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 72, Issues 1-6 of the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series. 

February 10, 2023 / No. 6 Featured Article: 

“COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality Among Unvaccinated and Vaccinated Persons Aged ≥12 Years by Receipt of Bivalent Booster Doses and Time Since Vaccination — 24 U.S. Jurisdictions, October 3, 2021–December 24, 2022”

This report provides a more complete look at data on vaccine effectiveness (VE) in 24 jurisdictions of the United States from October 3, 2021-December 24, 2022. As to be expected, deaths were most likely to occur in unvaccinated individuals, less likely to occur in individuals who had received their first series of COVID vaccination shots, and least likely to occur for those who had received a dose of the newer Bivalent booster.

February 3, 2023 / No. 5 Featured Article: 

“Early Estimates of Bivalent mRNA Booster Dose Vaccine Effectiveness in Preventing Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection Attributable to Omicron BA.5– and XBB/XBB.1.5–Related Sublineages Among Immunocompetent Adults — Increasing Community Access to Testing Program, United States, December 2022–January 2023”

A newer SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2-related sublineage “XBB.1.5” is gaining momentum across the U.S., and scientists are assessing how effective the Bivalent mRNA booster dose is for those who do not have compromised immune systems. Their research shows that the newer vaccines are protective for at least the first three months after receipt of the booster dose.

January 27, 2023 / No. 4 Featured Article: 

“Scale-Up of HIV Antiretroviral Therapy and Estimation of Averted Infections and HIV-Related Deaths — Uganda, 2004–2022”

Twenty years ago, in January of 2003, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was set in motion. Uganda was the first country to provide PEPFAR-supported antiretroviral therapy (ART). Aside from providing a current update on HIV ART therapy in Uganda, this article also notes a special update on the first recipient in the world to receive PEPFAR-supported ART.

January 20, 2023 / No. 3 Featured Article: 

“Reasons for Receiving or Not Receiving Bivalent COVID-19 Booster Vaccinations Among Adults — United States, November 1–December 10, 2022”

Vaccination with the Bivalent COVID-19 booster shot remains low in the United States. This article provides data from a 1,200 person online survey regarding reasons why people have not received this booster.

January 13, 2023 / No. 2 Featured Article: 

“Cholera Outbreak — Haiti, September 2022–January 2023”

In February of 2022, “Haiti was declared cholera-free” after three years of no reported cases. A re-emergence of Cholera in October 2022 quickly spiked from 2 cases to now over 20,000. This article provides information on the outbreak and suggested actions to contain the disease.

January 6, 2023 / No. 1 Featured Article: 

“Mpox Cases Among Cisgender Women and Pregnant Persons — United States, May 11–November 7, 2022”

While monkeypox (mpox) has mostly affected men, as of November 7, 2022 there were 769 reported cases in cisgender women. This study provides relevant data on the involved cases.

For more information on COVID, visit HSDL’s COVID-19 Resource Archive. You can also find pandemic-related resources in HSDL’s In Focus on Pandemics and Epidemics, and search our statistical resources related to public health.