A comprehensive analysis of serotype-specific invasive capacity, clinical presentations, and mortality trends of invasive pneumococcal disease.

Background: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) reduced invasive disease, but the overall prevalence of pneumococcal nasopharyngeal colonization among children has not changed significantly. Our knowledge of which serotypes, once colonized, hold a higher likelihood to cause invasive disease is limited.

Methods: Serotype-specific invasive capacity (IC) of Streptococcus pneumoniae was estimated using an enhanced population-based invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) surveillance in children <7 years of age in Massachusetts and surveillance of nasopharyngeal (NP) colonization in selected Massachusetts communities in corresponding respiratory seasons.

Invasive Pneumococcal Disease After 2 Decades of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine Use.

Objectives: We sought to describe the evolving epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) among children in Massachusetts, United States, over the last 2 decades during which sequential 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV7) and 13-valent PCVs (PCV13) were implemented.

Methods: Cases of IPD in children aged <18 years were detected between 2002 and 2021 through an enhanced population-based, statewide surveillance system. Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from normally sterile sites were serotyped and evaluated for antimicrobial susceptibility.

Using digital surveillance tools for near real-time mapping of the risk of infectious disease spread.

Data from digital disease surveillance tools such as ProMED and HealthMap can complement the field surveillance during ongoing outbreaks. Our aim was to investigate the use of data collected through ProMED and HealthMap in real-time outbreak analysis. We developed a flexible statistical model to quantify spatial heterogeneity in the risk of spread of an outbreak and to forecast short term incidence trends.

A SARS-CoV-2 Cluster in an Acute Care Hospital.

Background: Little is known about clusters of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in acute care hospitals.

Objective: To describe the detection, mitigation, and analysis of a large cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections in an acute care hospital with mature infection control policies.

Design: Descriptive study.

Identification of Influenza Cases During the H1N1 Pandemic in Massachusetts Using Population-Based Hospital Discharge Data.

Objectives(1) To characterize the epidemiology of H1N1-related hospitalizations in Massachusetts; and (2) to compare characteristics of those hospitalized during periods of seasonal influenza activity and during the H1N1 pandemic. MethodsAuthors applied maximum and minimum criteria to the Massachusetts Hospital Discharge Database to identify H1N1-related hospitalizations. They constructed annual line graphs describing mean frequencies of influenza-like illness(ILI)-related discharges between 2005-2008, and compared these rates to early waves of H1N1 in 2009.