Publications by authors named "Stephen S Morse"

There has been considerable emphasis recently on the zoonotic origins of emerging infectious diseases in humans, including the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic; however, reverse zoonoses (infections transmitted from humans to other animals) have received less attention despite their potential importance. The effects can be devastating for the infected species and can also result in transmission of the pathogen back to human populations or other animals either in the original form or as a variant. Humans have transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to other animals, and the virus is able to circulate and evolve in those species.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study conducted at a public university in Seattle evaluated the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 antigen-detection rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) in comparison to traditional rRT-PCR testing over a period from February to December 2022.
  • Out of 5,757 participants, those who took 12,674 rRT-PCR tests found 7.9% positive, with Ag-RDTs showing an overall sensitivity of 53% and specificity of 98.8%.
  • The study concluded that Ag-RDT sensitivity improved with sequential testing, particularly after initial negative results, and recommended repeat testing for symptomatic individuals or those at high risk.
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Background: Although there is limited literature on medication adherence (including HIV care engagement) and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in general populations (i.e., non-sexual or gender minority populations), even less is known about whether HIV care engagement correlates with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among sexual and gender minorities, especially those from intersectional backgrounds.

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Introduction During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an unprecedented and forced closure of dental offices worldwide. As American state recommendations differed considerably during this period, this research strives to better define the effects of this pause on dental care.Materials and methods A 16-question Qualtrics survey was sent to the membership of the New York State Dental Association (NYSDA) and Georgia Dental Association (GDA).

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Community-acquired bacterial meningitis (CABM) morbidity and mortality remains high in those infected. Rapid diagnosis and treatment is paramount to reducing mortality and improving outcome. This retrospective cohort study aims to assess the time from presentation to diagnosis and treatment of vaccine preventable CABM as well as identify possible factors associated with delays in diagnosis and antibiotic administration.

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Objectives: Zika virus is linked to several adverse pregnancy outcomes. We assessed whether Zika infection during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of foetal death (miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion) and whether there is incomplete reporting of such deaths.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science and LILACS for studies reporting Zika-affected completed pregnancies (ending in foetal death or live birth), excluding studies whose aim required live birth.

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The global burden of infectious diseases and the increased attention to natural, accidental, and deliberate biological threats has resulted in significant investment in infectious disease research. Translating the results of these studies to inform prevention, detection, and response efforts often can be challenging, especially if prior relationships and communications have not been established with decision-makers. Whatever scientific information is shared with decision-makers before, during, and after public health emergencies is highly dependent on the individuals or organizations who are communicating with policy-makers.

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Background: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in humans in 2012. A systematic literature review was conducted to synthesize current knowledge and identify critical knowledge gaps.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a systematic review on MERS-CoV using PRISMA guidelines.

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We report a platform that increases the sensitivity of high-throughput sequencing for detection and characterization of bacteria, virulence determinants, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. The system uses a probe set comprised of 4.2 million oligonucleotides based on the Pathosystems Resource Integration Center (PATRIC) database, the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD), and the Virulence Factor Database (VFDB), representing 307 bacterial species that include all known human-pathogenic species, known antimicrobial resistance genes, and known virulence factors, respectively.

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Zoonoses originating from wildlife represent a significant threat to global health, security and economic growth, and combatting their emergence is a public health priority. However, our understanding of the mechanisms underlying their emergence remains rudimentary. Here we update a global database of emerging infectious disease (EID) events, create a novel measure of reporting effort, and fit boosted regression tree models to analyze the demographic, environmental and biological correlates of their occurrence.

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Background: There are increasing concerns about our preparedness and timely coordinated response across the globe to cope with emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). This poses practical challenges that require exploiting novel knowledge management approaches effectively.

Objective: This work aims to develop an ontology-driven knowledge management framework that addresses the existing challenges in sharing and reusing public health knowledge.

