Spatiotemporal Ecologic Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage and Outcomes, Oklahoma, USA, February 2020-December 2021.

Data on COVID-19 cases, deaths, hospitalizations, and vaccinations in Oklahoma, USA, have not been systematically described. The relationship between vaccination and COVID-19-related outcomes over time has not been investigated. We graphically described data collected during February 2020-December 2021 and conducted spatiotemporal modeling of monthly increases in COVID-19 cumulative death and hospitalization rates, adjusting for cumulative case rate, to explore the relationship. A 1 percentage point increase (absolute change) in the cumulative vaccination rate was associated with a 6.3% (95% CI 1.4%-10.9%) relative decrease in death outcome during April-June 2021, and a 1.9% (95% CI 1.1%-2.6%) relative decrease in death outcome and 1.1% (95% CI 0.5%-1.7%) relative decrease in hospitalization outcome during July-December 2021; the effect on hospitalizations was driven largely by data from urban counties. Our findings from Oklahoma suggest that increasing cumulative vaccination rates might reduce the increase in cumulative death and hospitalization rates from COVID-19.

Evaluating the Accuracy of the Annual Statewide Kindergarten Vaccination Survey Submitted to Public Health Authorities by School Systems, Oklahoma, 2018.

Recent trends in vaccine hesitancy have brought to light the importance of using accurate school vaccination data. This study evaluated the accuracy of a pilot statewide kindergarten vaccination survey in Oklahoma. School vaccination and exemption data were collected from November 2017 to April 2018 via the Research Electronic Data Capture system. A multivariable linear regression model was used to evaluate the relationship between students who are up to date for all vaccines comparing school reported and Oklahoma State Department of Health-validated data. Adjusted vaccination data were overestimated by 1.0% among public schools and 3.3% among private schools. These results were validated by a random audit of participating schools finding the school-reported vaccination data to be overestimated by 0.6% compared to true student immunization records on file. Our analysis indicates that school-reported vaccination data are sufficiently valid. Immunization record audits provide confidence in available data, which drives evidence-based decision-making.

Opioid and other drug use and drug-related mortality as indicators of Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Oklahoma.

OBJECTIVES: Outbreaks of injection drug use (IDU)-associated infections have become major public health concerns in the era of the opioid epidemic. This study aimed to (1) identify county-level characteristics associated with acute HCV infection and newly diagnosed IDU-associated HIV in Oklahoma and (2) develop a vulnerability index using these metrics. METHODS: This study employs a county-level ecological design to examine those diagnosed with acute or chronic HCV or newly diagnosed IDU-associated HIV. Poisson regression was used to estimate the association between indicators and the number of new infections in each county. Primary outcomes were acute HCV and newly diagnosed IDU-associated HIV. A sensitivity analysis included all HCV (acute and chronic) cases. Three models were run using variations of these outcomes. Stepwise backward Poisson regression predicted new infection rates and 95% confidence intervals for each county from the final multivariable model, which served as the metric for vulnerability scores. RESULTS: Predictors for HIV-IDU cases and acute HCV cases differed. The percentage of the county population aged 18-24 years with less than a high school education and population density were predictive of new HIV-IDU cases, whereas the percentage of the population that was male, white, Pacific Islander, two or more races, and people aged 18-24 years with less than a high school education were predictors of acute HCV infection. Counties with the highest predicted rates of HIV-IDU tended to be located in central Oklahoma and have higher population density than the counties with the highest predicted rates of acute HCV infection. CONCLUSIONS: There is high variability in county-level factors predictive of new IDU-associated HIV infection and acute HCV infection, suggesting that different public health interventions need to be tailored to these two case populations.

Assessing the Influence of Climate Change and Environmental Factors on the Top Tick-Borne Diseases in the United States: A Systematic Review.

In the United States (US), tick-borne diseases (TBDs) have more than doubled in the past fifteen years and are a major contributor to the overall burden of vector-borne diseases. The most common TBDs in the US-Lyme disease, rickettsioses (including Rocky Mountain spotted fever), and anaplasmosis-have gradually shifted in recent years, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality. In this systematic review, we examined climate change and other environmental factors that have influenced the epidemiology of these TBDs in the US while highlighting the opportunities for a One Health approach to mitigating their impact. We searched Medline Plus, PUBMED, and Google Scholar for studies focused on these three TBDs in the US from January 2018 to August 2023. Data selection and extraction were completed using Covidence, and the risk of bias was assessed with the ROBINS-I tool. The review included 84 papers covering multiple states across the US. We found that climate, seasonality and temporality, and land use are important environmental factors that impact the epidemiology and patterns of TBDs. The emerging trends, influenced by environmental factors, emphasize the need for region-specific research to aid in the prediction and prevention of TBDs.

Deaths in Children and Adolescents Associated With COVID-19 and MIS-C in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the demographics, clinical characteristics, and hospital course among persons <21 years of age with a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-associated death. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective case series of suspected SARS-CoV-2-associated deaths in the United States in persons <21 years of age during February 12 to July 31, 2020. All states and territories were invited to participate. We abstracted demographic and clinical data, including laboratory and treatment details, from medical records. RESULTS: We included 112 SARS-CoV-2-associated deaths from 25 participating jurisdictions. The median age was 17 years (IQR 8.5-19 years). Most decedents were male (71, 63%), 31 (28%) were Black (non-Hispanic) persons, and 52 (46%) were Hispanic persons. Ninety-six decedents (86%) had at least 1 underlying condition; obesity (42%), asthma (29%), and developmental disorders (22%) were most commonly documented. Among 69 hospitalized decedents, common complications included mechanical ventilation (75%) and acute respiratory failure (82%). The sixteen (14%) decedents who met multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) criteria were similar in age, sex, and race and/or ethnicity to decedents without MIS-C; 11 of 16 (69%) had at least 1 underlying condition. CONCLUSIONS: SARS-CoV-2-associated deaths among persons <21 years of age occurred predominantly among Black (non-Hispanic) and Hispanic persons, male patients, and older adolescents. The most commonly reported underlying conditions were obesity, asthma, and developmental disorders. Decedents with coronavirus disease 2019 were more likely than those with MIS-C to have underlying medical conditions.