Integrated Surveillance System for Controlling COVID-19 on a University Campus, 2020‒2021.

To minimize the impacts of COVID-19 and to keep campus open, Cornell University's Ithaca, NY, campus implemented a comprehensive process to monitor COVID-19 spread, support prevention practices, and assess early warning indicators linked to knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes of campus community members. The integrated surveillance approach informed leadership and allowed for prompt adjustments to university policies and practices through evidence-based decisions. This approach enhanced healthy behaviors and promoted the well-being and safety of all community members.

Case-control study to identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among university students in the northeastern USA.

Curbing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic requires a thorough understanding of risk factors for transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the etiologic agent. Institutions of higher education present unique challenges for controlling disease spread because of features inherent to these settings. Our objective was to determine risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among a university student population in the northeastern USA during the spring and fall 2021 semesters, using the case-control study design.

School closures during the 2009 influenza pandemic: national and local experiences.

Background: School closure is a non-pharmaceutical intervention that was considered in many national pandemic plans developed prior to the start of the influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic, and received considerable attention during the event. Here, we retrospectively review and compare national and local experiences with school closures in several countries during the A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic. Our intention is not to make a systematic review of country experiences; rather, it is to present the diversity of school closure experiences and provide examples from national and local perspectives.

A qualitative study of pandemic influenza preparedness among small and medium-sized businesses in New York City.

Small businesses need to engage in continuity planning to assure delivery of goods and services and to sustain the economy during an influenza pandemic. This is especially true in New York City, where 98 per cent of businesses have fewer than 100 employees. It was an objective therefore, to determine pandemic influenza business continuity practices and strategies suitable for small and medium-sized NYC businesses.

Public health and environmental response to the first case of naturally acquired inhalational anthrax in the United States in 30 years: infection of a new york city resident who worked with dried animal hides.

In Pennsylvania on February 16, 2006, a New York City resident collapsed with rigors and was hospitalized. On February 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene were notified that Bacillus anthracis had been identified in the patient's blood. Although the patient's history of working with dried animal hides to make African drums indicated the likelihood of a natural exposure to aerosolized anthrax spores, bioterrorism had to be ruled out first.

Pandemic influenza as 21st century urban public health crisis.

The percentage of the world's population living in urban areas will increase from 50% in 2008 to 70% (4.9 billion) in 2025. Crowded urban areas in developing and industrialized countries are uniquely vulnerable to public health crises and face daunting challenges in surveillance, response, and public communication.

Low prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibody in men who have sex with men who do not inject drugs.

Objective: It is well documented that injection drug users (IDUs) have a high prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV). Sexual transmission of HCV can occur, but studies have shown that men who have sex with men (MSM) without a history of injection drug use are not at increased risk for infection. Still, some health-care providers believe that all MSM should be routinely tested for HCV infection.

Does integrating viral hepatitis services into a public STD clinic attract injection drug users for care?

Objective: Injection drug users (IDUs) are at high risk for multiple health problems, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and are likely to have poor access to health care. To more effectively serve high-risk clients, experts recommend that programs accessed by such client populations offer integrated services. In 2000, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene integrated viral hepatitis services (vaccine and screening) into a publicly funded STD clinic.

Predictors of acceptance of hepatitis B vaccination in an urban sexually transmitted diseases clinic.

Background: Individuals who use sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics are at high risk for hepatitis B virus (HBV). While HBV vaccine is frequently offered to clients in this setting, reported vaccination rates are low. More information is needed about HBV vaccine knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavior among high risk populations.

Developing a collaborative community, academic, health department partnership for STD prevention: the Gonorrhea Community Action Project in Harlem.

Community interventions are rare in the field of sexually transmitted disease (STD) control and prevention. The goals of the Gonorrhea Community Action Project are to design and implement interventions for the reduction of gonorrhea in high-prevalence areas and to increase the appropriateness and effectiveness of STD care in the participating formative research and developing the interventions was the creation of a community-academic-health department collaborative partnership. Using a staged model, this article presents a case study of collaboration development in the community of Harlem, New York.

Investigation of bioterrorism-related anthrax, United States, 2001: epidemiologic findings.

