Search

Objective: To examine the effects of anti-Asian rhetoric on how patients perceive East/Southeast Asian physicians. This study examines changes in patient satisfaction scores of East/Southeast Asian physicians in a multisite health system following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic., Patients and Methods: We conducted a multisite retrospective study of clinicians from outpatient practices at a single health care system who received patient satisfaction scores via Press Ganey surveys starting 1 year prepandemic (January 1, 2019) through 2 years into the pandemic (December 31, 2021). Press Ganey survey responses use a Likert scale, with calculated top-box percentages, which were stratified by physician race/ethnicity and year of the patient encounter. Comparison between groups was performed using Kruskal-Wallis tests., Results: A total of 2219 physicians were included in this study. Results revealed that East/Southeast Asian physicians did not experience a substantial increase or decrease in patient satisfaction scores relative to White physicians during the first year of the pandemic (2020). The study also revealed an overall increase in patient satisfaction scores for all physicians at Mayo Clinic from 2019 to 2021., Conclusion: These findings contribute to the growing literature on the experience of Asian health care workers in the United States and highlight the need for further investigation into the experiences of physicians of color during the volatility of the pandemic., (Copyright © 2024 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can cause severe illness in adults. However, there is considerable uncertainty in the burden of RSV-associated hospitalizations among adults prior to RSV vaccine introduction., Objective: To describe the demographic characteristics of adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed RSV and to estimate annual rates and numbers of RSV-associated hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and in-hospital deaths., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the RSV Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RSV-NET), a population-based surveillance platform that captures RSV-associated hospitalizations in 58 counties in 12 states, covering approximately 8% of the US population. The study period spanned 7 surveillance seasons from 2016-2017 through 2022-2023. Included cases from RSV-NET were nonpregnant hospitalized adults aged 18 years or older residing in the surveillance catchment area and with a positive RSV test result., Exposure: Laboratory-confirmed RSV-associated hospitalization, defined as a positive RSV test result within 14 days before or during hospitalization., Main Outcomes and Measures: Hospitalization rates per 100 000 adult population, stratified by age group. After adjusting for test sensitivity and undertesting for RSV in adults hospitalized with acute respiratory illnesses, rates were extrapolated to the US population to estimate annual numbers of RSV-associated hospitalizations. Clinical outcome data were used to estimate RSV-associated ICU admissions and in-hospital deaths., Results: From the 2016 to 2017 through the 2022 to 2023 RSV seasons, there were 16 575 RSV-associated hospitalizations in adults (median [IQR] age, 70 [58-81] years; 9641 females [58.2%]). Excluding the 2020 to 2021 and the 2021 to 2022 seasons, when the COVID-19 pandemic affected RSV circulation, hospitalization rates ranged from 48.9 (95% CI, 33.4-91.5) per 100 000 adults in 2016 to 2017 to 76.2 (95% CI, 55.2-122.7) per 100 000 adults in 2017 to 2018. Rates were lowest among adults aged 18 to 49 years (8.6 [95% CI, 5.7-16.8] per 100 000 adults in 2016-2017 to 13.1 [95% CI, 11.0-16.1] per 100 000 adults in 2022-2023) and highest among adults 75 years or older (244.7 [95% CI, 207.9-297.3] per 100 000 adults in 2022-2023 to 411.4 [95% CI, 292.1-695.4] per 100 000 adults in 2017-2018). Annual hospitalization estimates ranged from 123 000 (95% CI, 84 000-230 000) in 2016 to 2017 to 193 000 (95% CI, 140 000-311 000) in 2017 to 2018. Annual ICU admission estimates ranged from 24 400 (95% CI, 16 700-44 800) to 34 900 (95% CI, 25 500-55 600) for the same seasons. Estimated annual in-hospital deaths ranged from 4680 (95% CI, 3570-6820) in 2018 to 2019 to 8620 (95% CI, 6220-14 090) in 2017 to 2018. Adults 75 years or older accounted for 45.6% (range, 43.1%-48.8%) of all RSV-associated hospitalizations, 38.6% (range, 36.7%-41.0%) of all ICU admissions, and 58.7% (range, 51.9%-67.1%) of all in-hospital deaths., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study of adults hospitalized with RSV before the 2023 introduction of RSV vaccines, RSV was associated with substantial burden of hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and in-hospital deaths in adults, with the highest rates occurring in adults 75 years or older. Increasing RSV vaccination of older adults has the potential to reduce associated hospitalizations and severe clinical outcomes.

Despite movements towards gender parity within academia, women faculty continue to be paid less than men. While previous research has explained the gap using academic rank/seniority and productivity, existing findings are limited by either their examination of base pay or reliance on self-reported data. Here we extend the analysis beyond base pay, link faculty salary records of one public university system in the U.S. to the OpenAlex bibliometric database, and separately analyze the gender pay gap in the base (grade) and other pay (off-grade). Using stepwise regression models, we find that faculty rank accounts for a significant gap in the base pay while performance-based variables such as H-index or specialization do not play a crucial role. For other pay, no variables stand out in explaining the substantial pay gap between women and men faculty. Our results suggest that a primary source of the remaining gender pay gap is the off-grade pay. Different policy approaches are required to reduce the gender pay gap depending on the specific type of salary being targeted., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Due to the nursing faculty shortage, expert clinical nurses are working as novice clinical instructors (CIs). Orientation is needed to prepare these nurses to teach; however, lack of evidence-based guidelines for orientation programs can lead to variability among institutions., Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe clinical nursing faculty orientation practices in the United States., Methods: A descriptive convergent mixed methods design was used., Results: One hundred thirteen CIs participated. Of these, 70.8% were not provided with a formal orientation to their role. Duration, modality, and content varied widely among orientations. Four themes were derived from the qualitative data: Administrative Requirements, Transition to Clinical Educator, Mentorship, and Resilience., Conclusions: Clinical faculty orientation practices vary widely in the United States. Evidence-based guidelines are needed to streamline orientations to provide CIs with the requisite knowledge and skills to support clinical students., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest or relevant funding., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Early identification of an acute respiratory infection is important for reducing transmission and enabling earlier therapeutic intervention. We aimed to prospectively evaluate the feasibility of home-based diagnostic self-testing of viral pathogens in individuals prompted to do so on the basis of self-reported symptoms or individual changes in physiological parameters detected via a wearable sensor., Methods: DETECT-AHEAD was a prospective, decentralised, randomised controlled trial carried out in a subpopulation of an existing cohort (DETECT) of individuals enrolled in a digital-only observational study in the USA. Participants aged 18 years or older were randomly assigned (1:1:1) with a block randomisation scheme stratified by under-represented in biomedical research status. All participants were offered a wearable sensor (Fitbit Sense smartwatch). Participants in groups 1 and 2 received an at-home self-test kit (Alveo be.well) for two acute respiratory viral pathogens: SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus. Participants in group 1 could be alerted through the DETECT study app to take the at-home test on the basis of changes in their physiological data (as detected by our algorithm) or due to self-reported symptoms; those in group 2 were prompted via the app to self-test only due to symptoms. Group 3 served as the control group, without alerts or home testing capability. The primary endpoints, assessed on an intention-to-treat basis, were the number of acute respiratory infections presented (self-reported) and diagnosed (electronic health record), and the number of participants using at-home testing in groups 1 and 2. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04336020., Findings: Between Sept 28 and Dec 30, 2021, 450 participants were recruited and randomly assigned to group 1 (n=149), group 2 (n=151), or group 3 (n=150). 179 (40%) participants were male, 264 (59%) were female, and seven (2%) identified as other. 232 (52%) were from populations historically under-represented in biomedical research. 118 (39%) of the 300 participants in groups 1 and 2 were prompted to self-test, with 61 (52%) successfully completing self-testing. Participants were prompted to home-test more frequently due to symptoms (41 [28%] in group 1 and 51 [34%] in group 2) than due to detected physiological changes (26 [17%] in group 1). Significantly more participants in group 1 received alerts to test than did those in group 2 (67 [45%] vs 51 [34%]; p=0·047). Of the 61 individuals who were prompted to test and successfully did so, 19 (31%) tested positive for a viral pathogen-all for SARS-CoV-2. The individuals diagnosed as positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the electronic health record were eight (5%) in group 1, four (3%) in group 2, and two (1%) in group 3, but it was difficult to confirm if they were tied to symptomatic episodes documented in the trial. There were no adverse events., Interpretation: In this direct-to-participant trial, we showed early feasibility of a decentralised programme to prompt individuals to use a viral pathogen diagnostic test based on symptoms tracked in the study app or physiological changes detected using a wearable sensor. Barriers to adequate participation and performance were also identified, which would need to be addressed before large-scale implementation., Funding: Janssen Pharmaceuticals., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests JVi, KH, JVe, MA, LK, JWC, and DT are employed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. JMR was supported by The Rockefeller Foundation and is now employed by Moderna. ER is employed by CareEvolution. KB-M is a consultant for CareEvolution and was on the Heartline Study Executive Committee. SRS is a consultant for PhysIQ and declares payment for being on the Heartline Study Executive Committee. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can cause severe respiratory illness in older adults. Less is known about the cardiac complications of RSV disease compared with those of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 infection., Objective: To describe the prevalence and severity of acute cardiac events during hospitalizations among adults aged 50 years or older with RSV infection., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study analyzed surveillance data from the RSV Hospitalization Surveillance Network, which conducts detailed medical record abstraction among hospitalized patients with RSV infection detected through clinician-directed laboratory testing. Cases of RSV infection in adults aged 50 years or older within 12 states over 5 RSV seasons (annually from 2014-2015 through 2017-2018 and 2022-2023) were examined to estimate the weighted period prevalence and 95% CIs of acute cardiac events., Exposures: Acute cardiac events, identified by International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification or International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification discharge codes, and discharge summary review., Main Outcomes and Measures: Severe disease outcomes, including intensive care unit (ICU) admission, receipt of invasive mechanical ventilation, or in-hospital death. Adjusted risk ratios (ARR) were calculated to compare severe outcomes among patients with and without acute cardiac events., Results: The study included 6248 hospitalized adults (median [IQR] age, 72.7 [63.0-82.3] years; 59.6% female; 56.4% with underlying cardiovascular disease) with laboratory-confirmed RSV infection. The weighted estimated prevalence of experiencing a cardiac event was 22.4% (95% CI, 21.0%-23.7%). The weighted estimated prevalence was 15.8% (95% CI, 14.6%-17.0%) for acute heart failure, 7.5% (95% CI, 6.8%-8.3%) for acute ischemic heart disease, 1.3% (95% CI, 1.0%-1.7%) for hypertensive crisis, 1.1% (95% CI, 0.8%-1.4%) for ventricular tachycardia, and 0.6% (95% CI, 0.4%-0.8%) for cardiogenic shock. Adults with underlying cardiovascular disease had a greater risk of experiencing an acute cardiac event relative to those who did not (33.0% vs 8.5%; ARR, 3.51; 95% CI, 2.85-4.32). Among all hospitalized adults with RSV infection, 18.6% required ICU admission and 4.9% died during hospitalization. Compared with patients without an acute cardiac event, those who experienced an acute cardiac event had a greater risk of ICU admission (25.8% vs 16.5%; ARR, 1.54; 95% CI, 1.23-1.93) and in-hospital death (8.1% vs 4.0%; ARR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.36-2.31)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study over 5 RSV seasons, nearly one-quarter of hospitalized adults aged 50 years or older with RSV infection experienced an acute cardiac event (most frequently acute heart failure), including 1 in 12 adults (8.5%) with no documented underlying cardiovascular disease. The risk of severe outcomes was nearly twice as high in patients with acute cardiac events compared with patients who did not experience an acute cardiac event. These findings clarify the baseline epidemiology of potential cardiac complications of RSV infection prior to RSV vaccine availability.

