What We (Don't) Know About the Infectious Disease Burden Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness in the United States and Canada.

Youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) and sexual and gender minority (SGM) YEH may be at increased risk for infectious diseases due to living arrangements, risk behaviors, and barriers to health care access that are dissimilar to those of housed youth and older adults experiencing homelessness. Here, we synthesize findings from 12 peer-reviewed articles published between 2012 and 2020 that enumerate YEH or SGM YEH infectious disease burden in locations across the United States or Canada. Pathogens presented in the reviewed studies were limited to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and bloodborne infections (BBI).

Illegal dumping of oil and gas wastewater alters arid soil microbial communities.

The Permian Basin, underlying southeast New Mexico and west Texas, is one of the most productive oil and gas (OG) provinces in the United States. Oil and gas production yields large volumes of wastewater with complex chemistries, and the environmental health risks posed by these OG wastewaters on sensitive desert ecosystems are poorly understood. Starting in November 2017, 39 illegal dumps, as defined by federal and state regulations, of OG wastewater were identified in southeastern New Mexico, releasing ~600,000 L of fluid onto dryland soils.

Application of a universal parasite diagnostic test to biological specimens collected from animals.

A previously described universal parasite diagnostic (nUPDx) based on PCR amplification of the 18S rDNA and deep-amplicon sequencing, can detect human blood parasites with a sensitivity comparable to real-time PCR. To date, the efficacy of this assay has only been assessed on human blood. This study assessed the utility of nUPDx for the detection of parasitic infections in animals using blood, tissues, and other biological sample types from mammals, birds, and reptiles, known to be infected with helminth, apicomplexan, or pentastomid parasites (confirmed by microscopy or PCR), as well as negative samples.

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability Among People Experiencing Homelessness in Central Florida and Southern Nevada, March-June 2021.

Context: Understanding COVID-19 vaccine acceptability among people experiencing homelessness is critical to improve vaccine coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about COVID-19 vaccine acceptability people experiencing unsheltered homelessness (PEUH).

Objective: To identify and describe motivators for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and reasons for hesitancy, information sources utilized and trusted for vaccine decision making, logistical barriers to receiving vaccination, and what might increase comfortability to receive a COVID-19 vaccination among PEUH.

Incidence of COVID-19 Among Persons Experiencing Homelessness in the US From January 2020 to November 2021.

Importance: A lack of timely and high-quality data is an ongoing challenge for public health responses to COVID-19 among people experiencing homelessness (PEH). Little is known about the total number of cases of COVID-19 among PEH.

Objective: To estimate the number of COVID-19 cases among PEH and compare the incidence rate among PEH with that in the general population.

Polyhydroxybutyrate accumulation by a Serratia sp.

A strain of Serratia sp. showed intracellular electron-transparent inclusion bodies when incubated in the presence of citrate and glycerol 2-phosphate without nitrogen source following pre-growth under carbon-limitation in continuous culture. About 1.