Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies in Rhode Island From a Statewide Random Sample.

Objectives. To characterize statewide seroprevalence and point prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Rhode Island.Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected households across Rhode Island in May 2020. Antibody-based and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based tests for SARS-CoV-2 were offered. Hispanics/Latinos and African Americans/Blacks were oversampled to ensure adequate representation. Seroprevalence estimations accounted for test sensitivity and specificity and were compared according to age, race/ethnicity, gender, housing environment, and transportation mode.Results. Overall, 1043 individuals from 554 households were tested (1032 antibody tests, 988 PCR tests). The estimated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 2.1% (95% credible interval [CI] = 0.6, 4.1). Seroprevalence was 7.5% (95% CI = 1.3, 17.5) among Hispanics/Latinos, 3.8% (95% CI = 0.0, 15.0) among African Americans/Blacks, and 0.8% (95% CI = 0.0, 2.4) among non-Hispanic Whites. Overall PCR-based prevalence was 1.5% (95% CI = 0.5, 3.1).Conclusions. Rhode Island had low seroprevalence relative to other settings, but seroprevalence was substantially higher among African Americans/Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos. Rhode Island sits along the highly populated northeast corridor, making our findings broadly relevant to this region of the country. Continued monitoring via population-based sampling is needed to quantify these impacts going forward.

Rhode Island's Opioid Overdose Hospital Standards and Emergency Department Naloxone Distribution, Behavioral Counseling, and Referral to Treatment.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the influence of the Levels of Care for Rhode Island Emergency Departments and Hospitals for Treating Overdose and Opioid Use Disorder (Levels of Care) on emergency department (ED) provision of take-home naloxone, behavioral counseling, and referral to treatment. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of Rhode Island ED visits for opioid overdose from 2017 to 2018 was performed using data from a statewide opioid overdose surveillance system. Changes in provision of take-home naloxone, behavioral counseling, and referral to treatment before and after Levels of Care implementation were assessed using interrupted time series analysis. We compared outcomes by hospital type using multivariable modified Poisson regression models with generalized estimating equation estimation to account for hospital-level variation. RESULTS: We analyzed 245 overdose visits prior to Levels of Care implementation (January to March 2017) and 1340 overdose visits after implementation (hospital certification to December 2018). After implementation, the proportion of patients offered naloxone increased on average by 13% (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.6% to 20.4%). Prior to implementation, the proportion of patients receiving behavioral counseling and treatment referral was declining. After implementation, this decline slowed and stabilized, and on average 18.6% more patients received behavioral counseling (95% CI 1.3% to 35.9%) and 23.1% more patients received referral to treatment (95% CI 2.7% to 43.5%). Multivariable analysis showed that after implementation, there was a significant increase in the likelihood of being offered naloxone at Level 1 (adjusted relative risk [aRR] 1.31 [95% CI 1.06 to 1.61]) and Level 3 (aRR 3.13 [95% CI 1.08 to 9.06]) hospitals and an increase in referrals for medication for opioid use disorder (from 2.5% to 17.8%) at Level 1 hospitals (RR 7.73 [95% CI 3.22 to 18.55]). Despite these increases, less than half of the patients treated for an opioid overdose received behavioral counseling or referral to treatment CONCLUSION: The establishment of ED policies for treatment and services after opioid overdose improved naloxone distribution, behavioral counseling, and referral to treatment at hospitals without previously established opioid overdose services. Future investigations are needed to better characterize implementation barriers and evaluate policy influence on patient outcomes.

Increased Risk of Opioid Overdose Death Following Cold Weather: A Case-Crossover Study.

BACKGROUND: The United States is in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis. Little is known about the role of environmental factors in increasing risk of fatal opioid overdose. METHODS: We conducted a case-crossover analysis of 3,275 opioid overdose deaths recorded in Connecticut and Rhode Island in 2014-2017. We compared the mean ambient temperature on the day of death, as well as average temperature up to 14 days before death, to referent periods matched on year, month, and day of week. RESULTS: Low average temperatures over the 3-7 days before death were associated with higher odds of fatal opioid overdose. Relative to 11°C, an average temperature of 0°C over the 7 days before death was associated with a 30% higher odds of death (odds ratio: 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.1, 1.5). CONCLUSIONS: Low average temperature may be associated with higher risk of death due to opioid overdose.