The exposure patterns of pest control and disinfection workers have changed after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, but the health risks of chemical exposure have not been assessed. We identified these workers' chemical exposure patterns and risks before and after the COVID-19 outbreak. We used data conducted between 2018 (pre-pandemic) and 2021 (post-pandemic) from three-year cross-sectional surveys on pest control and disinfection workers. Inhalation and dermal exposure concentrations were estimated using equations based on a biocidal product risk assessment model from the Korean National Institute of Environmental Research. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of chemicals were calculated using the United States Environmental Protection Agency risk assessment model. We found that the annual work frequency (50 th percentile) of foggers using disinfectants increased the most among all the work types, from 140 uses/year to 176 uses/year after the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, all chemicals' non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks increased regardless of exposure routes. In the worst scenario (95 th percentile), the margin of exposure for citric acid, benzethonium chloride, benzyl-C12-16-alkyldimethyl chlorides, and sodium chlorite of inhalation exposure, and isopropyl alcohol and benzyl-C12-16-alkyldimethyl chlorides of dermal exposure were acceptable (>100) before the COVID-19 outbreak but became unacceptable (<100) after the COVID-19 outbreak. Carcinogenic risks of dichlorvos from inhalation and dermal exposure were above acceptable levels (>10 -6 ) before and after the COVID-19 outbreak but comparatively high after the COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, significantly more workers experienced health symptoms after the COVID-19 outbreak (p<0.05), with the most common being muscle lethargy (31%), skin/face stinging (28.7%), and breath shortness/neck pain (24.1%)., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Purpose: This guideline provides evidence-based recommendations on appropriate indications and techniques for partial breast irradiation (PBI) for patients with early-stage invasive breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ., Methods: ASTRO convened a task force to address 4 key questions focused on the appropriate indications and techniques for PBI as an alternative to whole breast irradiation (WBI) to result in similar rates of ipsilateral breast recurrence (IBR) and toxicity outcomes. Also addressed were aspects related to the technical delivery of PBI, including dose-fractionation regimens, target volumes, and treatment parameters for different PBI techniques. The guideline is based on a systematic review provided by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Recommendations were created using a predefined consensus-building methodology and system for grading evidence quality and recommendation strength., Results: PBI delivered using 3-dimensional conformal radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, multicatheter brachytherapy, and single-entry brachytherapy results in similar IBR as WBI with long-term follow-up. Some patient characteristics and tumor features were underrepresented in the randomized controlled trials, making it difficult to fully define IBR risks for patients with these features. Appropriate dose-fractionation regimens, target volume delineation, and treatment planning parameters for delivery of PBI are outlined. Intraoperative radiation therapy alone is associated with a higher IBR rate compared with WBI. A daily or every-other-day external beam PBI regimen is preferred over twice-daily regimens due to late toxicity concerns., Conclusions: Based on published data, the ASTRO task force has proposed recommendations to inform best clinical practices on the use of PBI., Competing Interests: Disclosures All task force members’ disclosure statements were reviewed before being invited and were shared with other task force members throughout the guideline's development. Those disclosures are published within this guideline. Where potential conflicts were detected, remedial measures to address them were taken. Bethany Anderson: American Board of Radiology (ABR) (board examiner), Brachytherapy Journal (section editor), Clinical Breast Cancer Journal (associate editor), International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (breast section associate editor), School of Breast Oncology (honoraria); Douglas Arthur: Advanced Radiation Therapy (consultant); Jose Bazan: ABR (board examiner), ASTRO VA Breast Panel (honoraria), International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (breast section associate editor), Intraop Medical (institutional research); Jennifer Bellon: American Board of Radiology (ABR) (oral exam chair-ended 8/2023), Leidos Pharmaceutical (honoraria), National Cancer Institute (NCI) (research; BOLD task force on breast cancer co-chair), Oncoclinicas (honoraria), PER (honoraria), Prosigna (research), UpToDate (honoraria), Varian (honoraria); Charlotte Coles: Breast Cancer Now (research), Cancer Research UK (research), Lancet Breast Cancer Commission (chair), National Institutes of Health and Care Research (NIHR) (research; IMPORT LOW trial chief investigator); Naamit Gerber: Accuray (advisory board-ended 10/2023), Invus Group (consultant), John Theurer Cancer Center (consultant), Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine (honoraria-ended 8/2022), PreludeDX (research); Leonard Kim: American Associations of Physicists in Medicine (subcommittee/working group chair), ABR (board examiner), Elekta (MR-Linac Consortium, institutional representative), The Greeley Company (consultant-ended 5/2022); Christine Laronga (Society of Surgical Oncology [SSO]representative): SSO Breast Disease Site (chair), UpToDate (section editor); Janice Lyons (Chair): ABR (board examiner), Primum (consultant); Icro Meattini: Accuray, Eli Lily, Ipsen, Novartis, Pfizer, Seagen (all advisory board); Elizabeth Nichols: ABR (board examiner), Applied Radiation Oncology (editorial board), Xcision (research, co-chair); Lori Pierce (American Society of Clinical Oncology [ASCO] representative): ASCO (board chair), Breast Cancer Research Foundation (advisory board and travel), BMS Foundation DCIDCP National Advisory Committee (advisory board and travel), Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation (board of directors and travel), Exact Sciences (consultant), Michigan Radiation Oncology Quality Consortium (director), PER Educational Symposium (speakers bureau and travel), UpToDate (editor); Matthew Poppe: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (technical expert), Alliance for Breast Clinical Trials in Oncology (vice chair), Alliance for Breast Clinical Trials Local Regional Working Group (chair), Mevion (honoraria and travel-ended 3/2022), NIH (research), NIH/NCI (research-PI), PEEL Therapeutics (stock), UpToDate (editor); Simona Shaitelman (Vice Chair): Alpha Tau Medical (research-ended 2022), Artios Pharma (research-ended 2022), Becton, Dickinson & Co (consultant), Brachytherapy Journal (editorial board), Elekta (MR-Linac Consortium, institutional representative), Emerson Collective Foundation (research), Exact Sciences (research), NIH (research-ended 8/2023), TAE Life Sciences (research); Patti Spears (patient representative): Pfizer (advocate advisory care committee member-ended 12/2022); Shaveta Vinayak (ASCO representative): OncoSec Biotech (research and consultant), Pfizer, Puma Biotech, Seattle Genetics (all research); Timothy Whelan: Exact Sciences (research). Lisa Bradfield and Madeera Kathpal (Guideline Subcommittee representative) reported no disclosures., (Copyright © 2023 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Race-inclusive estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) could contribute to racial disparity in access to kidney transplantation. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) issued a policy allowing waiting time modification for candidates affected by race-inclusive eGFR calculations. Implementation of the new OPTN policy at the kidney transplant program of the Mount Sinai Hospital involved review of 921 African American candidates, of whom 240 (26%) candidates gained a median of 1 year and 10 months. The duration of time candidates gained varied from a minimum of 5 days to a maximum of 12 years and 3 months; 45.4% gained at least 2 years, and 12% gained at least 4 years of wait time. Among those who gained wait time, 20 (8.3%) candidates received deceased donor kidney transplants. Candidates who gained wait time had similar sociodemographic characteristics as those who did not, except that the median age for the former was higher by 3 years (59 vs. 56). Our early data suggest that the current policy on waiting time modification for candidates affected by race-inclusive estimation of GFR has the potential to improve racial disparity in access to kidney transplantation. However, the generalizability of our findings to other centers requires further study., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This work of fiction is part of a case study series developed by the Medical Physics Leadership Academy (MPLA). It is intended to facilitate the discussion of the managerial and leadership challenges faced by a clinical medical physicist. In this case, a physicist David used to work in a clinic where he thrived and felt like a leader, despite not having the title. After a job change, he is now officially the "Lead Physicist" at a hospital newly affiliated with a large academic healthcare system. He believes he will be equally successful. Yet he struggles to bring about changes and get buy-in from coworkers. In the end, he feels like giving up and considers changing his job. This case is in the scenario of Problem Diagnosis. i The intended use of this case, through group discussion or self-study, is to encourage readers to perform a comprehensive analysis that identifies the root cause of the problem. This case study falls under the scope of and is supported by the MPLA, a committee in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

