University of Amsterdam, Netherlands - Prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant for Rivke Jaffe

Title:

Prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for Rivke Jaffe

 

Published:

University of Amsterdam, 14 July 2022

https://www.uva.nl/en/content/news/news/2022/07/prestigious-erc-advanced-grant-for-rivke-jaffe.html?origin=kUP%2Byx6UTZqvuJiCJKnnEQ

 

From the news article:

Rivke Jaffe, professor of Urban Geography at the UvA, has been awarded an Advanced Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). Th grant, which amounts to 2.5 million euros, will allow her to conduct research into the role that animals play in the development of urban inequalities.

University of Southern Denmark, Denmark (April 2022) - Offspring weakens, when parents are given antibiotics

Title:

Offspring weakens, when parents are given antibiotics 

 

Author:

Birgitte Svennevig

 

Published:

University of Southern Denmark, 25 April 2022

https://www.sdu.dk/en/nyheder/forskningsnyheder/antibiotika-svaekker-immunforsvar-i-generationer

 

From the news article:

New study shows the immune system of zebrafish weakens if one parent has been exposed to antibiotics. Antibiotics can have unwanted effects for several generations, researchers discover.

 

Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third COVID-19 wave [Scholarly Article - Nature, April 2022]

Title:

Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third COVID-19 wave

 

Authors:

Christopher L.F. Sun

Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

Healthcare Systems Engineering, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA

 

Eli Jaffe

Israel National Emergency Medical Services (Magen David Adom), Tel Aviv-Jaffo, Israel

Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

 

& 

 

Retsef Levi 

Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA

 

Published:

Nature, Scientific Reports, 28 April 2022

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10928-z

 

Abstract:

Cardiovascular adverse conditions are caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections and reported as side-effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. Enriching current vaccine safety surveillance systems with additional data sources may improve the understanding of COVID-19 vaccine safety. Using a unique dataset from Israel National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) from 2019 to 2021, the study aims to evaluate the association between the volume of cardiac arrest and acute coronary syndrome EMS calls in the 16–39-year-old population with potential factors including COVID-19 infection and vaccination rates. An increase of over 25% was detected in both call types during January–May 2021, compared with the years 2019–2020. Using Negative Binomial regression models, the weekly emergency call counts were significantly associated with the rates of 1st and 2nd vaccine doses administered to this age group but were not with COVID-19 infection rates. While not establishing causal relationships, the findings raise concerns regarding vaccine-induced undetected severe cardiovascular side-effects and underscore the already established causal relationship between vaccines and myocarditis, a frequent cause of unexpected cardiac arrest in young individuals. Surveillance of potential vaccine side-effects and COVID-19 outcomes should incorporate EMS and other health data to identify public health trends (e.g., increased in EMS calls), and promptly investigate potential underlying causes.

Chewing Gum Developed That Could Reduce COVID Transmission – Laced With Protein That “Traps” the SARS-CoV-2 Virus [SciTechDaily, December 2021]

Title:

Chewing Gum Developed That Could Reduce COVID Transmission – Laced With Protein That “Traps” the SARS-CoV-2 Virus

 

By:

University of Pennsylvania, USA

 

Published:

SciTechDaily, 4 December 2021

https://scitechdaily.com/chewing-gum-developed-that-could-reduce-covid-transmission-laced-with-protein-that-traps-the-sars-cov-2-virus/

 

From the article:

A chewing gum laced with a plant-grown protein serves as a “trap” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, reducing viral load in saliva and potentially tamping down transmission, according to a new study.