Emergency Department and Hospital Care for Opioid Use Disorder: Implementation of Statewide Standards in Rhode Island, 2017-2018.

In March 2017, Rhode Island released treatment standards for care of adult patients with opioid use disorder. These standards prescribe three levels of hospital and emergency department treatment and prevention of opioid use disorder and opioid overdose and mechanisms for referral to treatment and epidemiological surveillance. By June 2018, all Rhode Island licensed acute care facilities had implemented policies meeting the standards' requirements. This policy has standardized care for opioid use disorder, enhanced opioid overdose surveillance and response, and expanded linkage to peer recovery support, naloxone, and medication for opioid use disorder.

Can Statewide Emergency Department, Hospital Discharge, and Violent Death Reporting System Data Be Used to Monitor Burden of Firearm-Related Injury and Death in Rhode Island?

CONTEXT: National data on the epidemiology of firearm injuries and circumstances of firearm deaths are difficult to obtain and often are nonreliable. Since firearm injury and death rates and causes can vary substantially between states, it is critical to consider state-specific data sources. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we illustrate how states can systematically examine demographic characteristics, firearm information, type of wound, toxicology tests, precipitating circumstances, and costs to provide a comprehensive picture of firearm injuries and deaths using data sets from a single state with relatively low rates of firearm injury and death. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Firearm-related injury data for the period 2005-2014 were obtained from the Rhode Island emergency department and hospital discharge data sets; death data for the same period were obtained from the Rhode Island Violent Death Reporting System. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Descriptive statistics were used. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project cost-to-charge ratios were used to convert total hospital charges to costs. RESULTS: Most firearm-related emergency department visits (55.8%) and hospital discharges (79.2%) in Rhode Island were from assaults; however, most firearm-related deaths were suicides (60.1%). The annual cost of firearm-related hospitalizations was more than $830 000. Most decedents who died because of firearms tested positive for illicit substances. Nearly a quarter (23.5%) of firearm-related homicides were due to a conflict between the decedent and suspect. More than half (59%) of firearm suicide decedents were reported to have had current mental or physical problems prior to death. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the state-specific magnitude and patterns (who, where, factors, etc) of firearm injury and death may help inform local injury prevention efforts. States with similar data sets may want to adopt our analyses. Surveillance of firearm-related injury and death is essential. Dissemination of surveillance findings to key stakeholders is critical in improving firearm injury prevention. States that are not part of the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) could work with their other data sources to obtain a better picture of violent injuries and deaths to make the best use of resources.

A review of post-caesarean infectious morbidity: how to prevent and treat.

Post-caesarean infectious complications result in significant maternal morbidity and mortality as well as increased readmissions and increased health care cost worldwide. This review provides a discussion of several risk factors that have been identified which predispose women to post-surgical infection. We also provide an overview of strategies for infection prevention including antibiotics, surgical techniques and negative pressure wound therapy. Criteria for diagnosis of wound infection are provided, as well as appropriate treatment regimens. Given the impact of maternal post caesarean infection, it is important for women's health care providers to understand how to prevent these infections, as well as recognise and treat them.

Meningococcal Carriage Evaluation in Response to a Serogroup B Meningococcal Disease Outbreak and Mass Vaccination Campaign at a College-Rhode Island, 2015-2016.

Background: Serogroup B meningococcal disease caused 7 US university outbreaks during 2013-2016. Neisseria meningitidis can be transmitted via asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carriage. MenB-FHbp (factor H binding protein), a serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) vaccine, was used to control a college outbreak. We investigated MenB-FHbp impact on meningococcal carriage. Methods: Four cross-sectional surveys were conducted in conjunction with MenB-FHbp vaccination campaigns. Questionnaires and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from students. Specimens were evaluated using culture, slide agglutination, real-time polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR), and whole genome sequencing. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) were calculated using generalized estimating equations. Results: During each survey, 20%-24% of participants carried any meningococcal bacteria and 4% carried serogroup B by rt-PCR. The outbreak strain (ST-9069) was not detected during the initial survey; 1 student carried ST-9069 in the second and third surveys. No carriage reduction was observed over time or with more MenB-FHbp doses. In total, 615 students participated in multiple surveys: 71% remained noncarriers, 8% cleared carriage, 15% remained carriers, and 7% acquired carriage. Ten students acquired serogroup B carriage: 3 after 1 MenB-FHbp dose, 4 after 2 doses, and 3 after 3 doses. Smoking (aPR, 1.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-1.5) and male sex (aPR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.5) were associated with increased meningococcal carriage. Conclusions: Carriage prevalence on campus remained stable, suggesting MenB-FHbp does not rapidly reduce meningococcal carriage or prevent serogroup B carriage acquisition. This reinforces the need for high vaccination coverage to protect vaccinated individuals and chemoprophylaxis for close contacts during outbreaks.