This work of fiction is part of a case study series developed by the Medical Physics Leadership Academy (MPLA). It is intended to facilitate the discussion of how students and advisors can better communicate expectations and navigate difficult conversations. In this case, a fourth-year Ph.D. student Emma learns that her advisor Dr. So is leaving the institution and has not arranged to bring any students with him. As Emma and Dr. So meet to discuss Emma's next steps, the conversation reveals misunderstandings and miscommunications of expectations, including a specific publication requirement for graduation from Dr. So. Having just learned of Dr. So's publication requirement, Emma realizes that graduating before the lab shuts down is not feasible. The intended use of this case, through group discussion or self-study, is to encourage readers to discuss the situation at hand and inspire professionalism and leadership thinking. This case study falls under the scope of and is supported by the MPLA, a committee in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)., (© 2023 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of The American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Optimal cardiovascular health is an essential component of human health and well-being across the life course. Heart healthy practices around diet, physical activity, and sleep early in childhood have the potential to greatly improve lifespan and quality (Mehta et al., 2020). Early childhood routines, defined as functional practices that are predictable and repeatable, predict positive growth and development across the lifecourse (Fiese et al., 2002; Ferretti and Bub, 2017; Spagnola and Fiese, 2007). The American Heart Association has identified key heart healthy routines, such as daily regular activities including diet, physical activity, and sleep that promote cardiovascular health (Lloyd-Jones et al., 2022). Integrating the strength-based relational aspects of routines with the acquisition of cardiovascular health development capabilities allows children to establish their own optimal cardiovascular health trajectory early on. A systematic life course approach to supporting heart healthy routines in early childhood would inform clinical, research, and policy strategies to promote long-term cardiovascular health, and contribute to reducing inequalities in cardiovascular outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Medicare has increased the use of performance pay incentives for hospitals, with the goal of increasing care coordination across providers, reducing market frictions, and ultimately to improve quality of care. This paper provides new empirical evidence by using novel operations and claims data from a large, independent home health care firm with the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) penalty on hospitals providing identifying variation. We find that the penalty incentive to reduce re-hospitalizations passed through from hospitals to the firm for at least some types of patients, since it provided more care inputs for heart disease patients discharged from hospitals at greater penalty risk and that contributed more patients to the firm. This evidence suggests that HRRP helped increase coordination between hospitals and home health firms without formal integration. Greater home health effort does not appear to have led to lower patient readmissions., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Contemporary therapies improve breast cancer (BC) outcomes. Yet, many of these therapies have been increasingly linked with serious cardiotoxicity, including reports of profound hypertension. Yet, the incidence, predictors, and impacts of these events are largely unknown., Methods: Leveraging two large U.S.-based registries, the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) and the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) databases, we assessed the incidence, factors, and outcomes of hypertensive events among BC patients from 2007 to 2015. Differences in baseline characteristics, hypertension-related discharges, and complications were examined over time. Further, we performed a disproportionality analysis using reporting-odds-ratios (ROR) to determine the association between individual BC drugs and hypertensive events. Utilizing an ROR cutoff of >1.0, we quantified associations by drug-class, and individual drugs with the likelihood of excess hypertension., Results: Overall, there were 5,464,401 BC-admissions, of which 46,989 (0.8%) presented with hypertension. Hypertensive BC patients were older, and saw initially increased in-hospital mortality, which equilibrated over time. The mean incidence of hypertension-related admissions was 732 per 100,000 among BC patients, versus 96 per 100,000 among non-cancer patients (RR 7.71, p < 0.001). Moreover, in FAERS, those with hypertension versus other BC-treatment side-effects were more frequently hospitalized (40.1% vs. 36.7%, p < 0.001), and were most commonly associated with chemotherapy (45.9%). Outside of Eribulin (ROR 3.36; 95% CI 1.37-8.22), no specific drug was associated with a higher reporting of hypertension; however, collectively BC drugs were associated with a higher odds of hypertension (ROR 1.66; 95% CI 1.09-2.53)., Conclusions: BC therapies are associated with a substantial increase in limiting hypertension., (© 2022 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) required a sampling methodology that allowed for production of timely population-based clinical estimates to inform the ongoing US COVID-19 pandemic response., Methods: We developed a flexible sampling approach that considered reporting delays, differential hospitalized case burden across surveillance sites, and changing geographic and demographic trends over time. We incorporated weighting methods to adjust for the probability of selection and non-response, and to calibrate the sampled case distribution to the population distribution on demographics. We additionally developed procedures for variance estimation., Results: Between March 2020 and June 2021, 19,293 (10.4%) of all adult hospitalized cases were sampled for chart abstraction. Variance estimates for select variables of interest were within desired ranges., Conclusions: COVID-NET's sampling methodology allowed for reporting of robust and timely, population-based data on the clinical epidemiology of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations and evolving trends over time, while attempting to reduce data collection burden on surveillance sites. Such methods may provide a general framework for other surveillance systems needing to quickly and efficiently collect and disseminate data for public health action., (© 2023 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.)

