ABSTRACT
Recent evidence confirming cat-to-human SARS-CoV-2 transmission has highlighted the importance of monitoring infection in domestic cats. Although the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on feline health are poorly characterized, cats have close contact with humans, and with both domesticated and wild animals. Accordingly, they could act as a reservoir of infection, an intermediate host and a source of novel variants. To investigate the spread of the virus in the cat population, serum samples were tested for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by ELISA and a pseudotype-based virus neutralization assay, designed to detect exposure to variants known to be circulating in the human population. Overall seroprevalence was 3.2%, peaking at 5.3% in autumn 2021. Variant-specific neutralizing antibody responses were detected with titers waning over time. The variant-specific response in the feline population correlated with and trailed the variants circulating in the human population, indicating multiple ongoing human-to-cat spill-over events.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
IMPACT: This real-world study of what students value in crisis leadership fills an important gap in the literature and may inform future leadership development programs in undergraduate medical education. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Leadership training is of growing importance and prevalence in medical education. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique insight into the qualities students value in leaders. Our qualitative study examined these leadership themes and provides a grounding for future development of leadership programs. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A conventional qualitative approach was used in order to allow open expression of ideas related to leadership in a pandemic. The authors developed a 5 free-text question survey instrument aimed to uncover student perceptions of leadership both during the current pandemic and in crises in general. A participant pilot was performed in order to ensure readability and ease of understanding. We used thematic analysis to examine the content of the survey responses, and inductive coding of the responses allowed identification of emerging themes. Medical students at the University of Michigan were surveyed. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: In total, 162 students completed the survey. The demographic characteristics of participants are shown in Table 1. Median age was 25 years old (range, 22-39). There was good representation from the 4 classes in the medical school with 20-30% from each medical school class and 5% of dual degree students. Thematic analysis demonstrated that students value personal characteristics of excellence in their leaders with an orientation towards helping other people. Students believe that leaders must know how to interpret and use information and then that these leaders must be able to communicate expertly to guide organizations. The final theme that emerged is that effective leaders must commit to decisive action. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: This study took place at a time of unprecedented crises and response examples were grounded in this real-world practice of leadership. These results and themes that emerged fill a critical gap and may facilitate future curriculum development for medical students and trainees.
ABSTRACT
We evaluated the association between preventative social behaviour and government stringency. Additionally, we sought to evaluate the influence of additional factors including time, need to protect others (using the reported number of COVID-19 deaths as a surrogate measure) and reported confidence in government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. We used repeated national cross-sectional surveys the UK over the course of 41 weeks from 1st April 2020 to January 28th, 2021, including a total of 38,092 participants. Preventative social behaviour and government stringency index scores were significantly associated on linear regression analyses (R2 =0.6468, p<0.001, and remained significant after controlling for the effect of reported COVID-19 deaths, confidence in government handling of the pandemic, and time (R2=0.898, p<0.001). Longitudinal data suggest that government stringency is an effective tool in promoting preventative social behaviour in the fight against COVID-19.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
Objective: To examine the general publics views around willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccines and concerns regarding their safety. Design: Repeat cross-sectional surveys. Setting: Online surveys in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom Participants: National samples of adults aged 18 years and above in November 2020 and January 2021. Main outcomes measures: The proportion of adults reporting: willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccination; concern regarding side-effects from vaccinations; concerns over contraction COVID-19, and beliefs around vaccine provision in their country. Changes between the November and January surveys are also reported. Results: Across the 15 countries, the proportion of respondents reporting they would have the COVID-19 vaccine increased from 40.7% (range: 25.0-55.1) to 55.2% (range: 34.8-77.5), proportion reporting worried about the side-effects of vaccine decreased from 53.3% (range: 42.1-66.7) to 47.9% (range: 28.0-66.1). On the second survey, willingness to receive vaccine remained low in females (49.4%, range: 30.2-79.1), aged 18-39 years (42.1%, range: 25.9-71.7), those not working or unemployed (48.9, range: 18.8-67.0), students (45.9%, range: 22.8-70.0), and those with children at home (46.5%, range: 32.4-68.9). Concerns regarding safety of vaccine remained high in females (53.7%, range: 31.8-70.4), aged 18-39 years (50.8%, range: 28.2-60.7), aged 40-64 years (51.3%, range: 30.7-68.5), those working (50.5%, range: 26.7-65.0), those not working or unemployed (53.3, range: 35.4-73.8) and those with children at home (55.8%, range: 36.5-64.7). Conclusion: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy decreased considerably over a relatively short time coinciding with the discovery of effective vaccines. The public remain concerned about their safety, and public health messaging will need to emphasis their safety especially amongst females, parents and younger adults.
Subject(s)
COVID-19ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has infected millions of people and upended the lives of most humans on the planet. Researchers from across the psychological sciences have sought to document and investigate the impact of COVID-19 in myriad ways, causing an explosion of research that is broad in scope, varied in methods, and challenging to consolidate. Because policy and practice aimed at helping people live healthier and happier lives requires insight from robust patterns of evidence, this paper provides a rapid and thorough summary of high-quality studies published in 2020 addressing two overarching questions. First, what are the mental health consequences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic? Second, what are the neurological sequelae of contracting COVID-19? Our review of the evidence indicates that some facets of mental health suffered greatly during the early months of the pandemic (e.g., anxiety and depression increased), while other facets (life satisfaction) and correlates (social connection, loneliness) notably displayed resilience. In addition, early neurological data indicate several consequences of contracting COVID-19, both during infection and after recovery. In response to these insights, we present seven recommendations (1 urgent, 2 short-term, 4 ongoing) to support mental health and well-being during the pandemic and beyond.