scholarly journals Transmission Dynamics of and Insights from the 2018-2019 Measles Outbreak in New York City: A Modeling Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wan Yang

AbstractIn 2018-2019, New York City experienced the largest measles outbreak in the US in nearly three decades. To identify key factors contributing to this outbreak to aid future public health interventions, here we developed a model-inference system to infer the transmission dynamics of measles in the affected community, based on incidence data. Our results indicate that delayed vaccination of young children aged 1-4 years enabled the initial spread of measles and that increased infectious contact among this age group, likely via gatherings intended to expose unvaccinated children (i.e. “measles parties”), further aggravated the outbreak and led to widespread of measles beyond this age group. We found that around half of infants were susceptible to measles by age 1 (the age-limit to receive the first vaccine dose in the US); as such, infants experienced a large number of infections during the outbreak. We showed that without the implemented vaccination campaigns, the outbreak severity including numbers of infections and hospitalizations would be 10 times higher and predominantly affect infants and children under 4. These results suggest that recommending the first vaccine dose before age 1 and the second dose before age 4 could allow pro-vaccine parents to vaccinate and protect infants and young children more effectively, should high level of vaccine hesitancy persist. In addition, enhanced public health education is needed to reduce activities that unnecessarily expose children to measles and other infections.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (22) ◽  
pp. eaaz4037
Author(s):  
Wan Yang

In 2018–2019, New York City experienced the largest measles outbreak in the United States in nearly three decades. To identify key contributing factors, we modeled the transmission dynamics of this outbreak. Results indicate that delayed vaccination of 1- to 4-year-olds enabled the initial spread and that increased infectious contact, likely via “measles parties,” facilitated later transmission. We found that around half of infants were susceptible by age 1 and thus had many infections. Without the implemented vaccination campaigns, numbers of infections and hospitalizations could have been >10 times higher and would predominantly affect those under 4. These results suggest that a first vaccine dose before age 1 and the second dose before age 4 could allow parents to vaccinate and protect children more effectively should a high level of vaccine hesitancy persist. Enhanced public health education is needed to reduce activities that unnecessarily expose children to measles and other infections.


2018 ◽  
Vol 172 (9) ◽  
pp. 811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer B. Rosen ◽  
Robert J. Arciuolo ◽  
Amina M. Khawja ◽  
Jie Fu ◽  
Francesca R. Giancotti ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Peter J. Marcotullio ◽  
William D. Solecki

During early 2020, the world encountered an extreme event in the form of a new and deadly disease, COVID-19. Over the next two years, the pandemic brought sickness and death to countries and their cities around the globe. One of the first and initially the hardest hit location was New York City, USA. This article is an introduction to the Special Issue in this journal that highlights the impacts from and responses to COVID-19 as an extreme event in the New York City metropolitan region. We overview the aspects of COVID-19 that make it an important global extreme event, provide brief background to the conditions in the world, and the US before describing the 10 articles in the issue that focus on conditions, events and dynamics in New York City during the initial phases of the pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 448-454
Author(s):  
Daniel Weisz ◽  
Michael Kelley Gusmano

Abstract Aims The aim of this study is to assess risk factors for alcohol misuse among older New York City residents and examine the effect of local public health efforts to address alcohol misuse. Methods The Community Health Survey, a cross-sectional telephone survey of 8500 randomly selected adult New Yorkers, records the frequency of alcohol use. We examine these results among 65 and older subjects by sociodemographic status using logistic regression modeling and compare trends in smoking and alcohol consumption between 2002 and 2016. Results Those with unhealthy drinking habits, combining binge drinking and excessive consumption, constituted 5.7% of 65 plus population and were more likely to be White, US born, healthy, better educated and wealthier. The percentage of older smokers in New York City has decreased while unhealthy drinking is nearly flat since 2002. Conclusions Our findings reinforce the importance of screening geriatric populations for alcohol use disorders and support the development of new public health efforts to address alcohol misuse if the city is to achieve results similar to those obtained in decreasing tobacco consumption.


1976 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 453
Author(s):  
Gert H. Brieger ◽  
John Duffy ◽  
Robert Stevens ◽  
Rosemary Stevens ◽  
Lloyd C. Taylor. Jr.

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (sup2) ◽  
pp. S227-S242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick A. Wilson ◽  
Natalie M. Wittlin ◽  
Miguel Muñoz-Laboy ◽  
Richard Parker

The Lancet ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 379 (9831) ◽  
pp. 2037-2038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted Alcorn

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document