Social, demographic and behavioural determinants of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case-control study carried out during mass community testing of asymptomatic individuals in South Wales, December 2020.

Between 21 November and 22 December 2020, a SARS-CoV-2 community testing pilot took place in the South Wales Valleys. We conducted a case-control study in adults taking part in the pilot using an anonymous online questionnaire. Social, demographic and behavioural factors were compared in people with a positive lateral flow test (cases) and a sample of negatives (controls).

Risk factors for outbreaks of COVID-19 in care homes following hospital discharge: A national cohort analysis.

Background: The population of adult residential care homes has been shown to have high morbidity and mortality in relation to COVID-19.

Methods: We examined 3115 hospital discharges to a national cohort of 1068 adult care homes and subsequent outbreaks of COVID-19 occurring between 22 February and 27 June 2020. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to assess the impact of time-dependent exposure to hospital discharge on incidence of the first known outbreak, over a window of 7-21 days after discharge, and adjusted for care home characteristics, including size and type of provision.

Outbreak of mumps in a school setting, United Kingdom, 2013.

Effective protection against mumps can be achieved through 2 doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine. However, outbreaks of mumps have recently been described among populations with high vaccination coverage, including 2 doses of MMR. Here we describe an outbreak at a school in the East of England, UK.

Acute hepatitis A in an elderly patient after care worker travel to high endemicity country.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is considered one of the most important vaccine-preventable diseases in travelers. HAV spreads from person to person via the fecal-oral route and gives rise to an estimated 1.4 million cases worldwide each year.

Seasonal influenza risk in hospital healthcare workers is more strongly associated with household than occupational exposures: results from a prospective cohort study in Berlin, Germany, 2006/07.

Background: Influenza immunisation for healthcare workers is encouraged to protect their often vulnerable patients but also due to a perceived higher risk for influenza. We aimed to compare the risk of influenza infection in healthcare workers in acute hospital care with that in non-healthcare workers over the same season.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, multicentre cohort study during the 2006/07 influenza season in Berlin, Germany.

Bacterial populations in the vaginas of healthy adolescent women.

Given that the microbiota of the healthy vagina plays an important role in the maintenance of health, it follows that an understanding of its composition and development may offer insights into the etiology and prevention of disease. In contrast to previous studies, this study exclusively investigated the structure and composition of adolescent vaginal bacterial communities. In this report, the vaginal bacterial communities of 90 menarcheal adolescents, ages 13-18y, were characterized using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLP) of 16S rRNA genes.