Associations between COVID-19 risk, multiple environmental exposures, and housing conditions: A study using individual-level GPS-based real-time sensing data.

Few studies have used individual-level data to explore the association between COVID-19 risk with multiple environmental exposures and housing conditions. Using individual-level data collected with GPS-tracking smartphones, mobile air-pollutant and noise sensors, an activity-travel diary, and a questionnaire from two typical neighborhoods in a dense and well-developed city (i.e., Hong Kong), this study seeks to examine 1) the associations between multiple environmental exposures (i.e., different types of greenspace, PM2.5, and noise) and housing conditions (i.e., housing types, ownership, and overcrowding) with individuals' COVID-19 risk both in residential neighborhoods and along daily mobility trajectories; 2) which social groups are disadvantaged in COVID-19 risk through the perspective of the neighborhood effect averaging problem (NEAP). Using separate multiple linear regression and logistical regression models, we found a significant negative association between COVID-19 risk with greenspace (i.e., NDVI) both in residential areas and along people's daily mobility trajectories. Meanwhile, we also found that high open space and recreational land exposure and poor housing conditions were positively associated with COVID-19 risk in high-risk neighborhoods, and noise exposure was positively associated with COVID-19 risk in low-risk neighborhoods. Further, people with work places in high-risk areas and poor housing conditions were disadvantaged in COVID-19 risk.

Applying Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic to Improve Pediatric Asthma Care.

Asthma is the most common chronic childhood condition and is a risk factor for severe respiratory viral infections. Thus, early during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic there was concern that children with asthma would be at risk for severe COVID-19 illness and that asthma control could worsen as a result of the pandemic. This article seeks to summarize what was learned in the early stages of the pandemic about the impact of COVID-19 on children with asthma. We review evidence from several studies that demonstrated a significant decline in asthma morbidity in the first year of the pandemic. Additionally, we describe several potential mechanisms that may explain the reduced frequency in childhood asthma exacerbations as well as review lessons learned for future management of childhood asthma. While the COVID-19 pandemic initially brought uncertainty, it soon became clear that the pandemic had several positive effects for children with asthma. Now we can apply the lessons that were learned during the pandemic to re-examine asthma care practices as well as advocate for best approaches for asthma management.

Understanding the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Small Businesses and Workers Using Quantitative and Qualitative Methods.

The COVID-19 pandemic has simultaneously exacerbated and elucidated inequities in resource distribution for small businesses across the United States in terms of worker health and the financial stability of both owners and employees. This disparity was further intensified by the constantly changing and sometimes opposing health and safety guidelines and recommendations to businesses from the local, state, and federal government agencies. To better understand how the pandemic has impacted small businesses, a cross-sectional survey was administered to owners, managers, and workers (n = 45) in the beauty and auto shop sectors from Southern Arizona. The survey identified barriers to safe operation that these businesses faced during the pandemic, illuminated worker concerns about COVID-19, and elicited perceptions of how workplaces have changed since the novel coronavirus outbreak of 2019. A combination of open-ended and close-ended questions explored how businesses adapted to the moving target of pandemic safety recommendations, as well as how the pandemic affected businesses and workers more generally. Almost all the beauty salons surveyed had to close their doors (22/25), either temporarily or permanently, due to COVID-19, while most of the auto repair shops were able to stay open (13/20). Beauty salons were more likely to implement exposure controls meant to limit transmission with customers and coworkers, such as wearing face masks and disallowing walk-ins, and were also more likely to be affected by pandemic-related issues, such as reduced client load and sourcing difficulties. Auto shops, designated by the state of Arizona to be 'essential' businesses, were less likely to have experienced financial precarity due to the pandemic. Content analysis of open-ended questions using the social-ecological model documented current and future worker concerns, namely financial hardships from lockdowns and the long-term viability of their business, unwillingness of employees to return to work, uncertainty regarding the progression of the pandemic, conflict over suitable health and safety protocols, and personal or family health and well-being (including anxiety and/or stress). Findings from the survey indicate that small businesses did not have clear guidance from policymakers during the pandemic and that the enacted regulations and guidelines focused on either health and safety or finances, but rarely both. Businesses often improvised and made potentially life-changing decisions with little to no support. This analysis can be used to inform future pandemic preparedness plans for small businesses that are cost-efficient, effective at reducing environmental exposures, and ultimately more likely to be implemented by the workers.

