The Multidimensional, Intersecting Impacts of COVID-19 on Young People's Lives: Evidence From Cross-Sectional Surveys in Mexico, India, and Kenya.

PURPOSE: Studies have documented diverse adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people's lives-for instance on mental health, education/employment prospects, and intrafamily violence. We sought to generate much-needed evidence regarding whether, and which, young people are experiencing multiple intersecting effects. METHODS: Data come from cross-sectional surveys with young people ages 15-25 years in Mexico (nationwide, n = 55,692), Kenya (four counties, n = 2,750), and India (two states, n = 3,537), collected from late 2020 to early 2022. We used latent class analysis to identify subgroups based on multiple adverse effects, then examined associations between these subgroups and COVID-19 infections/family deaths, and sociodemographic characteristics. RESULTS: We found prevalent adverse impacts overall and two distinct subgroups in each country-one experiencing higher levels of all impacts, such as on mental health (44%-78% across countries), education/employment (22%-84%), intrafamily violence (22%-49%), and friendships (66%-86%). This subgroup comprised 40% of the sample in Mexico, 25% in Kenya, and 35% in India. In multivariate analyses, this group consistently had greater odds of experiencing COVID-19-related infections and deaths of loved ones. They were more likely socioeconomically disadvantaged, older, urban residents. Associations with other characteristics were country-specific. DISCUSSION: This study provides novel cross-country evidence that a subgroup of young people has experienced intersecting adverse impacts of COVID-19 on their lives. Findings also confirm prior evidence of multiple elevated vulnerabilities in general. Expanded provision of multiple layers of support is required, particularly for the most vulnerable subgroup, as are multi-sectoral policies and interventions to prevent intersectional effects in future times of crisis.

The Mexican Cognitive Aging Ancillary Study (Mex-Cog): Study Design and Methods.

OBJECTIVE: Describe the protocol sample and instruments of the Cognitive Aging Ancillary Study in Mexico (Mex-Cog). The study performs an in-depth cognitive assessment in a subsample of older adults of the ongoing Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS). The Mex-Cog is part of the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) design to facilitate cross-national comparisons of the prevalence and trends of dementia in aging populations around the world, funded by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). METHODS: The study protocol consists of a cognitive assessment instrument for the target subject and an informant questionnaire. All cognitive measures were selected and adapted by a team of experts from different ongoing studies following criteria to warrant reliable and comparable cognitive instruments. The informant questionnaire is from the 10/66 Dementia Study in Mexico. RESULTS: A total of 2,265 subjects aged 55-104 years participated, representing a 70% response rate. Validity analyses showed the adequacy of the content validity, proper quality-control procedures that sustained data integrity, high reliability, and internal structure. CONCLUSIONS: The Mex-Cog study provides in-depth cognitive data that enhances the study of cognitive aging in two ways. First, linking to MHAS longitudinal data on cognition, health, genetics, biomarkers, economic resources, health care, family arrangements, and psychosocial factors expands the scope of information on cognitive impairment and dementia among Mexican adults. Second, harmonization with other similar studies around the globe promotes cross-national studies on cognition with comparable data. Mex-Cog data is publicly available at no cost to researchers.

The Fluorocycline TP-271 Is Efficacious in Models of Aerosolized Bacillus anthracis Infection in BALB/c Mice and Cynomolgus Macaques.

The fluorocycline TP-271 was evaluated in mouse and nonhuman primate (NHP) models of inhalational anthrax. BALB/c mice were exposed by nose-only aerosol to Bacillus anthracis Ames spores at a level of 18 to 88 lethal doses sufficient to kill 50% of exposed individuals (LD50). When 21 days of once-daily dosing was initiated at 24 h postchallenge (the postexposure prophylaxis [PEP] study), the rates of survival for the groups treated with TP-271 at 3, 6, 12, and 18 mg/kg of body weight were 90%, 95%, 95%, and 84%, respectively. When 21 days of dosing was initiated at 48 h postchallenge (the treatment [Tx] study), the rates of survival for the groups treated with TP-271 at 6, 12, and 18 mg/kg TP-271 were 100%, 91%, and 81%, respectively. No deaths of TP-271-treated mice occurred during the 39-day posttreatment observation period. In the NHP model, cynomolgus macaques received an average dose of 197 LD50 of B. anthracis Ames spore equivalents using a head-only inhalation exposure chamber, and once-daily treatment of 1 mg/kg TP-271 lasting for 14 or 21 days was initiated within 3 h of detection of protective antigen (PA) in the blood. No (0/8) animals in the vehicle control-treated group survived, whereas all 8 infected macaques treated for 21 days and 4 of 6 macaques in the 14-day treatment group survived to the end of the study (56 days postchallenge). All survivors developed toxin-neutralizing and anti-PA IgG antibodies, indicating an immunologic response. On the basis of the results obtained with the mouse and NHP models, TP-271 shows promise as a countermeasure for the treatment of inhalational anthrax.