 

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), USA (2021) - The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Policy Responses on Excess Mortality

Title:

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Policy Responses on Excess Mortality

 

Authors:

Virat Agrawal, USC Sol Price School of Public Polict, USA

Jonathan H Cantor, RAND Corporation, USA

Neeraj Sood, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics Sol Price School of Public Policy, USA

Chritopher M Whaley, RAND Corporation, USA

 

Published:

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), USA, June 2021

https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w28930/w28930.pdf

[NBER Working Paper Series]

 

Abstract:

As a way of slowing COVID-19 transmission, many countries and U.S. states implemented shelter-in-place (SIP) policies. However, the effects of SIP policies on public health are a priori ambiguous as they might have unintended adverse effects on health. The effect of SIP policies on COVID-19 transmission and physical mobility is mixed. To understand the net effects of SIP policies, we measure the change in excess deaths following the implementation of SIP policies in 43 countries and all U.S. states. We use an event study framework to quantify changes in the number of excess deaths after the implementation of a SIP policy. We find that following the implementation of SIP policies, excess mortality increases. The increase in excess mortality is statistically significant in the immediate weeks following SIP implementation for the international comparison only and occurs despite the fact that there was a decline in the number of excess deaths prior to the implementation of the policy. At the U.S. state-level, excess mortality increases in the immediate weeks following SIP introduction and then trends below zero following 20 weeks of SIP implementation. We failed to find that countries or U.S. states that implemented SIP policies earlier, and in which SIP policies had longer to operate, had lower excess deaths than countries/U.S. states that were slower to implement SIP policies. We also failed to observe differences in excess death trends before and after the implementation of SIP policies based on pre-SIP COVID-19 death rates.

 

The Role of Schools in Transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Germany [Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), University College London, 20 November 2020]

Title:

The Role of Schools in Transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Germany 

 

Authors:

Clara von Bismarck-Osten, Kirill Borusyak & Uta Schönberg

 

Published:

Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM), Department of Economics, University College London, 

20 November 2020 [Discussion Paper Series (CDP 22/20)]

https://www.cream-migration.org/publ_uploads/CDP_22_20.pdf

 

Abstract:

This paper considers the role of school closures in the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To isolate the impact of the closures from other containment measures and identify a causal effect, we exploit variation in the start and end dates of the summer school and fall holiday across the 16 federal states in Germany. Leveraging a difference-in-differences design with staggered adoption, we show that neither the summer closures nor the closures in the fall have had any significant containing effect on the spread of SARS-CoV-2 among children or any spill-over effect on older generations. We also do not find any evidence that the return to school at full capacity after the summer holidays increased infections among children or adults. Instead, we find the number of children infected increased during the last weeks of the summer holiday and decreased in the first weeks after schools reopen, a pattern we attribute to travel returnees and increased testing.

COVID-19: how lockdowns affected health access in African and Asian slums

Title:

COVID-19: how lockdowns affected health access in African and Asian slums

 

Authors:

Funke Fayehun, University of Ibadan

Bronwyn Harris, University of Warwick

Frances Griffiths, University of Warwick & South Africa Research Chair in Health Policy and Systems, University of the Witwatersrand

Narjis Rizvi, Aga Khan University

Pauline Bakibinga, African Population and Health Research Center

Syed AK Shifat Ahmed, University Bangladesh

Published:

The Conversation, 22 October 2020

https://theconversation.com/covid-19-how-lockdowns-affected-health-access-in-african-and-asian-slums-147600

From the article:

In a recent study, we explored healthcare and access to services in seven slums in Kenya, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. We were looking for insights of how health services are perceived in these communities before and during COVID-19-related lockdowns.

New study led by the University of Washington - If You Eat Sashimi, Check for Worms: 283-Fold Increase in Sushi Parasites in Past 40 Years

Title:
If You Eat Sashimi, Check for Worms: 283-Fold Increase in Sushi Parasites in Past 40 Years

Published: 
SciTechDaily, 19 March 2020

From the article:
"A new study led by the University of Washington finds dramatic increases in the abundance of a worm that can be transmitted to humans who eat raw or undercooked seafood. Its 283-fold increase in abundance since the 1970s could have implications for the health of humans and marine mammals, which both can inadvertently eat the worm."

To read this article:
https://scitechdaily.com/if-you-eat-sashimi-check-for-worms-283-fold-increase-in-sushi-parasites-in-past-40-years/