Facilitators and barriers to implementing successful exclusion among children with shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli: a qualitative analysis of public health case management records.

Background: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections are a significant public health concern as they can cause serious illness and outbreaks. In England, STEC incidence is highest among children and guidance recommends that children under six diagnosed with STEC are excluded from childcare until two consecutive stool cultures are negative. We aimed to describe the barriers and facilitators to implementing exclusion and the impact of exclusion policies on young children and their families.

Understanding adherence to self-isolation in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in England: a cross-sectional mixed-methods study.

Background: During the early "containment" phase of the COVID-19 response in England (January-March 2020), contact tracing was managed by Public Health England (PHE). Adherence to self-isolation during this phase and how people were making those decisions has not previously been determined. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of decisions around adherence to self-isolation during the first phase of the COVID-19 response in England.

Engagement with regular asymptomatic COVID-19 testing in young people in North West England: a qualitative focus group study.

Objectives: Communities in North West England had some of the highest incidence of COVID-19, particularly in their younger populations. Test kits were provided to young people in Blackburn with Darwen to encourage regular testing and reduce COVID-19 transmission. The aim of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators to engaging in regular asymptomatic testing in young people.

Thematic analysis of national online narratives on regular asymptomatic testing for Covid-19 in schools in England.

Objective: To understand the public perceptions of the schools Covid-19 testing programme in England.

Design: Qualitative social media analysis.

Setting: Online users of parenting forums (Mumsnet and Netmums), Facebook newspaper pages and Daily Mail online readers, who responded to posts or articles about the schools testing programme in England, between 1 and 31 March, 2021.

Exploring the impact of shielding advice on the wellbeing of individuals identified as clinically extremely vulnerable amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods evaluation.

Background: The national shielding programme was introduced by UK Government at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with individuals identified as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) offered advice and support to stay at home and avoid all non-essential contact. This study aimed to explore the impact and responses of "shielding" on the health and wellbeing of CEV individuals in Southwest England during the first COVID-19 lockdown.

Methods: A two-stage mixed methods study, including a structured survey (7 August-23 October 2020) and semi-structured telephone interviews (26 August-30 September 2020) with a sample of individuals who had been identified as CEV and advised to "shield" by Bristol, North Somerset & South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Local Community Response to Mass Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing in Liverpool, England: Social Media Analysis.

Background: Mass asymptomatic testing for COVID-19 was piloted for the first time in the United Kingdom in Liverpool in November 2020. There is limited evidence on uptake of mass testing, and previously where surge testing has been deployed, uptake has been low.

Objective: There was an urgent need to rapidly evaluate acceptance of asymptomatic testing, specifically identifying barriers and facilitators to taking part.

Exploring vaccine hesitancy in care home employees in North West England: a qualitative study.

Objectives: Care homes have experienced a high number of COVID-19 outbreaks, and it is therefore important for care home employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. However, there is high vaccine hesitancy among this group. We aimed to understand barriers and facilitators to getting the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as views on potential mandatory vaccination policies.

The social media response to twice-weekly mass asymptomatic testing in England.

Background: From 9th April 2021, everyone in England has been encouraged to take two COVID-19 tests per week. This is the first time that national mass asymptomatic testing has been introduced in the UK and the effectiveness of the policy depends on uptake with testing and willingness to self-isolate following a positive test result. This paper examines attitudes towards twice-weekly testing, as well as barriers and facilitators to engaging in testing.

Experiences of supported isolation in returning travellers during the early COVID-19 response: a qualitative interview study.

Objectives: (1) To understand the experiences and perceptions of those who underwent supported isolation, particularly in relation to factors that were associated with improved compliance and well-being; (2) to inform recommendations for the management of similar supported isolation procedures.

Design: We carried out a qualitative study using semistructured interviews to capture participants' experiences and perceptions of supported isolation. Data were analysed using the framework approach, a type of thematic analysis that is commonly used in research that has implications for policy.

Understanding patterns of adherence to COVID-19 mitigation measures: a qualitative interview study.

Background: Evidence highlights the disproportionate impact of measures that have been introduced to reduce the spread of coronavirus on individuals from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities, and among those on a low income. An understanding of barriers to adherence in these populations is needed. In this qualitative study, we examined the patterns of adherence to mitigation measures and reasons underpinning these behaviors.

Impact of flooding on health-related quality of life in England: results from the National Study of Flooding and Health.

Background: Flooding can have extensive effects on the health and wellbeing of affected communities. The impact of flooding on psychological morbidity has been established; however, the wider impacts of flooding exposure, including on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), have not been described.

Methods: Using data from the English National Study of Flooding and Health cohort, HRQoL 2 and 3 years post-flooding was assessed with the EuroQol Group EQ-5D-5L tool.

Outbreak of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning associated with consumption of mussels, United Kingdom, May to June 2019.

We report on six cases of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning following consumption of mussels harvested in the United Kingdom. spp. in the water column was found to have increased rapidly at the production site resulting in high levels of okadaic acid-group lipophilic toxins in the flesh of consumed mussels.

Pets, Purity and Pollution: Why Conventional Models of Disease Transmission Do Not Work for Pet Rat Owners.

In the United Kingdom, following the emergence of Seoul hantavirus in pet rat owners in 2012, public health authorities tried to communicate the risk of this zoonotic disease, but had limited success. To explore this lack of engagement with health advice, we conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with pet rat owners and analysed them using a grounded theory approach. The findings from these interviews suggest that rat owners construct their pets as different from wild rats, and by elevating the rat to the status of a pet, the powerful associations that rats have with dirt and disease are removed.

Zoonotic disease risk perceptions in the British veterinary profession.

In human and veterinary medicine, reducing the risk of occupationally-acquired infections relies on effective infection prevention and control practices (IPCs). In veterinary medicine, zoonoses present a risk to practitioners, yet little is known about how these risks are understood and how this translates into health protective behaviour. This study aimed to explore risk perceptions within the British veterinary profession and identify motivators and barriers to compliance with IPCs.

Where are the horses? With the sheep or cows? Uncertain host location, vector-feeding preferences and the risk of African horse sickness transmission in Great Britain.

Understanding the influence of non-susceptible hosts on vector-borne disease transmission is an important epidemiological problem. However, investigation of its impact can be complicated by uncertainty in the location of the hosts. Estimating the risk of transmission of African horse sickness (AHS) in Great Britain (GB), a virus transmitted by Culicoides biting midges, provides an insightful example because: (i) the patterns of risk are expected to be influenced by the presence of non-susceptible vertebrate hosts (cattle and sheep) and (ii) incomplete information on the spatial distribution of horses is available because the GB National Equine Database records owner, rather than horse, locations.

In praise of impurity: 30S ribosomal S15 protein-assisted crystallization of turnip yellow mosaic virus proteinase.

Turnip yellow mosaic virus is an excellent model for eukaryotic positive-stranded RNA virus replication. Correct processing of the replication polyprotein is dependent on the virally encoded cysteine proteinase (PRO) domain. Crystalline needles obtained from highly pure preparations of the recombinant 17.