Public health and economic impact of COVID-19 vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, KP.2, among adults in 2024/2025 in the United States.

Objectives: To assess the public health and economic impact of vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, KP.2, in 2024/2025 in the United States.

Methods: A combined cohort Markov-decision tree model was used to estimate the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of vaccination versus no vaccination in adults aged ≥18 years.

Health outcomes and economic burden among patients with a COVID-19-associated hospitalization in the United States during the predominance of the XBB and JN.1 omicron lineages.

Objective: Conduct a comprehensive analysis of the health and economic outcomes of patients with a COVID-19-associated hospitalization in the US during the predominance of the XBB and JN.1 Omicron lineages.

Methods: This analysis used data from the PINC AI Healthcare Database (PHD) for all patients with a hospital admission date occurring between February 4, 2023, and February 29, 2024 with an ICD-10-CM code U07.

Proportion of Patients in the United States Who Fill Their Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir Prescriptions.

Introduction: Although real-world studies demonstrate that those prescribed nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (and particularly within 5 days of symptom onset) are less likely to experience severe COVID-19 outcomes, prior studies show that only a small fraction of patients with COVID-19 who are eligible for nirmatrelvir/ritonavir receive a prescription. Studies calculating the proportion of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir prescriptions filled and identifying individual- and pharmacy-level correlates of filling nirmatrelvir/ritonavir are lacking.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included individuals aged ≥ 12 years with a nirmatrelvir/ritonavir prescription ordered at a large national retail pharmacy (December 22, 2021-August 12, 2023).

Potential impact of curative and preventive interventions toward hepatitis C elimination in people who inject drugs-A network modeling study.

Background: Injection-equipment-sharing networks play an important role in hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission among people who inject drugs (PWID). Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments for HCV infection and interventions to prevent HCV transmission are critical components of an overall hepatitis C elimination strategy, but how they contribute to the elimination outcomes in different PWID network settings are unclear.

Methods: We developed an agent-based network model of HCV transmission through the sharing of injection equipment among PWID and parameterized and calibrated the model with rural PWID data in the United States.

Using GPS-defined venue-based affiliation networks among Black sexually minoritized men and transgender women to identify locations for HIV prevention interventions.

Purpose: HIV biomedical intervention uptake is suboptimal among Black sexually minoritized men (SMM) and transgender women (TW). Venues where people meet and interact shape HIV-related risk and prevention behaviors. We aimed to construct GPS-defined venue-based affiliation networks and identify the unique set of venues that could maximize reach of HIV biomedical interventions among Black SMM and TW.

Examining the social and behavioral dynamics of substance use in a longitudinal network study in rural Appalachia.

Background: Prior studies have shown that individuals and their peers often have similar substance use behaviors, but the mechanisms driving these similarities - particularly in rural settings, are not well understood. The primary objectives of this analysis are to (1) identify factors that contribute to relationship turnover and maintenance within a rural network of persons who use drugs (PWUD), (2) determine whether assimilation and/or homophily shape participants use of injection drugs, heroin, and stimulants (methamphetamine and cocaine), and (3) assess the extent that these mechanisms influence networks ties and/or behaviors and whether these effects vary across time.

Methods: Sociometric network data were collected from a cohort of PWUD in rural Eastern Kentucky at baseline (2008-2010) and at four follow-up visits conducted approximately semiannually.

Definition and measurement of post-COVID-19 conditions in real-world practice: a global systematic literature review.

Unlabelled: Post-COVID-19 conditions (PCC) is an umbrella term that encompasses a range of signs, symptoms and conditions present weeks after the acute phase of a SARS-CoV-2 infection. This systematic literature review summarises the heterogeneous methodology used to measure PCC across real-world studies and highlights trends by region, age group, PCC follow-up period and data source.

Methods: Medline, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched and supplemented with conference and grey literature searches.

Effectiveness of BNT162b2 BA.4/5 Bivalent mRNA Vaccine Against Symptomatic COVID-19 Among Immunocompetent Individuals Testing at a Large US Retail Pharmacy.

Background: Data on the effectiveness of BA.4/5 bivalent vaccine stratified by age and prior infection are lacking.

Methods: This test-negative study used data from individuals ≥5 years of age testing for SARS-CoV-2 with symptoms (15 September 2022 to 31 January 2023) at a large national retail pharmacy chain.

Identifying and describing trajectories of alcohol use frequency and binge drinking frequency among those aged 15-30 years in a national cohort of US adolescents: A group-based trajectory modeling approach.

Background And Aims: Analyzing long-term trajectories of alcohol use has the potential to strengthen policy and intervention priorities and timing. We identified and described trajectories of alcohol use and binge drinking frequency from mid-adolescence to early adulthood and measured the association of the role of early drinking initiation with trajectory membership.

Design, Setting, Participants: This was a longitudinal cohort study conducted in the United States.

Social Network Diversity and Mental Health Among Mothers of Individuals With Autism.

