Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection among Children and Adults in 15 US Communities, 2021

During January-August 2021, the Community Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Study used time/location sampling to recruit a cross-sectional, population-based cohort to estimate SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and nasal swab sample PCR positivity across 15 US communities. Survey-weighted estimates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccine willingness among participants at each site were compared within demographic groups by using linear regression models with inverse variance weighting. Among 22,284 persons >2 months of age and older, median prevalence of infection (prior, active, or both) was 12.9% across sites and similar across age groups. Within each site, average prevalence of infection was 3 percentage points higher for Black than White persons and average vaccine willingness was 10 percentage points lower for Black than White persons and 7 percentage points lower for Black persons than for persons in other racial groups. The higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among groups with lower vaccine willingness highlights the disparate effect of COVID-19 and its complications.

Research needs for community-based risk assessment: findings from a multi-disciplinary workshop.

Communities face exposures to multiple environmental toxicants and other non-chemical stressors. In addition, communities have unique activities and norms that influence exposure and vulnerability. Yet, few studies quantitatively consider the role of cumulative exposure and additive impacts. Community-based risk assessment (CBRA) is a new approach for risk assessment that aims to address the cumulative stressors faced by a particular community, while incorporating a community-based participatory research framework. This paper summarizes an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored workshop, "Research Needs for Community-Based Risk Assessment." This workshop brought together environmental and public health scientists and practitioners for fostering an innovative discussion about tools, methods, models, and approaches for CBRA. This workshop was organized around three topics: (1) Data and Measurement Methods; (2) The Biological Impact of Non-Chemical Stressors and Interaction with Environmental Exposures; and (3) Statistical and Mathematical Modeling. This report summarizes the workshop discussions, presents identified research needs, and explores future research opportunities in this emerging field.