Development of a Statewide, Publicly Accessible Drug Overdose Surveillance and Information System.

In response to Rhode Island's overdose epidemic, we developed a collaborative, statewide online "dashboard" to provide the public with timely overdose surveillance data. The Web site- www.PreventOverdoseRI.org (PORI)-offers user-friendly data visualizations, plain language education, and interactive resource maps. Development of the site has improved overdose data sharing and transparency in Rhode Island. Preliminary results suggest a successful site launch. Future research will evaluate the effectiveness of PORI in terms of informing strategic initiatives to reduce overdoses in affected communities.

Access to treatment for opioid use disorders: Medical student preparation.

The current opioid epidemic requires new approaches to increasing access to treatment for patients with opioid use disorders and to improve availability of medication assisted treatment. We propose a model where medical students complete the necessary training to be eligible for the waiver to prescribe opioid medications to treat these disorders by the time of medical school graduation. This plan would increase the number of Drug Abuse Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) waivered physicians who could gain additional experience in treating substance use disorders during residency and provide the access to clinical care needed for individuals suffering with opioid use disorder. (Am J Addict 2017;26:316-318).

Can Emergency Department, Hospital Discharge, and Death Data Be Used to Monitor Burden of Drug Overdose in Rhode Island?

CONTEXT: Drug overdoses are a growing public health problem in the United States. Rhode Island is also confronted with a serious epidemic of drug overdose deaths and ranks sixth worst in the United States for age-adjusted drug overdose death rate. OBJECTIVE: To monitor trends of drug overdose-related emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths and classify the drug overdoses by demographics, discharge status, intent, and specific drug involved to plan for health care resource allocation, mental health services, drug abuse treatment, prevention, and policies. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: The 2005-2014 ED, hospital discharge, and death data were used for this study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Age-adjusted rates were calculated by using age-specific Rhode Island 2010 standard population. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project cost-to-charge ratios were used to convert total hospital charges to costs. The descriptive analysis was performed. RESULTS: Hospitalizations generally represent the most severe cases; there are substantially fewer cases than are seen in the ED, and their characteristics are different from ED visits. More than half of the ED cases were an unintentional injury by drug overdose, but more than half of the hospital discharge data cases were a suicide/self-inflicted injury by drug overdose. There were typically much more females than males that result in a hospital admission. In Rhode Island, there were 249 drug overdose deaths in 2014. Drug overdose fatalities were more likely to be young, male, white, and those who reside in suburban regions. IMPLICATIONS: Nonfatal and fatal drug overdose data are important for understanding the scope, incidence, and breadth of this public health epidemic and can guide overdose intervention efforts. In Rhode Island, policy makers can use drug overdose data to target high-risk subpopulations to reduce overdose injuries and fatalities. The Rhode Island study can be shared with other states. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of the type of drug, overdoses remain a public health crisis in Rhode Island. It is a dynamic epidemic and needs partnership among public health, behavioral health, public safety, clinic, pharmacy, and communities. The ability to track drug overdose in real time will be an essential tool to respond to the constantly evolving drug overdose epidemic in Rhode Island quickly and effectively.

Genome-wide interaction studies reveal sex-specific asthma risk alleles.

