Background: COVID-19 screening testing (ST) can detect asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic cases, allowing for prompt identification of cases and close contacts. This study examined parents' and school staffs' knowledge and attitudes toward to a pilot school-based ST program in a school district in southern Arizona.
Methods: In May 2021, online surveys to parents and school staff were administered to examine attitudes toward ST and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unweighted percent estimates were calculated, and bivariate differences were examined by demographics. Associations were assessed using chi-square tests and logistic regression.
Results: The survey had response rates of 10% (606/6085) and 22% (187/849) among parents and staff, respectively. Approximately one-third of responding parents (35%) would or already allow their child to participate in school-based ST, 37% would not participate; 28% were unsure. Among responding staff, 46% would or already participate in ST, 33% would not; 21% were unsure. The top concern (38%) among responding staff was taking job-related leave if testing positive.
Conclusion: Schools work to balance the needs of students, families, and staff by implementing supportive and flexible policies and practices founded on buy-in and acceptance from their communities.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11149053 | PMC |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/josh.13396 | DOI Listing |
Nat Commun
December 2024
State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have proven effective in mRNA delivery, as evidenced by COVID-19 vaccines. Its key ingredient, ionizable lipids, is traditionally optimized by inefficient and costly experimental screening. This study leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual screening to facilitate the rational design of ionizable lipids by predicting two key properties of LNPs, apparent pKa and mRNA delivery efficiency.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Commun
December 2024
Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X5, Canada.
Highly mutable pathogens generate viral diversity that impacts virulence, transmissibility, treatment, and thwarts acquired immunity. We previously described C19-SPAR-Seq, a high-throughput, next-generation sequencing platform to detect SARS-CoV-2 that we here deployed to systematically profile variant dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 for over 3 years in a large, North American urban environment (Toronto, Canada). Sequencing of the ACE2 receptor binding motif and polybasic furin cleavage site of the Spike gene in over 70,000 patients revealed that population sweeps of canonical variants of concern (VOCs) occurred in repeating wavelets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biomol Struct Dyn
February 2025
Department of Physics, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Since the pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported from Wuhan, China, there has been a surge in scientific research to find a permanent cure for the disease. The main challenge in effective drug discovery is the continuously mutating nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, we have used the I-TASSER modeling to predict the structure of the SARS-CoV-2 viral envelope protein followed by combinatorial computational assessment to predict its putative potential small molecule inhibitors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPol J Vet Sci
December 2024
Pasteur Institute of Novi Sad, Hajduk Veljkova 1, 21101 Novi Sad, Serbia.
Constant antigenic changes, new variants and easy transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus should acquire greater zoonotic attention and need to remain alert. In this retrospective study the aim was to analyze seropositivity to SARS-CoV-2 in dogs by commercial ELISA. The Virus neutralization test (VNT) was modified for the purpose of confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in ELISA-positive dog sera.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIran J Parasitol
January 2024
Department of Internal Medicine, Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!