The incidence of COVID-19-related hospitalisation in migrants in the UK: Findings from the Virus Watch prospective community cohort study.

Background: Migrants in the United Kingdom (UK) may be at higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure; however, little is known about their risk of COVID-19-related hospitalisation during waves 1-3 of the pandemic.

Methods: We analysed secondary care data linked to Virus Watch study data for adults and estimated COVID-19-related hospitalisation incidence rates by migration status. To estimate the total effect of migration status on COVID-19 hospitalisation rates, we ran mixed-effect Poisson regression for wave 1 (01/03/2020-31/08/2020; wildtype), and mixed-effect negative binomial regressions for waves 2 (01/09/2020-31/05/2021; Alpha) and 3 (01/06/2020-31/11/2021; Delta).

SARS-CoV-2 infections in migrants and the role of household overcrowding: a causal mediation analysis of Virus Watch data.

Background: Migrants are over-represented in SARS-CoV-2 infections globally; however, evidence is limited for migrants in England and Wales. Household overcrowding is a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection, with migrants more likely to live in overcrowded households than UK-born individuals. We aimed to estimate the total effect of migration status on SARS-CoV-2 infection and to what extent household overcrowding mediated this effect.

Syndemic health crises-The growing role of National Public Health Institutes in shaping a coordinated response.

Countries across the world are experiencing syndemic health crises where infectious pathogens including COVID-19 interact with epidemics of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Combined with war, environmental instability and the effects of soaring inflation, a public health crisis has emerged requiring an integrated response. Increasingly, national public health institutes (NPHIs) are at the forefront of leading this, as demonstrated at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI).

Experience of homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tower Hamlets, London: a health needs assessment.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people experiencing homelessness in multiple ways. The Everyone In initiative during 2020 was initially transformative in providing short-term accommodation for this group but was accompanied by major disruptions to treatment and support services. Understanding how these changes have affected health needs of people experiencing homelessness in the inner-city London Borough of Tower Hamlets can inform future service commissioning.

Preparation, relationship and reflection: Lessons for international medical electives.

Background: International medical electives (IMEs) provide opportunities for global health education within undergraduate medical curricula; however, ethical and practical preparations vary.

Methods: Single-centre, prospective, mixed-methods study, utilising online questionnaires with students and host supervisors, contemporaneous reflective diaries and focus groups, to explore the preparedness and experiences of final-year UK medical students undertaking IMEs.

Results: Students experienced communication challenges and felt underprepared prior to IME.

Community-acquired Invasive Bacterial Disease in Urban Gambia, 2005-2015: A Hospital-based Surveillance.

Background: Invasive bacterial diseases cause significant disease and death in sub-Saharan Africa. Several are vaccine preventable, although the impact of new vaccines and vaccine policies on disease patterns in these communities is poorly understood owing to limited surveillance data.

Methods: We conducted a hospital-based surveillance of invasive bacterial diseases in The Gambia where blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples of hospitalized participants were processed.

Effects of maternal smoking on offspring reproductive outcomes: an intergenerational study in the North East of Scotland.

Study Question: How does exposure to cigarette smoke influence women's reproductive outcomes?

Summary Answer: Women exposed to cigarette smoke were more likely to have a pregnancy and more likely to experience miscarriage.

What Is Already Known: Existing epidemiological studies have been inconsistent, but generally suggest a small decrease in fertility of women exposed to cigarette smoke .

Study Design Size Duration: This cohort study included all women born prior to 31st December 1972 as recorded in the Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank.

Integrating global health with medical education.

Background: Globalisation has implications for the next generation of doctors, and thus for medical education. Increasingly, global health is being taught in medical schools, although its incorporation into an already full curriculum presents challenges. Global health was introduced into the MBChB curriculum at the University of Aberdeen through a student-selected component (SSC) as part of an existing medical humanities block.