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Since the emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrom Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) it has become increasingly clear that bats are important reservoirs of CoVs. Despite this, only 6% of all CoV sequences in GenBank are from bats. The remaining 94% largely consist of known pathogens of public health or agricultural significance, indicating that current research effort is heavily biased towards describing known diseases rather than the 'pre-emergent' diversity in bats.

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Rationale: Little is known about the epidemiology of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) or influenza in sub-Saharan Africa. Characterization of influenza transmission dynamics and risk factors for severe disease and mortality is critical to inform prevention and mitigation strategies.

Objectives: To characterize the epidemiology and transmission dynamics of influenza and risk factors for influenza-associated severe respiratory infection in Uganda.

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Objective: To determine rates of reportable bacterial infections among infants in New York City and identify populations at risk and preventable causes of morbidity.

Study Design: This retrospective cohort study matched live births in New York City from 2001-2009 to reported cases of bacterial infections among infants less than 1 year of age. Characteristics recorded on birth certificates were compared between infants with bacterial enteric infection, bacterial nonenteric infection, and no reportable bacterial infection.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how different coping styles affect the likelihood of developing PTSD among individuals exposed to stressful disaster events, particularly federal disaster responders.
  • Data was collected through a web-based survey that included PTSD assessments and coping style questionnaires, with logistic regression models used to analyze the relationships.
  • Findings revealed that avoidant coping was most strongly associated with probable PTSD, while emotion-based coping also contributed to this outcome, highlighting the need for targeted mental health strategies and future research in this area.
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Unlabelled: To investigate the transmission of novel infectious agents by blood transfusion, we studied changes in the virome composition of blood transfusion recipients pre- and posttransfusion. Using this approach, we detected and genetically characterized a novel human virus, human hepegivirus 1 (HHpgV-1), that shares features with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human pegivirus (HPgV; formerly called GB virus C or hepatitis G virus). HCV and HPgV belong to the genera Hepacivirus and Pegivirus of the family Flaviviridae.

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It is currently unclear whether changes in viral communities will ever be predictable. Here we investigate whether viral communities in wildlife are inherently structured (inferring predictability) by looking at whether communities are assembled through deterministic (often predictable) or stochastic (not predictable) processes. We sample macaque faeces across nine sites in Bangladesh and use consensus PCR and sequencing to discover 184 viruses from 14 viral families.

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Zoonotic infections are important sources of human disease; most known emerging infections are zoonotic (e.g., HIV, Ebola virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, Nipah virus, and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli) and originated as natural infections of other species that acquired opportunities to come in contact with humans.

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  • The study aimed to find effective strategies to boost influenza vaccination rates among health care personnel, especially during a pandemic, using participatory action research (PAR) methodology.* -
  • Two PAR teams, comprised of clinical and nonclinical staff, identified barriers and facilitators to vaccination and proposed specific interventions tailored to their work roles.* -
  • The final recommendations included creative and low-cost strategies, with the nonclinical team focusing on dispelling myths about vaccines and the clinical team emphasizing the protection of patients through vaccination.*
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Unlabelled: The majority of emerging zoonoses originate in wildlife, and many are caused by viruses. However, there are no rigorous estimates of total viral diversity (here termed "virodiversity") for any wildlife species, despite the utility of this to future surveillance and control of emerging zoonoses. In this case study, we repeatedly sampled a mammalian wildlife host known to harbor emerging zoonotic pathogens (the Indian Flying Fox, Pteropus giganteus) and used PCR with degenerate viral family-level primers to discover and analyze the occurrence patterns of 55 viruses from nine viral families.

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Background: Information on the rates and factors associated with influenza vaccinations, although limited, is important because it can inform the development of effective vaccination campaigns in a university medical center setting.

Methods: A study was conducted in 2011 to identify individual and organizational level barriers and facilitators to influenza vaccination among clinical and nonclinical personnel (N = 428) from a major university medical center.

Results: Seventy-one percent of clinical personnel (n = 170) reported pandemic H1N1 vaccination compared with 27% of nonclinical personnel (n = 258), even though vaccine was made widely available to all personnel at no cost.

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