Asthma is a complex disease with sex-specific differences in prevalence. Candidate gene studies have suggested that genotype-by-sex interaction effects on asthma risk exist, but this has not yet been explored at a genome-wide level. We aimed to identify sex-specific asthma risk alleles by performing a genome-wide scan for genotype-by-sex interactions in the ethnically diverse participants in the EVE Asthma Genetics Consortium. We performed male- and female-specific genome-wide association studies in 2653 male asthma cases, 2566 female asthma cases and 3830 non-asthma controls from European American, African American, African Caribbean and Latino populations. Association tests were conducted in each study sample, and the results were combined in ancestry-specific and cross-ancestry meta-analyses. Six sex-specific asthma risk loci had P-values < 1 × 10(-6), of which two were male specific and four were female specific; all were ancestry specific. The most significant sex-specific association in European Americans was at the interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) locus on 5q31.1. We also identify a Latino female-specific association in RAP1GAP2. Both of these loci included single-nucleotide polymorphisms that are known expression quantitative trait loci and have been associated with asthma in independent studies. The IRF1 locus is a strong candidate region for male-specific asthma susceptibility due to the association and validation we demonstrate here, the known role of IRF1 in asthma-relevant immune pathways and prior reports of sex-specific differences in interferon responses.

Differential neural activity patterns for spatial relations in humans: a MEG study.

Children learn the words for above-below relations earlier than for left-right relations, despite treating these equally well in a simple visual categorization task. Even as adults--conflicts in congruency, such as when a stimulus is depicted in a spatially incongruent manner with respect to salient global cues--can be challenging. Here we investigated the neural correlates of encoding and maintaining in working memory above-below and left-right relational planes in 12 adults using magnetoencephalography in order to discover whether above-below relations are represented by the brain differently than left-right relations. Adults performed perfectly on the task behaviorally, so any differences in neural activity were attributed to the stimuli's cognitive attributes. In comparing above-below to left-right relations during stimulus encoding, we found the greatest differences in neural activity in areas associated with space and movement. In comparing congruent to incongruent trials, we found the greatest differential activity in premotor areas. For both contrasts, brain areas involved in the encoding phase were also involved in the maintenance phase, which provides evidence that those brain areas are particularly important in representing the relational planes or congruency types throughout the trial. When comparing neural activity associated with the relational planes during working memory, additional right posterior areas were implicated, whereas the congruent-incongruent contrast implicated additional bilateral frontal and temporal areas. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis left-right relations are represented differently than above-below relations.

Weathering the seasons of cancer survivorship: mind-body therapy use and reported reasons and outcomes by stages of cancer survivorship.

PURPOSE: Mind-body therapies (MBTs), a subset of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), are used by cancer survivors to manage symptoms related to their cancer experience. MBT use may differ by cancer survivorship stage (i.e., acute, short-term, long-term) because each stage presents varying intensities of medical activities, associated emotions, and treatment effects. We examined the relationship between MBT use and survivorship stage (acute <1 year; short-term 1 to 5 years; long-term >5 years since diagnosis) using the CAM supplement of the 2012 National Health Interview Survey. We also examined reported reasons for and outcomes of MBT use and frequency of MBT types. METHODS: The sample included cancer survivors (N = 3076) and non-cancer controls (N = 31,387). Logistic regression tested the relationship of MBT use and survivorship stage. Weighted percentages were calculated by survivorship stage for reported reasons and outcomes of use and frequency of MBT types. RESULTS: MBT use varied by cancer survivorship stage (p = 0.02): acute (8.3 %), short-term (15.4 %), long-term (11.7 %) survivorship and non-cancer controls (13.2 %). In the adjusted model, short-term survivors had 35 % greater odds of MBT use than did controls (95 % CI 1.00, 1.83). Reasons for and outcomes of MBT use varied among the survivorship stages, with more acute survivors reporting medical-related reasons and more short-term survivors reporting to manage symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: MBT may fulfill different symptom management needs at varying stages of survivorship. These findings can help inform supportive care services of survivors' use of MBT for symptom burden at each stage and the allocation of these services.

Horizontal Slide Creates Less Cervical Motion When Centering an Injured Patient on a Spine Board.

BACKGROUND: A patient with a suspected cervical spine injury may be at risk for secondary neurologic injury when initially placed and repositioned to the center of the spine board. OBJECTIVES: We sought to determine which centering adjustment best limits cervical spine movement and minimizes the chance for secondary injury. METHODS: Using five lightly embalmed cadaveric specimens with a created global instability at C5-C6, motion sensors were anchored to the anterior surface of the vertebral bodies. Three repositioning methods were used to center the cadavers on the spine board: horizontal slide, diagonal slide, and V-adjustment. An electromagnetic tracking device measured angular (degrees) and translation (millimeters) motions at the C5-C6 level during each of the three centering adjustments. The dependent variables were angular motion (flexion-extension, axial rotation, lateral flexion) and translational displacement (anteroposterior, axial, and medial-lateral). RESULTS: The nonuniform condition produced significantly less flexion-extension than the uniform condition (p = 0.048). The horizontal slide adjustment produced less cervical flexion-extension (p = 0.015), lateral bending (p = 0.003), and axial rotation (p = 0.034) than the V-adjustment. Similarly, translation was significantly less with the horizontal adjustment than with the V-adjustment; medial-lateral (p = 0.017), axial (p < 0.001), and anteroposterior (p = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Of the three adjustments, our team found that horizontal slide was also easier to complete than the other methods. The horizontal slide best limited cervical spine motion and may be the most helpful for minimizing secondary injury based on the study findings.