Recent advances in facemask devices for in vivo sampling of human exhaled breath aerosols and inhalable environmental exposures.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the unprecedented use of facemasks has been requiring for wearing in daily life. By wearing facemask, human exhaled breath aerosols and inhaled environmental exposures can be efficiently filtered and thus various filtration residues can be deposited in facemask. Therefore, facemask could be a simple, wearable, in vivo, onsite and noninvasive sampler for collecting exhaled and inhalable compositions, and gain new insights into human health and environmental exposure. In this review, the recent advances in developments and applications of in vivo facemask sampling of human exhaled bacteria, viruses, proteins, and metabolites, and inhalable facemask contaminants and air pollutants, are reviewed. New features of facemask sampling are highlighted. The perspectives and challenges on further development and potential applications of facemask devices are also discussed.

Cumulative Impacts and COVID-19: Implications for Low-Income, Minoritized, and Health-Compromised Communities in King County, WA.

Few studies have assessed how the intersection of social determinants of health and environmental hazards contributes to racial disparities in COVID-19. The aim of our study was to compare COVID-19 disparities in testing and positivity to cumulative environmental health impacts, and to assess how unique social and environmental determinants of health relate to COVID-19 positivity in Seattle, King County, WA, at the census tract level. Publicly available data (n = 397 census tracts) were obtained from Public Health-Seattle & King County, 2018 ACS 5-year estimates, and the Washington Tracking Network. COVID-19 testing and positive case rates as of July 12, 2020, were mapped and compared to Washington State Environmental Health Disparities (EHD) Map cumulative impact rankings. We calculated odds ratios from a series of univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses using cumulative impact rankings, and community-level socioeconomic, health, and environmental factors as predictors and having ≥ 10% or < 10% census tract positivity as the binary outcome variable. We found a remarkable overlap between Washington EHD cumulative impact rankings and COVID-19 positivity in King County. Census tracts with ≥ 10 % COVID-19 positivity had significantly lower COVID-19 testing rates and higher proportions of people of color and faced a combination of low socioeconomic status-related outcomes, poor community health outcomes, and significantly higher concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). King County communities experiencing high rates of COVID-19 face a disproportionate cumulative burden of environmental and social inequities. Cumulative environmental health impacts should therefore systematically be considered when assessing for risk of exposure to and health complications resulting from COVID-19.

Using the PhenX Toolkit to Select Standard Measurement Protocols for Your Research Study.

The goals of PhenX (consensus measures for Phenotypes and eXposures) are to promote the use of standard measurement protocols and to help investigators identify opportunities for collaborative research and cross-study analysis, thus increasing the impact of individual studies. The PhenX Toolkit (https://www.phenxtoolkit.org/) offers high-quality, well-established measurement protocols to assess phenotypes and exposures in studies with human participants. The Toolkit contains protocols representing 29 research domains and 6 specialty collections of protocols that add depth to the Toolkit in specific research areas (e.g., COVID-19, Social Determinants of Health [SDoH], Blood Sciences Research [BSR], Mental Health Research [MHR], Tobacco Regulatory Research [TRR], and Substance Abuse and Addiction [SAA]). Protocols are recommended for inclusion in the PhenX Toolkit by Working Groups of domain experts using a consensus process that includes input from the scientific community. For each PhenX protocol, the Toolkit provides a detailed description, the rationale for inclusion, and supporting documentation. Users can browse protocols in the Toolkit, search the Toolkit using keywords, or use Browse Protocols Tree to identify protocols of interest. The PhenX Toolkit provides data dictionaries compatible with the database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP), Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) data submission compatibility, and data collection worksheets to help investigators incorporate PhenX protocols into their study design. The PhenX Toolkit provides resources to help users identify published studies that used PhenX protocols. © 2021 The Authors. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol: Using the PhenX Toolkit to support or extend study design.