Human seasonal influenza under COVID-19 and the potential consequences of influenza lineage elimination (preprint)

Annual epidemics of seasonal influenza cause hundreds of thousands of deaths, high levels of morbidity, and substantial economic loss. Yet, global influenza circulation has been heavily suppressed by public health measures and travel restrictions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, the influenza B/Yamagata lineage has not been conclusively detected since April 2020, and A(H3N2), A(H1N1), and B/Victoria viruses circulate with considerably less genetic diversity. Travel restrictions have largely confined regional outbreaks of A(H3N2) to South and Southeast Asia, B/Victoria epidemics in China, and A(H1N1) in West Africa. Seasonal influenza transmission lineages continue to perish globally, except in select hotspots, which will likely seed future epidemics. Waning population immunity and sporadic case detection will further challenge influenza vaccine strain selection and epidemic control. We offer perspective on the potential short- and long-term evolutionary dynamics of seasonal influenza and discuss potential consequences and mitigation strategies as global travel gradually returns to pre-pandemic levels.

Online in No Time: Design and Implementation of a Remote Learning First Quarter General Chemistry Laboratory and Second Quarter Organic Chemistry Laboratory (preprint)

The instruction of high enrollment general and organic chemistry laboratories at a large public 10 university always have curricular, administrative, and logistical challenges. Herein, we describe how we met these challenges in the transition to remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss the reasoning behind our approach, the utilization of our existing web-based course content, the additions and alterations to our curriculum, replacement of experimental work with videos, the results of both student and TA surveys, and lessons learned for iterations of these courses in the near 15 future.