Enhancing the Capacity of Community Organizations to Evaluate HIV/AIDS Information Outreach: A Pilot Experiment in Expert Consultation.

The National Library of Medicine's AIDS Community Information Outreach Program (ACIOP) supports and enables access to health information on the Internet by community-based organizations. A technical assistance (TA) model was developed to enhance the capacity of ACIOP awardees to plan, evaluate, and report the results of their funded projects. This consisted of individual Consultation offered by an experienced evaluator to advise on the suitability of proposed project plans and objectives, improve measurement analytics, assist in problem resolution and outcomes reporting, and identify other improvement possibilities. Group webinars and a moderated blog for the exchange of project-specific information were also offered. Structured data collections in the form of reports, online surveys, and key informant telephone interviews provided qualitative feedback on project progress, satisfaction with the TA, and the perceived impact of the interventions on evaluation capacity building. The Model was implemented in the 2013 funding cycle with seven organizations, and the level of reported satisfaction was uniformly high. One-on-one TA was requested by four awardee organizations, and was determined to have made a meaningful difference with three. Participation in the webinars was mandatory and high overall; and was deemed to be a useful means for delivering evaluation information. In subsequent funding cycles, submission of a Logic Model will be required of awardees as a new model intervention in the expectation that it will produce stronger proposals, and enable the evaluation consultant to identify earlier intervention opportunities leading to project improvements and evaluation capacity enhancements.

Genome-wide association study identifies candidate genes for male fertility traits in humans.

Despite the fact that hundreds of genes are known to affect fertility in animal models, relatively little is known about genes that influence natural fertility in humans. To broadly survey genes contributing to variation in male fertility, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of two fertility traits (family size and birth rate) in 269 married men who are members of a founder population of European descent that proscribes contraception and has large family sizes. Associations between ∼250,000 autosomal SNPs and the fertility traits were examined. A total of 41 SNPs with p ≤ 1 × 10(-4) for either trait were taken forward to a validation study of 123 ethnically diverse men from Chicago who had previously undergone semen analyses. Nine (22%) of the SNPs associated with reduced fertility in the GWAS were also associated with one or more of the ten measures of reduced sperm quantity and/or function, yielding 27 associations with p values < 0.05 and seven with p values < 0.01 in the validation study. On the basis of 5,000 permutations of our data, the probabilities of observing this many or more small p values were 0.0014 and 5.6 × 10(-4), respectively. Among the nine associated loci, outstanding candidates for male fertility genes include USP8, an essential deubiquitinating enzyme that has a role in acrosome assembly; UBD and EPSTI1, which have potential roles in innate immunity; and LRRC32, which encodes a latent transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) receptor on regulatory T cells. We suggest that mutations in these genes that are more severe may account for some of the unexplained infertility (or subfertility) in the general population.

Serogroup B Meningococcal Disease Outbreak and Carriage Evaluation at a College - Rhode Island, 2015.

On February 2, 2015, the Rhode Island Department of Health was notified of a case of meningococcal disease in a male undergraduate student at Providence College. Three days later, a second case was reported in a male undergraduate with no contact with the first student, indicating an attack rate of 44 cases per 100,000 students, nearly 500 times higher than the national incidence of 0.15 cases per 100,000 among persons aged 17-22 years (Division of Bacterial Diseases, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, CDC, unpublished data, 2013). Both cases were caused by a rare outbreak strain of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B (ST-9069); neither case was fatal. In response to the outbreak, potential contacts received antibiotic chemoprophylaxis, and a mass vaccination campaign with a recently licensed serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) vaccine was implemented. In collaboration with CDC, the first phase of a meningococcal carriage evaluation was undertaken.