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause severe disease in adults with cardiopulmonary conditions, such as congestive heart failure (CHF). We quantified the rate of RSV-associated hospitalization in adults by CHF status using population-based surveillance in the United States., Methods: Population-based surveillance for RSV (RSV-NET) was performed in 35 counties in seven sites during two respiratory seasons (2015-2017) from October 1-April 30. Adults (≥18 years) admitted to a hospital within the surveillance catchment area with laboratory-confirmed RSV identified by clinician-directed testing were included. Presence of underlying CHF was determined by medical chart abstraction. We calculated overall and age-stratified (<65 years and ≥65 years) RSV-associated hospitalization rates by CHF status. Estimates were adjusted for age and the under-detection of RSV. We also report rate differences (RD) and rate ratios (RR) by comparing the rates for those with and without CHF., Results: 2042 hospitalized RSV cases with CHF status recorded were identified. Most (60.2%, n = 1230) were ≥65 years, and 28.3% (n = 577) had CHF. The adjusted RSV hospitalization rate was 26.7 (95% CI: 22.2, 31.8) per 10,000 population in adults with CHF versus 3.3 (95% CI: 3.3, 3.3) per 10,000 in adults without CHF (RR: 8.1, 95% CI: 6.8, 9.7; RD: 23.4, 95% CI: 18.9, 28.5). Adults with CHF had higher rates of RSV-associated hospitalization in both age groups (<65 years and ≥65 years). Adults ≥65 years with CHF had the highest rate (40.5 per 10,000 population, 95% CI: 35.1, 46.6)., Conclusions: Adults with CHF had 8 times the rate of RSV-associated hospitalization compared with adults without CHF. Identifying high-risk populations for RSV infection can inform future RSV vaccination policies and recommendations., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: Evan Anderson reports personal fees from AbbVie, Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur, and grants from MedImmune, Regeneron, PaxVax, Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Novavax, Sanofi Pasteur, Micron, and Janssen, outside the submitted work. He also serves on the data safety monitoring committee for Kentucky Bioscience. Stephanie Kujawski is currently an employee of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc, Kenilworth, NJ, USA, and may own stock or hold stock options in the Company.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial morbidity and mortality., Objective: To describe monthly clinical trends among adults hospitalized with COVID-19., Design: Pooled cross-sectional study., Setting: 99 counties in 14 states participating in the Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET)., Patients: U.S. adults (aged ≥18 years) hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 during 1 March to 31 December 2020., Measurements: Monthly hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and in-hospital death rates per 100 000 persons in the population; monthly trends in weighted percentages of interventions, including ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and vasopressor use, among an age- and site-stratified random sample of hospitalized case patients., Results: Among 116 743 hospitalized adults with COVID-19, the median age was 62 years, 50.7% were male, and 40.8% were non-Hispanic White. Monthly rates of hospitalization (105.3 per 100 000 persons), ICU admission (20.2 per 100 000 persons), and death (11.7 per 100 000 persons) peaked during December 2020. Rates of all 3 outcomes were highest among adults aged 65 years or older, males, and Hispanic or non-Hispanic Black persons. Among 18 508 sampled hospitalized adults, use of remdesivir and systemic corticosteroids increased from 1.7% and 18.9%, respectively, in March to 53.8% and 74.2%, respectively, in December. Frequency of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and vasopressor use decreased from March (37.8%, 27.8%, and 22.7%, respectively) to December (20.5%, 12.3%, and 12.8%, respectively); use of noninvasive respiratory support increased from March to December., Limitation: COVID-NET covers approximately 10% of the U.S. population; findings may not be generalizable to the entire country., Conclusion: Rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalization, ICU admission, and death were highest in December 2020, corresponding with the third peak of the U.S. pandemic. The frequency of intensive interventions for management of hospitalized patients decreased over time. These data provide a longitudinal assessment of clinical trends among adults hospitalized with COVID-19 before widespread implementation of COVID-19 vaccines., Primary Funding Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Importance: Racial and ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19., Objectives: To evaluate whether rates of severe COVID-19, defined as hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, or in-hospital death, are higher among racial and ethnic minority groups compared with non-Hispanic White persons., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study included 99 counties within 14 US states participating in the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network. Participants were persons of all ages hospitalized with COVID-19 from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021., Exposures: Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalization, defined as a positive SARS-CoV-2 test within 14 days prior to or during hospitalization., Main Outcomes and Measures: Cumulative age-adjusted rates (per 100 000 population) of hospitalization, ICU admission, and death by race and ethnicity. Rate ratios (RR) were calculated for each racial and ethnic group compared with White persons., Results: Among 153 692 patients with COVID-19-associated hospitalizations, 143 342 (93.3%) with information on race and ethnicity were included in the analysis. Of these, 105 421 (73.5%) were 50 years or older, 72 159 (50.3%) were male, 28 762 (20.1%) were Hispanic or Latino, 2056 (1.4%) were non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, 7737 (5.4%) were non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander, 40 806 (28.5%) were non-Hispanic Black, and 63 981 (44.6%) were White. Compared with White persons, American Indian or Alaska Native, Latino, Black, and Asian or Pacific Islander persons were more likely to have higher cumulative age-adjusted rates of hospitalization, ICU admission, and death as follows: American Indian or Alaska Native (hospitalization: RR, 3.70; 95% CI, 3.54-3.87; ICU admission: RR, 6.49; 95% CI, 6.01-7.01; death: RR, 7.19; 95% CI, 6.47-7.99); Latino (hospitalization: RR, 3.06; 95% CI, 3.01-3.10; ICU admission: RR, 4.20; 95% CI, 4.08-4.33; death: RR, 3.85; 95% CI, 3.68-4.01); Black (hospitalization: RR, 2.85; 95% CI, 2.81-2.89; ICU admission: RR, 3.17; 95% CI, 3.09-3.26; death: RR, 2.58; 95% CI, 2.48-2.69); and Asian or Pacific Islander (hospitalization: RR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.06; ICU admission: RR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.83-1.98; death: RR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.55-1.74)., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional analysis, American Indian or Alaska Native, Latino, Black, and Asian or Pacific Islander persons were more likely than White persons to have a COVID-19-associated hospitalization, ICU admission, or in-hospital death during the first year of the US COVID-19 pandemic. Equitable access to COVID-19 preventive measures, including vaccination, is needed to minimize the gap in racial and ethnic disparities of severe COVID-19.

Objectives: Some studies suggested more COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among racial and ethnic minorities. To inform public health practice, the COVID-19-associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) quantified associations between race/ethnicity, census tract socioeconomic indicators, and COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates., Methods: Using data from COVID-NET population-based surveillance reported during March 1-April 30, 2020 along with socioeconomic and denominator data from the US Census Bureau, we calculated COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates by racial/ethnic and census tract-level socioeconomic strata., Results: Among 16,000 COVID-19-associated hospitalizations, 34.8% occurred among non-Hispanic White (White) persons, 36.3% among non-Hispanic Black (Black) persons, and 18.2% among Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) persons. Age-adjusted COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate were 151.6 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 147.1-156.1) in census tracts with >15.2%-83.2% of persons living below the federal poverty level (high-poverty census tracts) and 75.5 (95% CI: 72.9-78.1) in census tracts with 0%-4.9% of persons living below the federal poverty level (low-poverty census tracts). Among White, Black, and Hispanic persons living in high-poverty census tracts, age-adjusted hospitalization rates were 120.3 (95% CI: 112.3-128.2), 252.2 (95% CI: 241.4-263.0), and 341.1 (95% CI: 317.3-365.0), respectively, compared with 58.2 (95% CI: 55.4-61.1), 304.0 (95%: 282.4-325.6), and 540.3 (95% CI: 477.0-603.6), respectively, in low-poverty census tracts., Conclusions: Overall, COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates were highest in high-poverty census tracts, but rates among Black and Hispanic persons were high regardless of poverty level. Public health practitioners must ensure mitigation measures and vaccination campaigns address needs of racial/ethnic minority groups and people living in high-poverty census tracts., Competing Interests: Dr. Anderson reports consulting for AbbVie, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Pasteur and clinical trials research funding from MedImmune, Regeneron, PaxVax, Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Novavax, Sanofi Pasteur, Micron, and Janssen. He also works on a safety monitoring board for Kentucky Bioprocessing, Inc. All are outside of the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported. Nonetheless, this does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

People experiencing homelessness (PEH) are at higher risk for chronic health conditions, but clinical characteristics and outcomes for PEH hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are not known. We analyzed population-based surveillance data of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations during 1 March to 31 May 2020. Two percent of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 for whom a housing status was recorded were homeless. Of 199 cases in the analytic sample, most were of racial/ethnic minority groups and had underlying health conditions. Clinical outcomes such as ICU admission, respiratory support including mechanical ventilation, and deaths were documented. Hispanic and non-Hispanic black persons accounted for most mechanical ventilation and deaths. Severe illness was common among persons experiencing homelessness who were hospitalized with COVID-19., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2021.)

This work of fiction re-enacts a scenario in which a medical physics resident was not able to address a physics call during patient simulation and was criticized by the supervising faculty physicist in front of the team and the patient. The resident and the faculty agreed to meet afterwards to debrief the situation, in the hope of establishing a better working relationship. The intended use of this case, through group discussion, self-study, or role-play, is to encourage readers to discuss the situation at hand, inspire professionalism and leadership thinking, and allow the practice of conflict management. Facilitator's notes are available upon request to the MPLA Cases Subcommittee. This case study falls under the scope of and is supported by the Medical Physics Leadership Academy (MPLA), a committee in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)., (© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.)

Background: In the United States, laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is nationally notifiable. However, reported case counts are recognized to be less than the true number of cases because detection and reporting are incomplete and can vary by disease severity, geography, and over time., Methods: To estimate the cumulative incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections, symptomatic illnesses, and hospitalizations, we adapted a simple probabilistic multiplier model. Laboratory-confirmed case counts that were reported nationally were adjusted for sources of underdetection based on testing practices in inpatient and outpatient settings and assay sensitivity., Results: We estimated that through the end of September, 1 of every 2.5 (95% uncertainty interval [UI]: 2.0-3.1) hospitalized infections and 1 of every 7.1 (95% UI: 5.8-9.0) nonhospitalized illnesses may have been nationally reported. Applying these multipliers to reported SARS-CoV-2 cases along with data on the prevalence of asymptomatic infection from published systematic reviews, we estimate that 2.4 million hospitalizations, 44.8 million symptomatic illnesses, and 52.9 million total infections may have occurred in the US population from 27 February-30 September 2020., Conclusions: These preliminary estimates help demonstrate the societal and healthcare burdens of the COVID-19 pandemic and can help inform resource allocation and mitigation planning., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2020.)

Background: Data on risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated hospitalization are needed to guide prevention efforts and clinical care. We sought to identify factors independently associated with COVID-19-associated hospitalizations., Methods: Community-dwelling adults (aged ≥18 years) in the United States hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 during 1 March-23 June 2020 were identified from the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET), a multistate surveillance system. To calculate hospitalization rates by age, sex, and race/ethnicity strata, COVID-NET data served as the numerator and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System estimates served as the population denominator for characteristics of interest. Underlying medical conditions examined included hypertension, coronary artery disease, history of stroke, diabetes, obesity, severe obesity, chronic kidney disease, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Generalized Poisson regression models were used to calculate adjusted rate ratios (aRRs) for hospitalization., Results: Among 5416 adults, hospitalization rates (all reported as aRR [95% confidence interval]) were higher among those with ≥3 underlying conditions (vs without) (5.0 [3.9-6.3]), severe obesity (4.4 [3.4-5.7]), chronic kidney disease (4.0 [3.0-5.2]), diabetes (3.2 [2.5-4.1]), obesity (2.9 [2.3-3.5]), hypertension (2.8 [2.3-3.4]), and asthma (1.4 [1.1-1.7]), after adjusting for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Adjusting for the presence of an individual underlying medical condition, higher hospitalization rates were observed for adults aged ≥65 or 45-64 years (vs 18-44 years), males (vs females), and non-Hispanic black and other race/ethnicities (vs non-Hispanic whites)., Conclusions: Our findings elucidate groups with higher hospitalization risk that may benefit from targeted preventive and therapeutic interventions., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2020.)