The present study examined the associations between networks of social relationships and psychological well-being among mothers of adolescents and adults with autism (n = 352) over a 12-year period of time. A structural equation modeling approach was used to delineate the relative impacts of network size and relationship diversity on maternal mental health, and to assess whether such effects are bidirectional. Mothers with more diverse relationships experienced reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms over time, and the psychological benefits of diversity remained after adjusting for network size.

HCV serostatus and injection sharing practices among those who obtain syringes from pharmacies and directly and indirectly from syringe services programs in rural New England.

Background: Among people who inject drugs (PWID), obtaining syringes via syringe services programs (SSPs) and pharmacies reduces injection sharing practices associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Whether indirect use of SSPs via secondary exchange confers a similar benefit remains unknown, particularly in rural settings. We compared HCV serostatus and injection sharing practices by primary syringe source among a sample of rural PWID.

Improving our estimates: assessing misclassification of abortion accessibility in the United States.

Purpose: Quantify the misclassification of abortion accessibility resulting from calculations based on block groups, census tracts, ZCTAs, or counties versus census blocks.

Methods: We included 850 facilities from the 2018 ANSIRH Facility Database and Planned Parenthood website. Accessibility was the proportions of 18-44 year-old women living within a 30-, 60-, and 90-minute drive from an abortion-providing facility.

Network Correlates of Using a Syringe After an Injection Partner Among Women Who Inject Drugs in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

This analysis aims to identify relationship-level correlates of receptive syringe sharing among women who inject drugs in Philadelphia. Sixty-four women who injected daily were recruited from Prevention Point Philadelphia's syringe exchange program (9/2/20 - 11/23/20). Interviewer-administered surveys collected (1) individual-level demographics and risk behaviors and (2) relationship-level information about each past-6-month injection partner and injecting practices between the two.

More than just oral PrEP: exploring interest in rectal douche, dissolvable implant, removable implant and injection HIV prevention approaches among racially diverse men who have sex with men in the Northeast Corridor.

Objectives: HIV scholars and practitioners have worked to expand strategies for prevention among marginalised populations who are disproportionately impacted by the epidemic, such as racial minority men who have sex with men (MSM). Given this urgency, the objective of this study was to assess interest in biomedical prevention strategies.

Methods: This exploratory and cross-sectional study investigated interest in four biomedical prevention tools-rectal douche, dissolvable implant, removable implant and injection-among a racially diverse sample of MSM from the Northeast Corridor region between Philadelphia and Trenton.

The Rural Opioid Initiative Consortium description: providing evidence to Understand the Fourth Wave of the Opioid Crisis.

Objective: To characterize and address the opioid crisis disproportionately impacting rural U.S. regions.

Extent and implications of omitted ties on network measures in a longitudinal social network survey of people who use drugs.

Background: Previous research has revealed under-reporting of personal network members (i.e., alters) in studies involving people who use drugs (PWUD).

Potential Impact of Telemedicine for Medication Abortion Policy and Programming Changes on Abortion Accessibility in the United States.

To quantify the impact of telemedicine for medication abortion (TMAB) expansion or ban removal on abortion accessibility. We included 1091 facilities from the 2018 Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health facility database and Planned Parenthood Web site, among which 241 did not offer abortion as sites for TMAB expansion. Accessibility was defined as the proportion of reproductive-aged women living within a 30-, 60-, or 90-minute drive time from an abortion-providing facility.

Characterising a syndemic among black women at risk for HIV: the role of sociostructural inequity and adverse childhood experiences.

Black women disproportionately experience STIs (including HIV/AIDS), gender-based violence, substance misuse and mental health conditions. Addressing a gap in syndemic research, we characterised comorbidity overlap within the context of sociostructural inequities and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among black women in Baltimore, Maryland. Between 2015 and 2018, black women (n=305) were recruited from STI clinics in Baltimore, Maryland.

Social network typology and health among parents of children with developmental disabilities: Results from a national study of midlife adults.

Objective: There is increasing interest in the role of contextual factors in promoting well-being among parents of children with developmental disabilities. This study aimed to examine whether social network types moderate the impacts of having a child with a developmental disability on parents' health.

Methods: Using cross-sectional data from the Midlife in the United States survey (MIDUS 2 and Refresher cohorts), we analyzed a sample of 363 parents of children with developmental disabilities and 4,919 parents of children without developmental disabilities.

Integrating a web-based survey application into Qualtrics to collect risk location data for HIV prevention research.

Aspects of the physical and social environment play an important role in shaping HIV-related risk/prevention behaviors and access to prevention and treatment services. Here, we describe the feasibility of integrating a web-based survey application to collect risk locations into Qualtrics and compare this approach with a JavaScript-based alternative. Between 2017 and 2018, we enrolled 29 persons living with HIV in Boston Massachusetts to complete an interviewer-administered questionnaire using Qualtrics.

Privacy and Confidentiality Considerations for Collecting HIV Risk Network Data among Men who Have Sex with Men and Implications for Constructing Valid Risk Networks.

Studies aiming to construct risk networks have historically collected network members' names, demographic characteristics and relational data (i.e., type, strength, duration, frequency of interaction, and HIV-related risk behaviors between the pair).