Rocky Mountain West COVID-19 Modeling: A Descriptive Assessment of Public Health Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic to Endemic Transition in Summer 2022.

Objectives: Although federal funding for COVID-19 pandemic response measures has ended, opportunities remain to understand the needs of public health departments and the potential use of infectious disease models in the postacute pandemic response. We conducted semistructured interviews with public health representatives representing state, local, and regional/tribal public health departments in the Rocky Mountain West in summer 2022 to understand their COVID-19 priorities, decision-making needs, and data resources.

Methods: We interviewed representatives from 6 organizations representing 3 state, local, and regional/tribal public health departments in the Rocky Mountain West.

Identifying real time surveillance indicators to estimate COVID-19 hospital admissions in Colorado during and after the public health emergency.

Questions remain about how best to focus surveillance efforts for COVID-19 and other emerging respiratory diseases. We used an archive of COVID-19 data in Colorado from October 2020 to March 2024 to reconstruct seven real-time surveillance indicators. We assessed how well the indicators predicted 7-day average COVID-19 hospital admissions, a key indicator of outbreak severity, using machine learning and regression models, and used cross-correlation analysis to identify leading indicators.

Safety and efficacy of repeat ivermectin mass drug administrations for malaria control (RIMDAMAL II): a phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cluster-randomised, parallel-group trial.

Background: The success of crucial vector control efforts in Africa (eg, long-lasting insecticide-treated nets [ITNs] and indoor residual spraying) are threatened by widespread insecticide resistance and insufficient effect on outdoor mosquito biting. Studies have shown that ivermectin, used for the treatment of parasitic diseases, can kill malaria vectors that feed on the blood of treated people and thus might be an effective complementary vector control tool if administered widely to communities in malaria endemic regions. We aimed to test the safety of repeated, high-dose ivermectin mass drug administration (MDA) and its efficacy for reducing malaria incidence among children when integrated with seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) delivery.