increase in...

Hello, and welcome to our selected article summaries from the March 2024 issue of the CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, February Eurosurveillance, and Nature Communications.


First up, we explore a significant study published in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases journal,by Pablo I. Plaza and colleagues, revealing a worrying trend of increased species and geographic spread of H5N1, hinting at the virus's adaptability towards mammals and the heightened risk of a global pandemic. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-1098_article


Next, we turn to Amy Paterson's systematic review of scales for measuring infectious disease-related stigma. This crucial work, also featured in the March 2023 Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal, addresses the urgent need for methodologically sound, transferable scales to assess stigma during outbreaks. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-0934_article


Following that, we delve into a study by Cheng-Yi Lee and colleagues on the effectiveness of various COVID-19 vaccine platforms in Taiwan. The research provides compelling evidence of the high protection mRNA and protein subunit vaccines offer against infection, severe illness, and death. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-0893_article


We then examine a multimodal surveillance model for Enterovirus D68 respiratory disease among children in Colorado, USA, by Kevin Messacar and colleagues. This innovative approach, integrating clinical, syndromic, and wastewater surveillance, successfully detected an outbreak early, demonstrating the value of such integrated systems in public health practice.


https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-1223_article


Quan M. Vu's study on the incidence and predictors of fatiguing illness after SARS-CoV-2 infection presents alarming findings on the significant increase in fatigue and chronic fatigue among COVID-19 patients, reinforcing the need for preventive public health measures. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-1194_article


 Additionally, we cover Brendan Mullen's investigation into the epidemiology of nontuberculous mycobacteria in Virginia, USA. This study highlights the geographic clustering of infections and their association with climate factors, pointing to the potential impact of climate change on these mycobacterial diseases. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/3/23-1162_article


Ivan Lam's research from Nature Communications offers insights into the long-term health consequences after SARS-CoV-2 infection and the mitigating effects of vaccination. With over 1 million cases analysed, the study provides convincing evidence of protection from long term sequelae by COVID-19 vaccines. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-45953-1


We also share updates on influenza vaccine effectiveness from the February issue of Eurosurveillance, including studies on the interim effectiveness of the 2023/24 influenza A vaccine https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.8.2400089


and the examination of waning protection from seasonal influenza vaccination over nine seasons in Ontario, Canada. a href="https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.8.2300239"...

Welcome to this episode of our public health podcast, where we delve into the latest research findings from the February 2024 issue of the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal. Today, we're covering a range of critical topics that underscore the evolving landscape of infectious diseases and our responses to them. Let's take a brief look at what's coming up:
First, we explore how Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, adapted its COVID-19 contact tracing protocols in the face of resource constraints, a study led by Seonghye Jeon. This investigation sheds light on the balance between effectiveness and efficiency in public health strategies during the pandemic.
Next, Krist Ewe leads us through the impact of the Meningococcal ACWY vaccination program during the 2017-18 epidemic in Western Australia, Australia. This piece highlights the crucial role of targeted vaccination efforts in controlling outbreaks of invasive meningococcal disease.
We then examine the use of power law for estimating underdetection of foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States, a groundbreaking study by Laura Ford. This research offers insights into the scale of foodborne outbreaks that go unreported and the importance of improving detection methods.
Following that, Shi Zhao provides an in-depth analysis of the incidence of unreported SARS-CoV-2 infections in Hong Kong, using seroprevalence of Open Reading Frame 8 antigen. This study underscores the hidden burden of COVID-19 infections and the critical role of seroprevalence studies in understanding the pandemic's true impact.
Then, Oluwaseun F. Egbelowo presents a model for interpreting discordant SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test results, tackling the challenges posed by conflicting outcomes from rapid antigen and nucleic acid amplification tests.

Lastly, Holly Fountain describes the increase in gonorrhoea following lifting of COVID restrictions in England.

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Mentioned in this episode:
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