The Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) maintains a collection of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which collects and analyzes data from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on epidemiology and public health. Each issue of the MMWR is packed with raw and analyzed public health data and scientific studies from some of the top minds in the United States. Below we highlight some of the most current and informative studies included in their weekly reports.
Here are some important articles you may have missed from Volume 71, Issues 24-28 of the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series.
July 15, 2022 / No. 28 Featured Article:
This report discusses testing limitations and efforts for potential cases of Monkeypox. It also gives statistics on positive results from May 17-June 30, 2022.
July 8, 2022 / No. 27 Featured Article:
This article discusses the prevalence of larger proportions of emergency department visits for firearm injuries and deaths within counties that have “higher overall social vulnerability.” The hope in monitoring cases is to “help guide tailored prevention efforts that address inequities in social and structural conditions that contribute to risk for violence.”
July 1, 2022 / No. 26 Featured Articles:
In June 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Emergency Use of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years (Moderna) and 6 months–4 years (Pfizer) and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices gave further recommendations. Moderna vaccination for this age group is recommended in 2 doses, 4 weeks apart, and Pfizer is recommended in 3 doses, “3 weeks between doses 1 and 2 and ≥8 weeks between doses 2 and 3.” The document also provides detailed information on clinical trials for the vaccines.
In 2020, a U.S. Public Health Service recommendation was made to test transplant candidates for HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) during transplant hospital admission. Further review has shown that for children 12 and younger, “potentially harmful blood loss” could occur. This article discusses the exemption of children 12 and younger from this recommendation as long as they had previously received a prior negative postnatal infectious disease test.
June 24, 2022 / No. 25 Featured Article:
Paxlovid was given an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the FDA in December 2021 to treat persons with COVID-19 infections who are at a higher risk of developing severe complications from the disease. Since then, it has been noted that symptom and positive test recurrence has occurred in some patients after use. A study was done to evaluate “COVID-19–related hospital admissions and emergency department (ED) encounters occurring 5–15 days after Paxlovid treatment.” An analysis of the data shows that this has occurred in less than 1% of recipients over the study period.
June 17, 2022 / No. 24 Featured Article:
The article notes that “Sabin oral polio vaccine virus can revert to neurovirulence in populations with low immunity.” This issue led to the development and study of the nOPV2 (novel type 2 oral poliovirus vaccine). The “World Health Organization authorized nOPV2 for use under the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) pathway in November 2020, allowing for its first use for outbreak response in March 2021.” This study evaluates the current usage of nOPV2 and finds results promising.
For more information on COVID, visit our COVID-19 Resource Archive. You can also find pandemic-related resources in our HSDL In Focus on Pandemics and Epidemics, and public health statistical resources in our Research Tools.