Background: Currently, the United States has the largest number of reported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and deaths globally. Using a geographically diverse surveillance network, we describe risk factors for severe outcomes among adults hospitalized with COVID-19., Methods: We analyzed data from 2491 adults hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 between 1 March-2 May 2020, as identified through the Coronavirus Disease 2019-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network, which comprises 154 acute-care hospitals in 74 counties in 13 states. We used multivariable analyses to assess associations between age, sex, race and ethnicity, and underlying conditions with intensive care unit (ICU) admission and in-hospital mortality., Results: The data show that 92% of patients had ≥1 underlying condition; 32% required ICU admission; 19% required invasive mechanical ventilation; and 17% died. Independent factors associated with ICU admission included ages 50-64, 65-74, 75-84, and ≥85 years versus 18-39 years (adjusted risk ratios [aRRs], 1.53, 1.65, 1.84, and 1.43, respectively); male sex (aRR, 1.34); obesity (aRR, 1.31); immunosuppression (aRR, 1.29); and diabetes (aRR, 1.13). Independent factors associated with in-hospital mortality included ages 50-64, 65-74, 75-84, and ≥ 85 years versus 18-39 years (aRRs, 3.11, 5.77, 7.67, and 10.98, respectively); male sex (aRR, 1.30); immunosuppression (aRR, 1.39); renal disease (aRR, 1.33); chronic lung disease (aRR 1.31); cardiovascular disease (aRR, 1.28); neurologic disorders (aRR, 1.25); and diabetes (aRR, 1.19)., Conclusions: In-hospital mortality increased markedly with increasing age. Aggressive implementation of prevention strategies, including social distancing and rigorous hand hygiene, may benefit the population as a whole, as well as those at highest risk for COVID-19-related complications., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2020.)

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection causes substantial morbidity and mortality in children and adults. Socioeconomic status (SES) is known to influence many health outcomes, but there have been few studies of the relationship between RSV-associated illness and SES, particularly in adults. Understanding this association is important in order to identify and address disparities and to prioritize resources for prevention., Methods: Adults hospitalized with a laboratory-confirmed RSV infection were identified through population-based surveillance at multiple sites in the U.S. The incidence of RSV-associated hospitalizations was calculated by census-tract (CT) poverty and crowding, adjusted for age. Log binomial regression was used to evaluate the association between Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission or death and CT poverty and crowding., Results: Among the 1713 cases, RSV-associated hospitalization correlated with increased CT level poverty and crowding. The incidence rate of RSV-associated hospitalization was 2.58 (CI 2.23, 2.98) times higher in CTs with the highest as compared to the lowest percentages of individuals living below the poverty level (≥ 20 and < 5%, respectively). The incidence rate of RSV-associated hospitalization was 1.52 (CI 1.33, 1.73) times higher in CTs with the highest as compared to the lowest levels of crowding (≥5 and < 1% of households with > 1 occupant/room, respectively). Neither CT level poverty nor crowding had a correlation with ICU admission or death., Conclusions: Poverty and crowding at CT level were associated with increased incidence of RSV-associated hospitalization, but not with more severe RSV disease. Efforts to reduce the incidence of RSV disease should consider SES.

Among 513 adults aged 18-49 years without underlying medical conditions hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during March 2020-August 2020, 22% were admitted to an intensive care unit, 10% required mechanical ventilation, and 3 patients died (0.6%). These data demonstrate that healthy younger adults can develop severe COVID-19., (Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2020.)

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is transmitted predominantly by respiratory droplets generated when infected persons cough, sneeze, spit, sing, talk, or breathe. CDC recommends community use of face masks to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 (1). As of October 22, 2020, statewide mask mandates were in effect in 33 states and the District of Columbia (2). This study examined whether implementation of statewide mask mandates was associated with COVID-19-associated hospitalization growth rates among different age groups in 10 sites participating in the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) in states that issued statewide mask mandates during March 1-October 17, 2020. Regression analysis demonstrated that weekly hospitalization growth rates declined by 2.9 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.3-5.5) among adults aged 40-64 years during the first 2 weeks after implementing statewide mask mandates. After mask mandates had been implemented for ≥3 weeks, hospitalization growth rates declined by 5.5 percentage points among persons aged 18-39 years (95% CI = 0.6-10.4) and those aged 40-64 years (95% CI = 0.8-10.2). Statewide mask mandates might be associated with reductions in SARS-CoV-2 transmission and might contribute to reductions in COVID-19 hospitalization growth rates, compared with growth rates during <4 weeks before implementation of the mandate and the implementation week. Mask-wearing is a component of a multipronged strategy to decrease exposure to and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and reduce strain on the health care system, with likely direct effects on COVID-19 morbidity and associated mortality., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Background: COVID-19 has disproportionately affected older adults and certain racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Data quantifying the disease burden, as well as describing clinical outcomes during hospitalization among these groups, are needed., Objective: We aimed to describe interim COVID-19 hospitalization rates and severe clinical outcomes by age group and race and ethnicity among US veterans by using a multisite surveillance network., Methods: We implemented a multisite COVID-19 surveillance platform in 5 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers located in Atlanta, Bronx, Houston, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles, collectively serving more than 396,000 patients annually. From February 27 to July 17, 2020, we actively identified inpatient cases with COVID-19 by screening admitted patients and reviewing their laboratory test results. We then manually abstracted the patients' medical charts for demographics, underlying medical conditions, and clinical outcomes. Furthermore, we calculated hospitalization incidence and incidence rate ratios, as well as relative risk for invasive mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit admission, and case fatality rate after adjusting for age, race and ethnicity, and underlying medical conditions., Results: We identified 621 laboratory-confirmed, hospitalized COVID-19 cases. The median age of the patients was 70 years, with 65.7% (408/621) aged ≥65 years and 94% (584/621) male. Most COVID-19 diagnoses were among non-Hispanic Black (325/621, 52.3%) veterans, followed by non-Hispanic White (153/621, 24.6%) and Hispanic or Latino (112/621, 18%) veterans. Hospitalization rates were the highest among veterans who were ≥85 years old, Hispanic or Latino, and non-Hispanic Black (430, 317, and 298 per 100,000, respectively). Veterans aged ≥85 years had a 14-fold increased rate of hospitalization compared with those aged 18-29 years (95% CI: 5.7-34.6), whereas Hispanic or Latino and Black veterans had a 4.6- and 4.2-fold increased rate of hospitalization, respectively, compared with non-Hispanic White veterans (95% CI: 3.6-5.9). Overall, 11.6% (72/621) of the patients required invasive mechanical ventilation, 26.6% (165/621) were admitted to the intensive care unit, and 16.9% (105/621) died in the hospital. The adjusted relative risk for invasive mechanical ventilation and admission to the intensive care unit did not differ by age group or race and ethnicity, but veterans aged ≥65 years had a 4.5-fold increased risk of death while hospitalized with COVID-19 compared with those aged <65 years (95% CI: 2.4-8.6)., Conclusions: COVID-19 surveillance at the 5 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers across the United States demonstrated higher hospitalization rates and severe outcomes among older veterans, as well as higher hospitalization rates among Hispanic or Latino and non-Hispanic Black veterans than among non-Hispanic White veterans. These findings highlight the need for targeted prevention and timely treatment for veterans, with special attention to older aged, Hispanic or Latino, and non-Hispanic Black veterans., (©Cristina V Cardemil, Rebecca Dahl, Mila M Prill, Jordan Cates, Sheldon Brown, Adrienne Perea, Vincent Marconi, LaSara Bell, Maria C Rodriguez-Barradas, Gilberto Rivera-Dominguez, David Beenhouwer, Aleksandra Poteshkina, Mark Holodniy, Cynthia Lucero-Obusan, Neha Balachandran, Aron J Hall, Lindsay Kim, Gayle Langley. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 22.01.2021.)