In October 2001, the first inhalational anthrax case in the United States since 1976 was identified in a media company worker in Florida. A national investigation was initiated to identify additional cases and determine possible exposures to Bacillus anthracis. Surveillance was enhanced through health-care facilities, laboratories, and other means to identify cases, which were defined as clinically compatible illness with laboratory-confirmed B.

HIV infection in men who have sex with men, New York City Department of Health sexually transmitted disease clinics, 1990-1999: a decade of serosurveillance finds that racial disparities and associations between HIV and gonorrhea persist.

Background: Previous data indicating wide racial disparities in HIV seroprevalence, associations between sentinel sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV infection, and recent reports of STD outbreaks among men who have sex with men (MSM) have raised concerns that HIV may be resurgent among MSM.

Goal: To measure trends in HIV seroprevalence and describe racial disparities among MSM presenting to New York City Department of Health STD clinics, 1990-1999 (n = 4076).

Study Design: This blinded HIV-1 serosurvey used remnant serum originally drawn for routine serologic tests for syphilis.

High HIV seroprevalence associated with gonorrhea: New York City Department of Health, sexually transmitted disease clinics, 1990-1997.

Objective: To measure trends in HIV seroprevalence associated with gonorrhea in patients presenting to New York City Department of Health sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics, 1990-1997 (n = 94 577).

Method: Unlinked HIV-1 serosurvey using remnant serum originally drawn for routine serologic tests for syphilis (STS). Demographic, risk factor, clinical and laboratory data were abstracted from clinic charts.

Transfer of behavioral intervention technology to a sexually transmitted disease clinic.

This article describes the authors' approach to introducing a behavioral counseling intervention into a local health department STD clinic setting. The goal of the intervention was to change the sexual practices of clients with STDs. The project was a collaborative effort with a local health department, school of public health, and a community training organization.

Incident syphilis among women with multiple admissions to jail in New York City.

Although early syphilis morbidity in New York City (NYC) has declined to a record low, syphilis seroreactivity among women jailed in NYC is approximately 25%. By use of a retrospective cohort-type analysis of longitudinal serologic and treatment data collected at the time of each incarceration, the incidence of syphilis infection among 3579 susceptible women jailed multiple times in NYC between 23 March 1993 and 10 April 1997 was estimated. Syphilis incidence densities were estimated by use of continuous, time-homogeneous Markov models.

Partner notification with HIV-infected drug users: results of formative research.

The authors conducted formative research on the use of partner notification with HIV-infected drug users (i.e. those who use/abuse injectable drugs, crack or cocaine) in order to guide the development of an effective intervention for this population in New York City.

Etiology of genital ulcers and prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in 10 US cities. The Genital Ulcer Disease Surveillance Group.

To determine the etiology of genital ulcers and to assess the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in ulcer patients in 10 US cities, ulcer and serum specimens were collected from approximately 50 ulcer patients at a sexually transmitted disease clinic in each city. Ulcer specimens were tested using a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay to detect Haemophilus ducreyi, Treponema pallidum, and herpes simplex virus (HSV); sera were tested for antibody to HIV. H.

Evaluating HIV prevention community planning.

To improve human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention efforts nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has funded HIV Prevention Community Planning, an initiative that promotes parity, representativeness, and inclusion of community and the application of scientific principles for decision making. This initiative was welcomed enthusiastically in New York City, an AIDS epicenter with limited prevention resources. In the first year of implementation, the New York City Department of Health (NYCDOH) supported a comprehensive evaluation of the planning initiative.

Trends in HIV seroprevalence in men who have sex with men: New York City Department of Health sexually transmitted disease clinics, 1988-1993.

Objective: To measure HIV seroprevalence trends in a primarily non-white sample (n = 1618) of men who have sex with men (MSM). The MSM were sampled at New York City Department of Health (NYC-DOH) sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics during 1988-1993.

Design: Unlinked HIV-1 serosurvey using remnant serum originally drawn for routine syphilis screening.

Improved outcomes for patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.

We conducted a retrospective study of patients with culture-confirmed multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center (South Bronx, NY) to determine what factors affected clinical and microbiological responses and survival. For the 38 patients with MDR-TB, reporting of first-line drug susceptibilities was relatively rapid (median time, 30 days). Thirty-four patients (89%) were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and initial and overall response rates were 59% and 50%, respectively; the median survival was 315 days; and 50% of these patients died of tuberculosis.