Publications by authors named "Jason Block"

Background: While fatal food-induced anaphylaxis is rare, adolescence is the period of highest risk. However, we lack strong estimates of the incidence of food allergic reactions among adolescents.

Objective: To estimate the incidence of food allergic reactions and anaphylactic reactions among adolescents with food allergy who have a prescription for epinephrine.

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The Zygocotylidae Ward, 1917 is a compact family of amphistome digeneans that until now comprised 2 genera, each represented by a single species: Zygocotyle lunata (Diesing, 1836) Stunkard, 1916 and Wardius zibethicus Barker and East, 1915 in Barker 1915. Despite highly similar morphology, these genera are separated based on the presence (Zygocotyle) or absence (Wardius) of posterolateral projections (=lappets) on the ventral sucker and esophageal bulb. In the present study, we generated partial large ribosomal subunit (28S), internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) rDNA, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) sequences of Z.

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Importance: Taxation of sweetened beverages is a proposed strategy to reduce excess sugar consumption. The association of such taxes with health outcomes is not well studied. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest US city with a beverage tax.

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Background: Sweetened beverage taxes are associated with large decreases in sugar-sweetened beverage sales, but their effects on weight outcomes are unclear. We examined associations of the 2017 Philadelphia beverage tax with changes in adult weight outcomes.

Methods: We obtained electronic health record data on adults 18-65 years old in Philadelphia (intervention) and other areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey (control) from 2014 to 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chain restaurants in the US are promoting healthier and climate-conscious menu options, but research on their actual impact is limited.
  • A study analyzed menu data from 75 large chain restaurants between 2013-2021 to assess the availability and nutritional profiles of meat-based versus meat-free items.
  • While meat-free items generally had lower calories and better nutritional profiles, their availability hasn't significantly increased, indicating minimal progress in reducing climate impact.
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Introduction: The U.S. has required chain food establishments-including supermarkets-to display calorie labels on prepared (i.

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  • * A study found that as age increases, the likelihood of older adults receiving antiviral treatment decreases, with only 35.2% of those aged 90 and above receiving it.
  • * Among patients aged 65 and older, those who did not receive antiviral treatment were more likely to suffer severe outcomes, indicating a need for improved antiviral access for older populations.
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Researchers are often interested in estimating the effect of sustained use of a treatment on a health outcome. However, adherence to strict treatment protocols can be challenging for individuals in practice and, when non-adherence is expected, estimates of the effect of sustained use may not be useful for decision making. As an alternative, more relaxed treatment protocols which allow for periods of time off treatment (i.

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Introduction: Right ventricular dysfunction is associated with mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) but information in veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) settings is limited. Study objectives were to examine factors associated with right ventricular (RV) systolic dysfunction (RVSD) and RV dilation in ECMO patients with ARDS, to compare outcomes in those with and without RVSD and RV dilation defined by qualitative and quantitative parameters, and to describe RVSD evolution during ECMO.

Methods: Retrospective observational study of adult ARDS patients supported with ECMO at a tertiary care hospital.

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Objectives: This study seeks to identify demographic and clinical factors prompting clinician prescribing of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir to pediatric patients for management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection.

Methods: Patients aged 12 to 17 years with a COVID-19 infection and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir prescription during an outpatient clinical encounter within a PEDSnet-affiliated institution between January 2022 and August 2023 were identified using electronic health record data. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir prescription after adjusting for various factors.

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Background: SARS-CoV-2-infected patients may develop new conditions in the period after the acute infection. These conditions, the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC, or Long COVID), involve a diverse set of organ systems. Limited studies have investigated the predictability of Long COVID development and its associated risk factors.

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  • PCORnet is a major research network that standardizes clinical data from various health systems and expanded its infrastructure in 2018 to support public health surveillance of chronic diseases and COVID-19.
  • Enhancements included a new table for patient zip codes and a modular program for generating population health statistics; case studies showed significant findings for conditions like atrial fibrillation and cirrhosis.
  • By August 2023, most PCORnet sites were able to provide detailed patient data, demonstrating its potential to improve public health surveillance with comprehensive data across different health conditions.
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Background: Data modernization efforts to strengthen surveillance capacity could help assess trends in use of preventive services and diagnoses of new chronic disease during the COVID-19 pandemic, which broadly disrupted health care access.

Methods: This cross-sectional study examined electronic health record data from US adults aged 21 to 79 years in a large national research network (PCORnet), to describe use of 8 preventive health services (N = 30,783,825 patients) and new diagnoses of 9 chronic diseases (N = 31,588,222 patients) during 2018 through 2022. Joinpoint regression assessed significant trends, and health debt was calculated comparing 2020 through 2022 volume to prepandemic (2018 and 2019) levels.