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of hospitalizations in young children. We estimated the burden of community-onset RSV-associated hospitalizations among US children aged <2 years by extrapolating rates of RSV-confirmed hospitalizations in 4 surveillance states and using probabilistic multipliers to adjust for ascertainment biases., Methods: From October 2014 through April 2015, clinician-ordered RSV tests identified laboratory-confirmed RSV hospitalizations among children aged <2 years at 4 influenza hospitalization surveillance network sites. Surveillance populations were used to estimate age-specific rates of RSV-associated hospitalization, after adjusting for detection probabilities. We extrapolated these rates using US census data., Results: We identified 1554 RSV-associated hospitalizations in children aged <2 years. Of these, 27% were admitted to an intensive care unit, 6% needed mechanical ventilation, and 5 died. Most cases (1047/1554; 67%) had no underlying condition. Adjusted age-specific RSV hospitalization rates per 100 000 population were 1970 (95% confidence interval [CI],1787 to 2177), 897 (95% CI, 761 to 1073), 531 (95% CI, 459 to 624), and 358 (95% CI, 317 to 405) for ages 0-2, 3-5, 6-11, and 12-23 months, respectively. Extrapolating to the US population, an estimated 49 509-59 867 community-onset RSV-associated hospitalizations among children aged <2 years occurred during the 2014-2015 season., Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of RSV as a cause of hospitalization, especially among children aged <2 months. Our approach to estimating RSV-related hospitalizations could be used to provide a US baseline for assessing the impact of future interventions., (Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 2019.)

Health care personnel (HCP) can be exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), both within and outside the workplace, increasing their risk for infection. Among 6,760 adults hospitalized during March 1-May 31, 2020, for whom HCP status was determined by the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET), 5.9% were HCP. Nursing-related occupations (36.3%) represented the largest proportion of HCP hospitalized with COVID-19. Median age of hospitalized HCP was 49 years, and 89.8% had at least one underlying medical condition, of which obesity was most commonly reported (72.5%). A substantial proportion of HCP with COVID-19 had indicators of severe disease: 27.5% were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), 15.8% required invasive mechanical ventilation, and 4.2% died during hospitalization. HCP can have severe COVID-19-associated illness, highlighting the need for continued infection prevention and control in health care settings as well as community mitigation efforts to reduce transmission., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Evan J. Anderson reports personal fees from AbbVie, Kentucky BioProcessing, Inc., Pfizer, and Sanofi Pasteur, grants from MedImmune, Regeneron, PaxVax, Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Novavax, Sanofi Pasteur, Micron, and Janssen, outside the submitted work; William Schaffner reports personal fees from VBI Vaccines outside the submitted work. No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Pregnant women might be at increased risk for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (1,2). The COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) (3) collects data on hospitalized pregnant women with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19; to date, such data have been limited. During March 1-August 22, 2020, approximately one in four hospitalized women aged 15-49 years with COVID-19 was pregnant. Among 598 hospitalized pregnant women with COVID-19, 54.5% were asymptomatic at admission. Among 272 pregnant women with COVID-19 who were symptomatic at hospital admission, 16.2% were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU), and 8.5% required invasive mechanical ventilation. During COVID-19-associated hospitalizations, 448 of 458 (97.8%) completed pregnancies resulted in a live birth and 10 (2.2%) resulted in a pregnancy loss. Testing policies based on the presence of symptoms might miss COVID-19 infections during pregnancy. Surveillance of pregnant women with COVID-19, including those with asymptomatic infections, is important to understand the short- and long-term consequences of COVID-19 for mothers and newborns. Identifying COVID-19 in women during birth hospitalizations is important to guide preventive measures to protect pregnant women, parents, newborns, other patients, and hospital personnel. Pregnant women and health care providers should be made aware of the potential risks for severe COVID-19 illness, adverse pregnancy outcomes, and ways to prevent infection., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Evan J. Anderson reports grants from MedImmune, Regeneron, PaxVax, Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Novavax, Sanofi-Pasteur, Micron, and Janssen, and personal fees from AbbVie, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur and Kentucky BioProcessing, Inc. outside the submitted work. William Schaffner reports personal fees from VBI Vaccines, outside the submitted work. No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Most reported cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children aged <18 years appear to be asymptomatic or mild (1). Less is known about severe COVID-19 illness requiring hospitalization in children. During March 1-July 25, 2020, 576 pediatric COVID-19 cases were reported to the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET), a population-based surveillance system that collects data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in 14 states (2,3). Based on these data, the cumulative COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate among children aged <18 years during March 1-July 25, 2020, was 8.0 per 100,000 population, with the highest rate among children aged <2 years (24.8). During March 21-July 25, weekly hospitalization rates steadily increased among children (from 0.1 to 0.4 per 100,000, with a weekly high of 0.7 per 100,000). Overall, Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) and non-Hispanic black (black) children had higher cumulative rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations (16.4 and 10.5 per 100,000, respectively) than did non-Hispanic white (white) children (2.1). Among 208 (36.1%) hospitalized children with complete medical chart reviews, 69 (33.2%) were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU); 12 of 207 (5.8%) required invasive mechanical ventilation, and one patient died during hospitalization. Although the cumulative rate of pediatric COVID-19-associated hospitalization remains low (8.0 per 100,000 population) compared with that among adults (164.5),* weekly rates increased during the surveillance period, and one in three hospitalized children were admitted to the ICU, similar to the proportion among adults. Continued tracking of SARS-CoV-2 infections among children is important to characterize morbidity and mortality. Reinforcement of prevention efforts is essential in congregate settings that serve children, including childcare centers and schools., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Evan Anderson reports personal fees from AbbVie, Pfizer and Sanofi Pasteur, and grants from MedImmune, Regeneron, PaxVax, Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Novavax, Sanofi Pasteur, Micron, and Janssen, outside the submitted work. William Schaffner reports personal fees from Pfizer and VBI Vaccines outside the submitted work. No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Though overall death from opioid overdose are increasing in the United States, the death rate in some states and population groups is stabilizing or even decreasing. Several states have enacted a Naloxone Accessibility Laws to increase naloxone availability as an opioid antidote. The extent to which these laws permit layperson distribution and possession varies. The aim of this study is to investigate differences in provisions of Naloxone Accessibility Laws by states mainly in the Northeast and West regions, and the impact of naloxone availability on the rates of drug overdose deaths.This cross-sectional study was based on the National Vital Statistics System multiple cause-of-death mortality files. The average changes in drug overdose death rates between 2013 and 2017 in relevant states of the Northeast and West regions were compared according to availability of naloxone to laypersons.Seven states in the Northeast region and 10 states in the Western region allowed layperson distribution of naloxone. Layperson possession of naloxone was allowed in 3 states each in the Northeast and the Western regions. The average drug overdose death rates increased in many states in the both regions regardless of legalization of layperson naloxone distribution. The average death rates of 3 states that legalized layperson possession in the West region decreased (-0.33 per 100,000 person); however, in states in the West region that did not allow layperson possession and states in the Northeast region regardless of layperson possession increased between 2013 and 2017.The provision to legalize layperson possession of naloxone was associated with decreased average opioid overdose death rates in 3 states of the West region.

Since SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), was first detected in December 2019 (1), approximately 1.3 million cases have been reported worldwide (2), including approximately 330,000 in the United States (3). To conduct population-based surveillance for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-associated hospitalizations in the United States, the COVID-19-Associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) was created using the existing infrastructure of the Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET) (4) and the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RSV-NET). This report presents age-stratified COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates for patients admitted during March 1-28, 2020, and clinical data on patients admitted during March 1-30, 2020, the first month of U.S. surveillance. Among 1,482 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 74.5% were aged ≥50 years, and 54.4% were male. The hospitalization rate among patients identified through COVID-NET during this 4-week period was 4.6 per 100,000 population. Rates were highest (13.8) among adults aged ≥65 years. Among 178 (12%) adult patients with data on underlying conditions as of March 30, 2020, 89.3% had one or more underlying conditions; the most common were hypertension (49.7%), obesity (48.3%), chronic lung disease (34.6%), diabetes mellitus (28.3%), and cardiovascular disease (27.8%). These findings suggest that older adults have elevated rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalization and the majority of persons hospitalized with COVID-19 have underlying medical conditions. These findings underscore the importance of preventive measures (e.g., social distancing, respiratory hygiene, and wearing face coverings in public settings where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain) † to protect older adults and persons with underlying medical conditions, as well as the general public. In addition, older adults and persons with serious underlying medical conditions should avoid contact with persons who are ill and immediately contact their health care provider(s) if they have symptoms consistent with COVID-19 (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html) (5). Ongoing monitoring of hospitalization rates, clinical characteristics, and outcomes of hospitalized patients will be important to better understand the evolving epidemiology of COVID-19 in the United States and the clinical spectrum of disease, and to help guide planning and prioritization of health care system resources., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Linda Niccolai reports personal fees from Merck outside the submitted work; Evan Anderson reports personal fees from AbbVie and Pfizer, and grants from MedImmune, Regeneron, PaxVax, Pfizer, GSK, Merck, Novavax, Sanofi-Pasteur, and Micron, outside the submitted work; Andrew Weigel reports grants from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists during the conduct of the study; Ruth Lynfield reports that she is the coeditor for a book on public health and an associate editor for American Academy of Pediatrics Report of the Committee of Infectious Diseases (Red Book); Laurie Billing reports a grant from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists during the conduct of the study; William Schaffner reports personal fees from Pfizer, Roche Diagnostics, and Pepsico outside the submitted work; H. Keipp Talbot reports compensation from Seqiris outside the submitted work; Andrea George reports a grant from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists during the conduct of the study; Sue Kim reports a grant from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists during the conduct of the study; Justin Henderson reports a grant from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists during the conduct of the study; and Clarissa Aquino reports a grant from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists during the conduct of the study. No other potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

An outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that began in Wuhan, China, has spread rapidly, with cases now confirmed in multiple countries. We report the first case of 2019-nCoV infection confirmed in the United States and describe the identification, diagnosis, clinical course, and management of the case, including the patient's initial mild symptoms at presentation with progression to pneumonia on day 9 of illness. This case highlights the importance of close coordination between clinicians and public health authorities at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as the need for rapid dissemination of clinical information related to the care of patients with this emerging infection., (Copyright © 2020 Massachusetts Medical Society.)

