Overview and links to articles mentioned this month.

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June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Noelle M. Cocoros details the development of the RAVIOLI algorithm, a new method using electronic health records to enhance surveillance of respiratory viruses beyond traditional influenza-like illness methods. This approach notably improved detection of respiratory illnesses including SARS-CoV-2 and RSV, providing early warnings of emerging respiratory infection trends. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0473_article

• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Park et al. explore severe Human Parainfluenza Virus pneumonia in adults at a tertiary hospital in Seoul, highlighting its prevalence and severe impact, especially in the immunocompromised. The study emphasizes the significant role of fungal co-infections in mortality rates. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0670_article

• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: A study on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) finds no transmission to human cerebral organoids, suggesting a strong species barrier, which is crucial for understanding the zoonotic potential of CWD. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-1568_article

• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Marta Zlotnick examines foodborne disease outbreaks in the U.S. linked to foods eligible for irradiation. The findings suggest a significant prevention potential through irradiation, which is currently underutilized. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0922_article

• June 2024, Emerging Infectious Diseases: Katrine Finderup Nielsen's follow-up study on the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine in Denmark shows moderate and persistent effectiveness against invasive pneumococcal disease, except for serotype 3. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/6/23-0975_article

• May 2024, Clinical Microbiology Reviews: Trisha Greenhalgh and colleagues provide a comprehensive review on masks and respirators, affirming their effectiveness in reducing transmission of respiratory infections and outlining future research directions for improving their use and public acceptance. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00124-23

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• June 2024, Nature Communications: Research by Haddrell et al. discusses the correlation between ambient CO2 levels and SARS-CoV-2 stability, revealing that increased CO2 concentrations can significantly enhance the virus's survival in aerosols, emphasizing the importance of ventilation in public health strategies. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-47777-5

• June 2024 BMJ Public Health - a paper alleging that much of the excess mortality associated with the pandemic is actually due to COVID vaccines. This paper is flawed - perhaps it did not receive the usual BMJ review? https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e000282

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Podcast text below:

Electronic Health Record–Based Algorithm for Monitoring Respiratory Virus–Like Illness, by Noelle M. Cocoros, in June 2024 Emerging Infectious Diseases

Multiple respiratory viruses circulate and cause significant illness and death, but public health has traditionally focused surveillance efforts on influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI). Syndromic surveillance systems provide little information on which pathogens are circulating and often require...