Changes in Self-Reported Mask Use After the Lifting of State-Issued Mask Mandates in 20 US States, February-June 2021.

Objective: In April 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended community masking to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Since then, a total of 39 US states and DC issued mask mandates. Despite CDC recommendations and supporting evidence that masking reduces COVID-19 community transmission, from January to June 20, 2021 states lifted their mask mandates for all individuals.

Community Water Fluoridation Levels To Promote Effectiveness and Safety in Oral Health - United States, 2016-2021.

Drinking water fluoridated at the level recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) reduces dental caries (cavities) by approximately 25% in children and adults (1).

Duration of Behavioral Policy Interventions and Incidence of COVID-19 by Social Vulnerability of US Counties, April-December 2020.

Objective: State-issued behavioral policy interventions (BPIs) can limit community spread of COVID-19, but their effects on COVID-19 transmission may vary by level of social vulnerability in the community. We examined the association between the duration of BPIs and the incidence of COVID-19 across levels of social vulnerability in US counties.

Methods: We used COVID-19 case counts from USAFacts and policy data on BPIs (face mask mandates, stay-at-home orders, gathering bans) in place from April through December 2020 and the 2018 Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Intent among Parents to Vaccinate Children before Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations, Minnesota and Los Angeles County, California-May-September 2021.

Objectives: This study assessed the associations between parent intent to have their child receive the COVID-19 vaccination, and demographic factors and various child activities, including attendance at in-person education or childcare. Methods: Persons undergoing COVID-19 testing residing in Minnesota and Los Angeles County, California with children aged <12 years completed anonymous internet-based surveys between 10 May and 6 September 2021 to assess factors associated with intention to vaccinate their child. Factors influencing the parents’ decision to have their child attend in-person school or childcare were examined.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of Medications for Treatment of COVID-19 - United States, March 2020-August 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic has magnified longstanding health care and social inequities, resulting in disproportionately high COVID-19-associated illness and death among members of racial and ethnic minority groups (1). Equitable use of effective medications (2) could reduce disparities in these severe outcomes (3). Monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, initially received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2020.

Multifaceted Public Health Response to a COVID-19 Outbreak Among Meat-Processing Workers, Utah, March-June 2020.

Objective: To identify potential strategies to mitigate COVID-19 transmission in a Utah meat-processing facility and surrounding community.

Design/setting: During March-June 2020, 502 workers at a Utah meat-processing facility (facility A) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. Using merged data from the state disease surveillance system and facility A, we analyzed the relationship between SARS-CoV-2 positivity and worker demographics, work section, and geospatial data on worker residence.

Characteristics and Risk Factors of Hospitalized and Nonhospitalized COVID-19 Patients, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, March-April 2020.

We compared the characteristics of hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients who had coronavirus disease in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. We found that risk for hospitalization increased with a patient's age and number of concurrent conditions. We also found a potential association between hospitalization and high hemoglobin A1c levels in persons with diabetes.

Mitigating a COVID-19 Outbreak Among Major League Baseball Players - United States, 2020.

Mass gatherings have been implicated in higher rates of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and many sporting events have been restricted or canceled to limit disease spread (1). Based on current CDC COVID-19 mitigation recommendations related to events and gatherings (2), Major League Baseball (MLB) developed new health and safety protocols before the July 24 start of the 2020 season. In addition, MLB made the decision that games would be played without spectators.

Changes in micronutrient and inflammation serum biomarker concentrations after a norovirus human challenge.

Background: To accurately assess micronutrient status, it is necessary to characterize the effects of inflammation and the acute-phase response on nutrient biomarkers.

Objective: Within a norovirus human challenge study, we aimed to model the inflammatory response of C-reactive protein (CRP) and α-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) by infection status, model kinetics of micronutrient biomarkers by inflammation status, and evaluate associations between inflammation and micronutrient biomarkers from 0 to 35 d post-norovirus exposure.

Methods: Fifty-two healthy adults were enrolled into challenge studies in a hospital setting and followed longitudinally; all were exposed to norovirus, half were infected.

Perturbations of the arginine metabolome following exposures to traffic-related air pollution in a panel of commuters with and without asthma.

Background: Mechanisms underlying the effects of traffic-related air pollution on people with asthma remain largely unknown, despite the abundance of observational and controlled studies reporting associations between traffic sources and asthma exacerbation and hospitalizations.

Objectives: To identify molecular pathways perturbed following traffic pollution exposures, we analyzed data as part of the Atlanta Commuters Exposure (ACE-2) study, a crossover panel of commuters with and without asthma.

Methods: We measured 27 air pollutants and conducted high-resolution metabolomics profiling on blood samples from 45 commuters before and after each exposure session.

Global Review of the Age Distribution of Rotavirus Disease in Children Aged <5 Years Before the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccination.

We sought datasets with granular age distributions of rotavirus-positive disease presentations among children <5 years of age, before the introduction of rotavirus vaccines. We identified 117 datasets and fit parametric age distributions to each country dataset and mortality stratum. We calculated the median age and the cumulative proportion of rotavirus gastroenteritis events expected to occur at ages between birth and 5.

Particulate metal exposures induce plasma metabolome changes in a commuter panel study.

Introduction: Advances in liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) have enabled high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) to emerge as a sensitive tool for measuring environmental exposures and corresponding biological response. Using measurements collected as part of a large, panel-based study of car commuters, the current analysis examines in-vehicle air pollution concentrations, targeted inflammatory biomarker levels, and metabolomic profiles to trace potential metabolic perturbations associated with on-road traffic exposures.

Methods: A 60-person panel of adults participated in a crossover study, where each participant conducted a highway commute and randomized to either a side-street commute or clinic exposure session.

Use of high-resolution metabolomics for the identification of metabolic signals associated with traffic-related air pollution.

Background: High-resolution metabolomics (HRM) is emerging as a sensitive tool for measuring environmental exposures and biological responses. The aim of this analysis is to assess the ability of high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) to reflect internal exposures to complex traffic-related air pollution mixtures.

Methods: We used untargeted HRM profiling to characterize plasma and saliva collected from participants in the Dorm Room Inhalation to Vehicle Emission (DRIVE) study to identify metabolic pathways associated with traffic emission exposures.

Source-specific pollution exposure and associations with pulmonary response in the Atlanta Commuters Exposure Studies.

Concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants are frequently higher within commuting vehicles than in ambient air. Pollutants found within vehicles may include those generated by tailpipe exhaust, brake wear, and road dust sources, as well as pollutants from in-cabin sources. Source-specific pollution, compared to total pollution, may represent regulation targets that can better protect human health.

Metabolomic profiles of plasma, exhaled breath condensate, and saliva are correlated with potential for air toxics detection.

Introduction: Advances in the development of high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) have provided new opportunities for their use in characterizing exposures to environmental air pollutants and air pollution-related disease etiologies. Exposure assessment studies have considered blood, breath, and saliva as biological matrices suitable for measuring responses to air pollution exposures. The current study examines comparability among these three matrices using HRM and explores their potential for measuring mobile-source air toxics.