Social Determinants of Health and Risk for Long COVID in the U.S. RECOVER-Adult Cohort.

Background: Social determinants of health (SDoH) contribute to disparities in SARS-CoV-2 infection, but their associations with long COVID are unknown.

Objective: To determine associations between SDoH at the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection and risk for long COVID.

Design: Prospective observational cohort study.

RYSEFAX: A Virtual Recruitment Initiative Targeting Internal Medicine Fellowship Applicants Committed to Program Inclusion.

Graduate medical education programs have implemented strategies to enhance recruitment of diverse applicants who value inclusive training environments, yet there are few published fellowship recruitment strategies. To assess the acceptability and feasibility of a virtual recruitment and engagement program for internal medicine (IM) fellowship applicants. In 2020, we developed a virtual recruitment program (RYSEFAX) centered on IM fellowship applicants.

"I Didn't Know Him Before the Pandemic… Now He's on My Speed Dial": Strengthening Collaboration Between Infectious Diseases Physicians and State and Local Public Health for Future Public Health Emergencies.

Background: Infectious diseases (ID) physicians play a crucial role in public health emergencies. Effective collaboration between public health agencies and healthcare providers is essential for a coordinated response. However, there is limited information on how ID physicians and health departments collaborate and which areas need to be improved.

Sex Differences in Long COVID.

Importance: A substantial number of individuals worldwide experience long COVID, or post-COVID condition. Other postviral and autoimmune conditions have a female predominance, but whether the same is true for long COVID, especially within different subgroups, is uncertain.

Objective: To evaluate sex differences in the risk of developing long COVID among adults with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Evaluating racial and ethnic disparities in antibiotic treatment for pneumonia patients in a major academic health system.

Objective: Examine the relationship between patients' race and prescriber antibiotic choice while accounting for differences in underlying illness and infection severity.

Design: Retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: Acute care facilities within an academic healthcare system.

Derivation of a risk-adjusted model to predict antibiotic prescribing among hospitalists in an academic healthcare network.

Background: Among inpatients, peer-comparison of prescribing metrics is challenging due to variation in patient-mix and prescribing by multiple providers daily. We established risk-adjusted provider-specific antibiotic prescribing metrics to allow peer-comparisons among hospitalists.

Methods: Using clinical and billing data from inpatient encounters discharged from the Hospital Medicine Service between January 2020 through June 2021 at four acute care hospitals, we calculated bimonthly (every two months) days of therapy (DOT) for antibiotics attributed to specific providers based on patient billing dates.

Assessing for race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic disparities in central line-associated bloodstream infection risk in a large academic health system.

Objective: To examine the relationship between race and ethnicity and central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) while accounting for inherent differences in CLABSI risk related to central venous catheter (CVC) type.

Design: Retrospective cohort analysis.

Setting: Acute care facilities within an academic healthcare system.

Associations Between HIV and Severe Mpox in an Atlanta Cohort.

Background: In the Southeastern United States, the 2022 mpox outbreak disproportionately impacted people who are black and people with HIV (PWH).

Methods: We analyzed a cohort of 395 individuals diagnosed with mpox across 3 health care systems in Atlanta, Georgia between 1 June 2022 and 7 October 2022. We present demographic and clinical characteristics and use multivariable logistic regression analyses to evaluate the association between HIV status and severe mpox (per the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition) and, among PWH, the associations between CD4+ T-cell count and HIV load with severe mpox.

Demographic representation among speakers at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) spring conferences.

Background: The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) is a leading medical society for infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship. This descriptive study evaluated speaker demographics at the annual SHEA Spring conferences from 2019 to 2022.

Methods: This was a retrospective, descriptive analysis of the demographic composition of speakers at the annual SHEA Spring conferences between 2019 and 2022, excluding the cancelled 2020 conference.

Demographic and Geographic Inequities in Antimicrobial Use and Prescribing.

Little is known about how social determinants of health may impact antimicrobial prescribing among racial and ethnic minority populations, different age groups and genders, and across geographic regions. The factors that influence antimicrobial prescribing are complex, but evidence suggests that demographic and socioeconomic factors do influence prescribing patterns. This review describes the inequities observed in antimicrobial use and prescribing that have been heretofore published, with a focus on differences observed by race and ethnicity, age, gender, and geographic region of the United States.

Development of a Definition of Postacute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Importance: SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with persistent, relapsing, or new symptoms or other health effects occurring after acute infection, termed postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), also known as long COVID. Characterizing PASC requires analysis of prospectively and uniformly collected data from diverse uninfected and infected individuals.

Objective: To develop a definition of PASC using self-reported symptoms and describe PASC frequencies across cohorts, vaccination status, and number of infections.

Team Science: Advancing Women and Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color on the Pathway of Conducting Clinical Research.

Introduction: Innovative discovery begins with diverse perspectives; research teams should harness this model. Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC) and women are underrepresented as researchers. Team science leverages collaborative and cross-disciplinary approaches to diversify the research workforce, and introduces academic (and non-academic) faculty with limited research exposure/experience to clinical research.

Botulism in the 21st Century: A Scoping Review.

Botulism is a potentially deadly neuroparalytic disease that affects all age groups; it is highly challenging to diagnose due to its nonspecific symptoms. Infant botulism is the most common form of botulism in the United States, followed by foodborne and wound botulism. Since most patients require hospitalization, it is imperative that both adult and pediatric physicians recognize its symptoms.

Differences in diabetes control in telemedicine vs. in-person only visits in ambulatory care setting.

There is limited information regarding how telemedicine visits compare with in-person visits regarding diabetes outcomes in an ambulatory care setting. Our objective was to compare proportions of patients in ambulatory setting with uncontrolled diabetes among those with telemedicine visits versus in-person only visits and examine differences by age, race, gender, ethnicity, and insurance status. Adults with diabetes who attended an ambulatory primary or specialty clinic visit between May 2020 and May 2021 were included.

Reductions in inpatient fluoroquinolone use and postdischarge infection (CDI) from a systemwide antimicrobial stewardship intervention.

Objective: To determine the impact of an inpatient stewardship intervention targeting fluoroquinolone use on inpatient and postdischarge infection (CDI).

Design: We used an interrupted time series study design to evaluate the rate of hospital-onset CDI (HO-CDI), postdischarge CDI (PD-CDI) within 12 weeks, and inpatient fluoroquinolone use from 2 years prior to 1 year after a stewardship intervention.

Setting: An academic healthcare system with 4 hospitals.