Since August 2019, CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and public health and clinical stakeholders have been investigating a nationwide outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) (1). This report updates patient demographic characteristics, self-reported substance use, and hospitalization dates for EVALI patients reported to CDC by states, as well as the distribution of emergency department (ED) visits related to e-cigarette, or vaping, products analyzed through the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP). As of January 14, 2020, a total of 2,668 hospitalized EVALI cases had been reported to CDC. Median patient age was 24 years, and 66% were male. Overall, 82% of EVALI patients reported using any tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, product (including 33% with exclusive THC-containing product use), and 57% of EVALI patients reported using any nicotine-containing product (including 14% with exclusive nicotine-containing product use). Syndromic surveillance indicates that ED visits related to e-cigarette, or vaping, products continue to decline after sharply increasing in August 2019 and peaking in September 2019. Clinicians and public health practitioners should remain vigilant for new EVALI cases. CDC recommends that persons not use THC-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products, especially those acquired from informal sources such as friends, family members, or from in-person or online dealers. Vitamin E acetate is strongly linked to the EVALI outbreak and should not be added to any e-cigarette, or vaping, products (2). However, evidence is not sufficient to rule out the contribution of other chemicals of concern, including chemicals in either THC- or non-THC-containing products, in some reported EVALI cases., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and public health and clinical stakeholders continue to investigate a nationwide outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) (1). EVALI patients in Illinois, Utah, and Wisconsin acquired tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing products primarily from informal sources (2,3). This report updates demographic characteristics and self-reported sources of THC- and nicotine-containing e-cigarette, or vaping, products derived from EVALI patient data reported to CDC by state health departments. As of January 7, 2020, among 1,979 (76%) patients with available data on substance use, a total of 1,620 (82%) reported using any THC-containing products, including 665 (34%) who reported exclusive THC-containing product use. Use of any nicotine-containing products was reported by 1,128 (57%) patients, including 264 (13%) who reported exclusive nicotine-containing product use. Among 809 (50%) patients reporting data on the source of THC-containing products, 131 (16%) reported acquiring their products from only commercial sources (i.e., recreational dispensaries, medical dispensaries, or both; vape or smoke shops; stores; and pop-up shops), 627 (78%) from only informal sources (i.e., friends, family, in-person or online dealers, or other sources), and 51 (6%) from both types of sources. Among 613 (54%) EVALI patients reporting nicotine-containing product use with available data on product source, 421 (69%) reported acquiring their products from only commercial sources, 103 (17%) from only informal sources, and 89 (15%) from both types of sources. Adolescents aged 13-17 years were more likely to acquire both THC- and nicotine-containing products from informal sources than were persons in older age groups. The high prevalence of acquisition of THC-containing products from informal sources by EVALI patients reinforces CDC's recommendation to not use e-cigarette, or vaping, products that contain THC, especially those acquired from informal sources. Although acquisition of nicotine-containing products through informal sources was not common overall, it was common among persons aged <18 years. While the investigation continues, CDC recommends that the best way for persons to ensure that they are not at risk is to consider refraining from the use of all e-cigarette, or vaping, products., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Background: The Veterans Health Administration (VA) primary care is organized as a Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) that is based on continuity management of patient panels by interdisciplinary "teamlets" consisting of primary care providers, nurses, and clerical associates. While the teamlets are envisioned as interdisciplinary in this model, teamlet members may continue to report separately to middle management supervisors within their respective disciplines. Little is known about the role of middle managers in medical home implementation; therefore, the study purpose is to examine and characterize teamlet members' perceptions of middle managers' role in primary care operations and teamlet functioning in an outpatient setting., Methods: This study applied a formal qualitative data collection method and analysis based on semi-structured interviews of 79 frontline interdisciplinary staff (primary care providers, nurses, and clerical associates) in VA Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) teamlets. Interviews were analyzed using a method of constant comparison., Results: Teamlet members recognize that their supervising middle managers are essential to daily functioning of PACT teamlets in terms of clarifying roles and responsibilities, setting expectations, providing coverage strategies, supporting conflict resolution, and facilitating teamlet-initiated innovation. Teamlet members identified challenges when middle manager involvement was lacking., Conclusion: Within a multilevel system, frontline interdisciplinary staff continue to perceive the need for leadership by middle managers from their own professional disciplines for solving interdisciplinary problems, setting role-specific schedules and expectations, and fostering innovation. As such, greater focus on the structure and training of middle managers for participation in PCMH models is needed., (Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objectives: Determine the prognostic significance of rapid early tumor progression before radiation and chemotherapy for glioblastoma patients., Methods: A retrospective review of glioblastoma patients was performed. Rapid early progression (REP) was defined as new enhancing tumor or >25% increase in enhancement before radiotherapy. The pre/postoperative magnetic resonance imaging was compared with the preradiation magnetic resonance imaging to determine REP. A blinded review of imaging was performed. Kaplan-Meier curves were generated to compare progression-free and overall survival (OS). Univariate analysis was performed using the log-rank test for categorical variables and Cox proportional hazards for continuous variables. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess factors related to early progression and Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis of OS., Results: Eighty-seven patients met entry criteria. A total of 52% of patients developed REP. The OS in the REP group was 11.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.4-17.6) and 20.1 months (95% CI: 17.8-26.1) without REP (P=0.013). On multivariate analysis including significant prognostic factors, presence of REP was found to increase the risk of death (hazard ratio: 2.104, 95% CI: 1.235-3.583, P=0.006). A total of 74% of patients recurred in the site of REP., Conclusions: REP was common and independently predicted for a worse OS. Integrating REP with MGMT promotor methylation improved prognostic assessment. The site of REP was a common site of tumor progression. Our findings are hypothesis generating and may indicate a particular subset of glioblastoma patients who are resistant to current standard of care therapy. Further study to determine other molecular features of this group are underway.

Melorheostosis (MEL) is a rare disease of high bone mass with patchy skeletal distribution affecting the long bones. We recently reported somatic mosaic mutations in MAP2K1 in 8 of 15 patients with the disease. The unique anatomic distribution of melorheostosis is of great interest. The disease remains limited to medial or lateral side of the extremity with proximo-distal progression. This pattern of distribution has historically been attributed to sclerotomes (area of bone which is innervated by a single spinal nerve level). In a further analysis of our study on MEL, 30 recruited patients underwent whole body CT scans to characterize the anatomic distribution of the disease. Two radiologists independently reviewed these scans and compared it to the proposed map of sclerotomes. We found that the disease distribution conformed to the distribution of a single sclerotome in only 5 patients (17%). In another 12 patients, the lesions spanned parts of contiguous sclerotomes but did not involve the entire extent of the sclerotomes. Our findings raise concerns about the sclerotomal hypothesis being the definitive explanation for the pattern of anatomic distribution in MEL. We believe that the disease distribution can be explained by clonal proliferation of a mutated skeletal progenitor cell along the limb axis. Studies in mice models on clonal proliferation in limb buds mimic the patterns seen in melorheostosis. We also support this hypothesis by the dorso-ventral confinement of melorheostotic lesion in a patient with low allele frequency of MAP2K1-positive osteoblasts and low skeletal burden of the disease. This suggests that the mutation occurred after the formation of dorso-ventral plane. Further studies on limb development are needed to better understand the etiology, pathophysiology and pattern of disease distribution in all patients with MEL., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Laboratory tests to detect respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vary in sensitivity and specificity. Diagnostic testing practices can impact RSV disease diagnosis and burden estimates., Objectives: We surveyed a sample of laboratories that participated in the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS) in 2015-2016 to understand RSV testing, diagnostic capabilities, and practices., Study Design: We distributed surveys in fall 2016 to NREVSS laboratories using an internet survey platform. We conducted a descriptive analysis of survey responses and stratified results by self-identified children's hospital laboratories (CHL, i.e. laboratories affiliated with or in a children's hospital) or general hospital laboratories (GHL, i.e. laboratories that performed analysis on specimens from only adults or adults and children)., Results: We sampled 367 (82.5%) of 445 eligible NREVSS laboratories with a 35.7% response rate; 11.5% (n = 15) were CHLs. All CHLs had PCR-based assay capability to test for RSV compared to 48.7% of GHLs (p < 0.001), and it was the most frequent method used by CHLs (n = 9, 75.0%). GHLs used rapid antigen detection tests most frequently (n = 65, 60.2%) to detect RSV compared to CHLs (p = 0.02, n = 3, 25.0%). Almost half (n = 41, 48.2%) of GHLs reported specimen submission from adults ≥50 years for RADTs., Conclusions: Laboratory testing and diagnostic capabilities differed by whether laboratories self-identified as a CHL or GHL. Many GHLs reported use of RADTs in adults ≥50 years, a less sensitive diagnostic method for this population compared to PCR-based assays. RADT use in adults might miss RSV cases and affect diagnoses and disease burden estimates., (Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Noroviruses are the leading cause of epidemic acute gastroenteritis and foodborne diarrheal disease in humans. However, there are no approved vaccines for noroviruses. Potential correlates of protection identified through human challenge studies include mucosal IgA, memory B cells, and serum-blocking antibody titers (BT50)., Methods: We conducted a single-site, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of an oral norovirus vaccine to determine safety and immunogenicity. This tablet vaccine is comprised of a nonreplicating adenovirus-based vector expressing the VP1 gene from the GI.1 norovirus strain and a double-stranded RNA adjuvant. Sixty-six adult subjects meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria were randomized 2:1 to receive a single vaccine dose or placebo, respectively. Immunogenicity was primarily assessed by serum BT50. Additional outcomes included serum ELISA titers, fecal and saliva antibody titers, memory and antibody-secreting cell (ASC) frequency, and B cell phenotyping., Results: The vaccine was well-tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities. Adverse events were mild or moderate. The primary immunological endpoint (increase in BT50 titers) was met in the high-dose group (P = 0.0003), with 78% showing a ≥2-fold rise in titers after a single immunization. Vaccine recipients also developed mucosally primed VP1-specific circulating ASCs, IgA+ memory B cells expressing gut-homing receptor (α4β7), and fecal IgA, indicating substantial and local responses potentially relevant to prevent norovirus infection., Conclusion: This oral norovirus vaccine was well-tolerated and generated substantial immune responses, including systemic and mucosal antibodies as well as memory IgA/IgG. These results are a major step forward for the development of a safe and immunogenic oral norovirus vaccine., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02868073., Funding: Vaxart.