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Background: Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed medications, but evidence on comparative weight change for specific first-line treatments is limited.

Objective: To compare weight change across common first-line antidepressant treatments by emulating a target trial.

Design: Observational cohort study over 24 months.

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  • The study investigates how the characteristics and frequency of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC) differ between those infected by the ancestral strain in 2020 and the Delta variant in 2021.
  • It analyzes a significant dataset of around 27 million patients across New York and Florida to assess new health conditions arising 31-180 days post COVID-19 infection.
  • Key findings reveal that during the ancestral strain period, issues like pulmonary fibrosis and dyspnea were prominent, while the Delta variant was mainly associated with an increased risk of pulmonary embolism.
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Background: Guidelines for the use of antihypertensives changed in 2014 and 2017. To understand the effect of these guidelines, we examined trends in antihypertensive prescriptions in the United States from 2010 to 2019 using a repeated cross-sectional design.

Methods And Results: Using electronic health records from 15 health care institutions for adults (20-85 years old) who had ≥1 antihypertensive prescription, we assessed whether (1) prescriptions of beta blockers decreased after the 2014 Eighth Joint National Committee (JNC 8) report discouraged use for first-line treatment, (2) prescriptions for calcium channel blockers and thiazide diuretics increased among Black patients after the JNC 8 report encouraged use as first-line therapy, and (3) prescriptions for dual therapy and fixed-dose combination among patients with blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg increased after recommendations in the 2017 Hypertension Clinical Practice Guidelines.

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Background: An increasing number of studies have described new and persistent symptoms and conditions as potential post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC). However, it remains unclear whether certain symptoms or conditions occur more frequently among persons with SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with those never infected with SARS-CoV-2. We compared the occurrence of specific COVID-associated symptoms and conditions as potential PASC 31- to 150-day following a SARS-CoV-2 test among adults and children with positive and negative test results.

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Purpose Of Review: Public health interventions that intervene on macrolevel systems hold the promise of reducing childhood obesity at the population level through prevention. The purpose of this review is to highlight some of the recent and best scientific evidence related to public health interventions for the prevention of childhood obesity. We provide a narrative review of scientific evidence for six categories of public health interventions and their impact on childhood obesity: federal nutrition assistance programs, programs implemented in early care and education centers, interventions to support healthy nutrition and physical activity in schools, community-based programs and policies, labeling policies and marketing to children, and taxes on sugar sweetened beverages (SSB).

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Introduction: There is an urgent need for scalable strategies for treating overweight and obesity in clinical settings. PROPS 2.0 (Partnerships for Reducing Overweight and Obesity with Patient-Centered Strategies 2.

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The US federal menu labeling law, implemented on May 7 th 2018, required that restaurant chains post calorie counts on menu items. The purpose of this study was to analyze the change in public sentiment, using Twitter data, regarding eight restaurant chains before and after the calorie labeling law's implementation. Twitter data was mined from Twitter's application programming interface (API) for this study from the calendar year 2018; 2016 and was collected as a control.

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Background Hypertension and diabetes are associated with increased COVID-19 severity. The association between level of control of these conditions and COVID-19 severity is less well understood. Methods and Results This retrospective cohort study identified adults with COVID-19, March 2020 to February 2022, in 43 US health systems in the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network.

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Introduction: Calorie labeling of standard menu items has been implemented at large restaurant chains across the U.S. since 2018.

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Healthcare-based interventions to address sugary beverage intake could achieve broad reach, but intensive in-person interventions are unsustainable in clinical settings. Technology-based interventions may provide an alternative, scalable approach. Within an academic health system in the United States that already performs electronic health record-based sugary drink screening, we conducted a pilot randomized trial of a technology-driven family beverage choice intervention.

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Objective: To assess patients' and providers' attitudes about the online weight management program and population health management approach in the PROPS Study, which examined the effectiveness of these strategies in primary care.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 22 patients and nine providers. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed transcripts of the interviews to identify key themes.

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Nutrition policies can work with clinical treatments to address the obesity epidemic. The United States has passed beverage taxes at the local level and calorie labeling mandates at the federal level to encourage healthier consumption. Nutritional changes to federal nutrition programs have been either implemented or suggested; evidence shows that the changes that have been implemented have resulted in improvements in diet quality and are cost-effective in decreasing the increase in obesity prevalence.

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