Travel history among persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in the United States, December 2020-February 2021.

The first three SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic lineages classified as variants of concern (VOCs) in the United States (U.S.) from December 15, 2020 to February 28, 2021, Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), and Gamma (P.1) lineages, were initially detected internationally. This investigation examined available travel history of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases reported in the U.S. in whom laboratory testing showed one of these initial VOCs. Travel history, demographics, and health outcomes for a convenience sample of persons infected with a SARS-CoV-2 VOC from December 15, 2020 through February 28, 2021 were provided by 35 state and city health departments, and proportion reporting travel was calculated. Of 1,761 confirmed VOC cases analyzed, 1,368 had available data on travel history. Of those with data on travel history, 1,168 (85%) reported no travel preceding laboratory confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 and only 105 (8%) reported international travel during the 30 days preceding a positive SARS-CoV-2 test or symptom onset. International travel was reported by 92/1,304 (7%) of persons infected with the Alpha variant, 7/55 (22%) with Beta, and 5/9 (56%) with Gamma. Of the first three SARS-CoV-2 lineages designated as VOCs in the U.S., international travel was common only among the few Gamma cases. Most persons infected with Alpha and Beta variant reported no travel history, therefore, community transmission of these VOCs was likely common in the U.S. by March 2021. These findings underscore the importance of global surveillance using whole genome sequencing to detect and inform mitigation strategies for emerging SARS-CoV-2 VOCs.

On the basis of visa type: Insights into incorporation and health among foreign-born people in the United States.

Foreign-born people have different patterns of health, and several psychosocial and contextual factors may contribute to these differences. Type of visa with which one resettles is an important consideration because it is linked both with the reason for initially migrating and with experiences after arriving in the U.S. This study examines the association between visa type and health in terms of self-rated health and diagnosed chronic conditions. Using the New Immigrant Survey (NIS), a nationally representative study of foreign-born people at the time of receiving legal permanent residence in the U.S., we used logistic regression models to estimate the odds of having chronic conditions and the odds of reporting fair or poor health. People who had refugee, asylum, parole and post-arrival legalization visa types had the highest prevalence of any chronic condition; they were also most likely to report being in fair or poor self-rated health, even after controlling for other characteristics. Conversely, people who had diversity visas had the highest self-rated health and the fewest chronic conditions. Overall, the type of visa a person holds is associated with health and chronic disease even years after resettlement.

Developing a parent vocabulary checklist for young Indigenous children growing up multilingual in the Katherine region of Australia's Northern Territory.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a checklist to assess vocabulary development in Indigenous Australian children, with a local focus on Indigenous Australian children growing up in the towns and communities of the Katherine Region in the Northern Territory of Australia. In this region, many families are multilingual and/or multidialectal and children's home languages include varieties of Aboriginal English, Kriol, traditional Aboriginal languages, and/or other languages.Method: Over four years, a checklist was iteratively developed from parent interviews, comparisons of potential items to the content and structure of the Communicative Development Inventories (CDI): Words & Gestures (Short Form), team discussions and pilot testing with 33 parents of infants aged 0-4 years.Result: The Early Language Inventory (ERLI) checklist offers new content compared with the CDI: Words & Gestures (short form) and the OZI (Australian English CDI, long form). Initial data from 33 parents suggests the checklist has desirable features: scores correlated positively with age and related to word combining, reaching ceiling around 3 years of age for many children. Infants whose parents had concerns tended to have lower scores.Conclusion: ERLI is a new local adaptation of the CDI (Words & Gestures) for assessing early communication among Indigenous infants growing up in the Katherine region of the Northern Territory, Australia.