Annals of epidemiology
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Annals of epidemiology · May 2021
Failure of leadership in U.S. academic medicine after George Floyd's killing by police and amidst subsequent unrest.
The horrific nature of George Floyd's killing by a Minneapolis Police Department officer on May 25, 2020 sparked an enduring stretch of nationwide protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. During periods of crisis, anchor institutions may exert leadership by issuing public statements to communicate shared institutional values, enhance morale, and signal direction in the face of crisis. In our analysis of public statements issued by 56 leading U. ⋯ Far fewer explicitly used terms denoting active support, like "antiracism" or "Black Lives Matter." Only a minority of institutions made reference to the killing of George Floyd by the police, and most failed to address this country's targeted, historically engrained, and sustained oppression of Black people through white supremacy. Thus, there remain significant opportunities for U. S. medical schools to exert meaningful leadership in public health.
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Annals of epidemiology · May 2021
Explosive ordnance disposal personnel in the U.S. military have higher risk of insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder: a large retrospective cohort study.
We examined the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), affective disorders, alcohol/substance-related disorders, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and insomnia, among explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians compared to the general population of active-duty non-EOD personnel in the U.S. military. ⋯ As reliance on EOD forces continues, ongoing vigilance of the stressors, health sequelae and disincentives to access mental health care among this military occupation should be monitored and mitigated wherever possible.
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Annals of epidemiology · Feb 2021
Leveraging epidemiological principles to evaluate Sweden's COVID-19 response.
In the response to COVID-19, countries have implemented response strategies along a continuum of population- and venue-level specificity ranging from suppression to mitigation strategies. Suppression strategies generally include population-wide shelter-in-place mandates or lockdowns, closure of nonessential physical venues, travel bans, testing and contact tracing, and quarantines. Sweden followed a mitigation strategy focused on risk-tailored approaches to mitigate specific acquisition risks among the elderly, minimizing the disruption to education and the delivery of other health care services, and recommendations for social distancing to minimize the disease burden. ⋯ Ultimately, pandemics present no winners. Countries have implemented a range of different COVID-19 prevention and mitigation strategies responsive to their own priorities and legal systems including equity and the balancing of competing health priorities. Given these varied approaches, countries that pursued elimination, suppression, or mitigation strategies can collaboratively learn from both successes and challenges of the different strategies to inform COVID-19 and future pandemic responses.
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Annals of epidemiology · Jan 2021
Estimation of COVID-19 basic reproduction ratio in a large urban jail in the United States.
To estimate the basic reproduction ratio () of SARS-CoV-2 inside a correctional facility early in the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ The high of SARS-CoV-2 in a large urban jail highlights the importance of including correctional facilities in public health strategies for COVID-19. In the absence of more aggressive mitigation strategies, correctional facilities will continue to contribute to community infections.
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Annals of epidemiology · Jan 2021
Regional variation in COVID-19 disparities: connections with immigrant and Latinx communities in U.S. counties.
To evaluate associations between counties' COVID-19 cases and racial-ethnic and nativity composition, considering heterogeneity across Latin American-origin subgroups and regions of the United States. ⋯ Counties with more immigrants, as well as more Central American or Black residents, have more COVID-19 cases. In the Northeast and Midwest, counties with more Puerto Rican residents also have more COVID-19 cases.