Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine
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An outbreak of mpox virus (MPV) among humans in the United States (U. S.) was described in May 2022. This outbreak disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic sexual minority men (SMM) and these groups have lower rates of vaccination compared to Whites. ⋯ We administered a quantitative survey to 178 respondents across four vaccinations clinics. We found that study participants had high socioeconomic status, high levels of anticipated MPV stigma, and were relatively skeptic about MPV. We demonstrated how a partnership between an urban nonprofit and government agency can facilitate quick and effective dissemination of a community intervention in a relatively low cost manner.
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National trends in gonorrhea rates may obscure informative local variations in morbidity. We used group-based trajectory models to identify groups of counties with similar gonorrhea rate trajectories among non-Hispanic White (NHW) and non-Hispanic Black (NHB) females using county-level data on gonorrhea cases in US females from 2003 to 2018. We assessed models with 1-15 groups and selected final models based on fit statistics and identification of divergent trajectory groups with distinct intercepts and/or slopes. ⋯ Counties with higher NHB female morbidity were more urban, experienced higher rates of poverty, and had lower rates of marriage among NHB adults. Morbidity patterns did not always follow geographic proximity, which could be explained by variation in social determinants of health. Our results demonstrated a highly heterogenous gonorrhea epidemic among NHW and NHB US females, which should prompt further analysis into the differential drivers of gonorrhea morbidity.
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COVID-19-related health outcomes displayed distinct geographical patterns within countries. The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 requires close spatial proximity of people, which can be influenced by the built environment. Only few studies have analysed SARS-CoV-2 infections related to the built environment within urban areas at a high spatial resolution. ⋯ Residential areas with multi-storey buildings (- 0.03, - 0.12; 0.06) and green space (0.03, - 0.05; 0.11) did not show a substantial association. Our results suggest that the built environment matters for the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections, such as more spacious apartments or higher levels of urban greenness are associated with lower infection rates at the neighbourhood level. The unequal intra-urban distribution of these factors emphasizes prevailing environmental health inequalities regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
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During epidemics, the estimation of the effective reproduction number (ERN) associated with infectious disease is a challenging topic for policy development and medical resource management. The emergence of new viral variants is common in widespread pandemics including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A simple approach is required toward an appropriate and timely policy decision for understanding the potential ERN of new variants is required for policy revision. ⋯ The mobility-adjusted ERN of the Alpha variant was 15-30%, which was 20-40% higher than the original Wuhan strain in Osaka, Aichi, and London. Similarly, the mobility-adjusted ERN of the Delta variant was 20%-40% higher than that of the Wuhan strain in Osaka and Aichi. The proposed metric would be useful for the proper evaluation of the infectivity of different SARS-CoV-2 variants in terms of ERN as well as the design of the forecasting system.