Digital Point Solutions for Extending Contact Tracing Capacity.

Background: Initial COVID-19 surges in the United States created a need for technology to supplement human resources to increase efficiency and efficacy.

Methods: Resolve to Save Lives worked with jurisdictions to co-design four technology solutions-Epi Viaduct data pipeline, Epi Contacts contact elicitation webform, Epi Locator contact information search plugin, and Epi Viewpoint case management system (CMS)-to expand the capacity of case investigation and contact tracing (CI/CT) teams. We assessed impact on reducing CI/CT time intervals for COVID-19 using product data and user feedback.

Family characteristics of female-headed households in Pakistan in the context of health promotion.

Objective of this project is to describe characteristics of Pakistani women household heads and investigate effect differences with men in the context of health behavior. We used 2012 - 13 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey data to conduct secondary data analysis of 10 868 households. In this article, methods that we described household head and household characteristics, and polio vaccination compliance as a proxy for health behavior.

Single and Repeated Use of the Emergency Department for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Care.

Objective: Chlamydia and gonorrhea infection rates are rising in the United States, and the emergency department (ED) is increasingly a site where individuals seek care for these infections, sometimes more than once. This article investigates how individuals who use the ED more than once and receive chlamydia and gonorrhea care differ from individuals who are single users of the ED, as well as characteristics associated with being a repeat user of the ED.

Methods: We analyzed 46,964 visits made by individuals who attended 1 of 4 EDs from January 1, 2010, to May 31, 2016, and received a test for chlamydia and gonorrhea infection.

Presenting to the Emergency Department Versus Clinic-Based Sexually Transmitted Disease Care Locations for Testing for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea: A Spatial Exploration.

Background: Rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including chlamydia and gonorrhea are increasing in the United States while public health funding for STD services is decreasing. Individuals seek care in various locations including the emergency department (ED). The objective of this study is to investigate whether there are more physically proximal clinic-based STD care locations available to individuals who present to the ED in a major metropolitan area.

The influence of race and sex on gonorrhea and chlamydia treatment in the emergency department.

Background: Emergency Departments (EDs) are a care source for patients with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). St. Louis, MO reports among the highest rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia infection.

Uptake of HIV testing during antenatal care in Honduras.

In order to interrupt vertical transmission of HIV, the WHO recommends universal HIV testing during antenatal care (ANC), a policy that has been adopted by the Ministry of Health in Honduras. We examined HIV counseling and testing practices during ANC in the Honduras Demographic and Health Survey to understand compliance with this established standard of care. Among currently married women with a child aged five years or younger who attended ANC, only 66% recalled being offered HIV testing during ANC, yet 95% of those got tested.

Importance of routine public health influenza surveillance: detection of an unusual W-shaped influenza morbidity curve.

Seasonal influenza causes excess morbidity and mortality at the extremes of age: It disproportionately affects the very young and the very old, typically resulting in "U"-shaped age-distributed curves. By means of a well-established public health department surveillance system using positive influenza tests submitted from sentinel sites, the authors generated annual influenza-specific morbidity curves over a 10-year period (1998-2008) for St. Louis County, Missouri.