Interactions among common non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory viruses and influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on their circulation in New York City.

Background: Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and voluntary behavioral changes during the COVID-19 pandemic have influenced the circulation of non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory infections. We aimed to examine interactions among common non-SARS-CoV-2 respiratory virus and further estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these viruses.

Methods: We analyzed incidence data for seven groups of respiratory viruses in New York City (NYC) during October 2015 to May 2021 (i.

Estimating the infection-fatality risk of SARS-CoV-2 in New York City during the spring 2020 pandemic wave: a model-based analysis.

Background: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, the infection-fatality risk (ie, risk of death among all infected individuals including those with asymptomatic and mild infections) is crucial for gauging the burden of death due to COVID-19 in the coming months or years. Here, we estimate the infection-fatality risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in New York City, NY, USA, the first epidemic centre in the USA, where the infection-fatality risk remains unclear.

Methods: In this model-based analysis, we developed a meta-population network model-inference system to estimate the underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection rate in New York City during the 2020 spring pandemic wave using available case, mortality, and mobility data.

Outcomes of infants born to women with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09.

Background: Pregnant women with influenza are more likely to have complications, but information on infant outcomes is limited.

Methods: Five state/local health departments collected data on outcomes of infants born to pregnant women with 2009 H1N1 influenza reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from April to December 2009. Collaborating sites linked information on pregnant women with confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza, many who were severely ill, to their infants' birth certificates.

Building-level analyses to prospectively detect influenza outbreaks in long-term care facilities: New York City, 2013-2014.

Background: Timely outbreak detection is necessary to successfully control influenza in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and other institutions. To supplement nosocomial outbreak reports, calls from infection control staff, and active laboratory surveillance, the New York City (NYC) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene implemented an automated building-level analysis to proactively identify LTCFs with laboratory-confirmed influenza activity.

Methods: Geocoded addresses of LTCFs in NYC were compared with geocoded residential addresses for all case-patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza reported through passive surveillance.

An unexpected benefit from enhanced 2009 H1N1 influenza surveillance.

Nosocomial outbreaks of influenza are reportable in New York State, but reporting compliance is unknown. We describe a surveillance system, instituted during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, that coincidently allowed for the identification of influenza outbreaks in long-term care facilities.

Community associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus among New York City men who have sex with men: qualitative research findings and implications for public health practice.

Academic literature has recorded increased microbial resistance in the United States and recent news media has adversely portrayed men who have sex with men (MSM) at increased risk for community associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) transmission. CA-MRSA is a specific type of bacteria resistant to certain antibiotics, which limits treatment options for those needing clinical care. Infection can manifest as painful abscesses and can cause severe illness.

Epidemiologic investigation and targeted vaccination initiative in response to an outbreak of meningococcal disease among illicit drug users in Brooklyn, New York.

Background: An outbreak of serogroup C meningococcal disease that involved illicit drug users and their contacts occurred in Brooklyn, New York, during 2005 and 2006.

Methods: The objectives of this study were to identify the population at risk for meningococcal disease, describe efforts to interrupt disease transmission, and assess the impact of a vaccine initiative. Descriptive and molecular epidemiological analysis was used to define the extent of the outbreak and the common risk factors among outbreak-related cases.