Objective: Our objective was to document current practices of abortion providers on the use of medications to decrease bleeding during surgical abortion., Study Design: We emailed surveys to 336 abortion providers through a professional listserv to elicit information on their use of medications to prevent and treat bleeding during first- and second-trimester surgical abortion., Results: One hundred sixty-eight (50%) providers responded to our survey. The majority were obstetrician-gynecologists (83%) working in an academic practice (66%). Most completed a fellowship in family planning (87%) and currently perform abortions up to 22 or 24weeks of gestation (63%). Seventy-two percent routinely used prophylactic medications for bleeding. Providers who routinely used medications to prevent bleeding most commonly chose vasopressin (83%). Providers preferred methylergonovine as a treatment for excessive bleeding in the second trimester, followed by misoprostol., Conclusion: We found that most providers routinely use medications to prevent bleeding and use several different regimens to treat bleeding during abortion., Implications: We found that surgical abortion providers use a range of medications to prevent and treat hemorrhage at the time of surgical abortion. Scant evidence is available to guide abortion providers on the use of medications to decrease hemorrhage during surgical abortion. To provide evidence-based recommendations for the prevention and treatment of clinically significant bleeding, researchers should target the most commonly used interventions., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

In terms of in-hospital outcomes, controversy still remains whether off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting is superior to on-pump coronary artery bypass surgery. We investigated whether the volume of off-pump coronary artery bypass procedures by hospital and individual surgeon influences patient outcomes when compared with on-pump coronary artery bypass surgery. Discharge records from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample were retrospectively reviewed for in-hospital admissions from 2003 to 2011, including 999 hospitals in 44 states. A total of 2,094,094 patients undergoing on- and off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery were included. In patients requiring 2 or more grafts, off-pump coronary artery bypass compared with on-pump coronary artery bypass was associated with increased risk-adjusted mortality when performed in low-volume centers (<29 cases per year) (odds ratio [OR] 1.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06 to 1.57) or by low-volume surgeons (<19 cases per year) (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.56). In high-volume off-pump coronary artery bypass centers (≥164 cases per year) and surgeons (≥48 cases per year), off-pump coronary artery bypass reduced mortality compared with on-pump coronary artery bypass in cases requiring a single graft (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.89 and OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.47, respectively) or 2 or more grafts (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.99 and OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.49 to 0.81, respectively). In conclusion, the outcome of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting procedures is dependent on volume at both the institution and the individual surgeon level. Off-pump coronary artery bypass should not be performed at low-volume centers and by low-volume surgeons., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Efficacy signals but substantial myelosuppression were demonstrated in a single arm phase II study of paclitaxel poliglumex (PPX) in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) and radiation therapy (RT) for first-line treatment of glioblastoma. The objective of this randomized phase II trial was to assess the efficacy and safety of single-agent PPX with RT (PPX/RT) versus TMZ with RT (TMZ/RT) for glioblastoma without O-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) methylation., Materials and Methods: Patients with glioblastoma with unmethylated MGMT without prior chemotherapy or RT were eligible. Patients were randomly assigned 2:1 to PPX, 50 mg/m/wk for 6 weeks, or standard TMZ, with concurrent 60.0 Gy RT. One month after completion of chemoradiation all patients received standard maintenance TMZ. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS)., Results: Of the 164 patients enrolled, 86 were MGMT unmethylated. Of these, 63 patients were randomized (42 to PPX/RT and 21 to TMZ/RT). Fifty-nine patients could be analyzed. The median PFS was 9 months in the PPX/RT group and 9.5 months in the TMZ/RT group (hazard ratio in the PPX/RT group, 1.10; 95% confidence interval, 0.79-2.08; P=0.75). Median overall survival was 16 versus 14.8 months for PPX/RT and TMZ/RT groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 1.44; 95% confidence interval, 0.75-2.77; P=0.27). In the PPX and TMZ groups 44% versus 22% of patients, respectively, experienced one or more grade 3 or higher toxicities during chemoradiation., Conclusions: PPX/RT did not improve PFS or overall survival. This study provides an effective trial design for screening RT sensitizers in glioblastoma.

Purpose: Appropriate delegation of clinical tasks from primary care providers (PCPs) to other team members may reduce employee burnout in primary care. However, (1) the extent to which delegation occurs within multidisciplinary teams, (2) factors associated with greater delegation, and (3) whether delegation is associated with burnout are all unknown., Methods: We performed a national cross-sectional survey of Veterans Affairs (VA) PCP-nurse dyads in Department of VA primary care clinics, 4 years into the VA's patient-centered medical home initiative. PCPs reported the extent to which they relied on other team members to complete 15 common primary care tasks; paired nurses reported how much they were relied on to complete the same tasks. A composite score of task delegation/reliance was developed by taking the average of the responses to the 15 questions. We performed multivariable regression to explore predictors of task delegation and burnout., Results: Among 777 PCP-nurse dyads, PCPs reported delegating tasks less than nurses reported being relied on (PCP mean ± standard deviation composite delegation score, 2.97± 0.64 [range, 1-4]; nurse composite reliance score, 3.26 ± 0.50 [range, 1-4]). Approximately 48% of PCPs and 35% of nurses reported burnout. PCPs who reported more task delegation reported less burnout (odds ratio [OR], 0.62 per unit of delegation; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49-0.78), whereas nurses who reported being relied on more reported more burnout (OR, 1.83 per unit of reliance; 95% CI, 1.33-2.5)., Conclusions: Task delegation was associated with less burnout for PCPs, whereas task reliance was associated with greater burnout for nurses. Strategies to improve work life in primary care by increasing PCP task delegation must consider the impact on nurses., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: none declared., (© Copyright 2018 by the American Board of Family Medicine.)

Background and Aims: Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is a major cause of cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. Not all patients with CHB require antiviral treatment but long-term monitoring is critical to identify patients who would benefit from antiviral therapy. CHB patients followed in various clinical settings may differ in disease characteristics and rates of treatment eligibility in long-term follow-up., Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 359 consecutive treatment-naive, treatment-ineligible CHB patients (228 from community GI clinics; 73 from university hepatology clinic; 58 from primary care clinic). Primary end points were the proportion of patients meeting eligibility criteria in follow-up, and the eligibility comparison among patients in various clinical settings. Univariate and multivariate Cox's proportional hazard models were used to calculate hazard ratios to identify predictors of treatment eligibility in follow-up., Results: While the majority of patients remained treatment ineligible by guideline recommendations, a sizeable proportion (23 %, 95 % CI 18-27 %) of patients subsequently met treatment eligibility in study follow-up. Reasons for meeting US Panel treatment eligibility on multivariate analysis included baseline ALT ≥ ULN (HR 1.91, p = 0.03) and baseline HBV DNA ≥ 2000 IU/mL (HR 2.6, p = 0.001). Practice setting was not a predictor., Conclusions: A significant number of patients with CHB (23 %) who were not initially treatment eligible later met treatment criteria in longer-term follow-up. Significant independent predictors of treatment eligibility included a baseline ALT ≥ ULN and elevated HBV DNA (≥2000 IU/mL for US Panel eligibility and ≥20,000 IU/mL for AASLD eligibility). This study underscores the importance of long-term follow-up for patients with CHB.