Publications by authors named "M A CARTTER"

We assessed the relationship between municipality COVID-19 case rates and SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in the primary sludge of corresponding wastewater treatment facilities. Over 1700 daily primary sludge samples were collected from six wastewater treatment facilities with catchments serving 18 cities and towns in the State of Connecticut, USA. Samples were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations during a 10 month time period that overlapped with October 2020 and winter/spring 2021 COVID-19 outbreaks in each municipality.

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Article Synopsis
  • Close contact between individuals is the main way SARS-CoV-2 spreads, and researchers used mobile geolocation data to analyze this in Connecticut from February 2020 to January 2021.
  • The study measured how often people were within 6 feet of each other and used this information in a SEIR-type model to effectively predict COVID-19 case trends across different towns.
  • Findings showed that contact rates were a better predictor of COVID-19 transmission dynamics than other mobility metrics, indicating that such data can inform social distancing measures and resource distribution for testing.
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Importance: During the 2020-2021 academic year, many institutions of higher education reopened to residential students while pursuing strategies to mitigate the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission on campus. Reopening guidance emphasized polymerase chain reaction or antigen testing for residential students and social distancing measures to reduce the frequency of close interpersonal contact, and Connecticut colleges and universities used a variety of approaches to reopen campuses to residential students.

Objective: To characterize institutional reopening strategies and COVID-19 outcomes in 18 residential college and university campuses across Connecticut.

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The objective of this study was to determine sources of Shiga toxin-producing O157 (STEC O157) infection among visitors to Farm X and develop public health recommendations. A case-control study was conducted. Case-patients were defined as the first ill child (aged <18 years) in the household with laboratory-confirmed STEC O157, or physician-diagnosed hemolytic uremic syndrome with laboratory confirmation by serology, who visited Farm X in the 10 days prior to illness.

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Unlabelled: Close contact between people is the primary route for transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We sought to quantify interpersonal contact at the population-level by using anonymized mobile device geolocation data. We computed the frequency of contact (within six feet) between people in Connecticut during February 2020 - January 2021.

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