Pollution Dispersion and Predicting Infection Risks in Mobile Public Toilets Based on Measurement and Simulation Data of Indoor Environment

Since the 21st century, in several public health emergencies that have occurred across the world, the humid enclosed environment of the toilet has become one of the places where bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms breed and spread. Mobile public toilets, as a supplement of urban fixed public toilets, are also widely used in densely populated areas. According to statistics, since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019, multiple incidents of people being infected by the COVID-19 virus due to aerosol proliferation in public toilets have been confirmed. It is an urgent issue to resolve the internal environmental pollution of mobile public health and reduce the risk of virus transmission in public spaces under the global epidemic prevention. This paper utilized a typical combined mobile public toilet as the research object and measured and evaluated the indoor thermal environment in real time over a short period of time. The diffusion mode and concentration change law of pollutants in mobile public toilets were predicted and analyzed based on CFD. Regression analysis was also used to clarify the relationship between indoor thermal environment variables and aerosol diffusion paths, and a ventilation optimization scheme was proposed to reduce the risk of virus transmission.

Exacerbation of Racial Disparities in Living Donor Kidney Transplantation During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic profoundly impacted transplant services, with a particularly strong impact on living donor kidney transplantation.The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have disproportionately impacted Black patients' access to living donor kidney transplantation.As the pandemic evolves through surges and vaccine acceptance disparities persist, ongoing attention to transplant disparities is needed.

Survey of current transplant center practices regarding COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the United States.

An electronic survey canvassing current policies of transplant centers regarding a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for transplant candidates and living donors was distributed to clinicians at US solid organ transplant centers performing transplants from October 14, 2021-November 15, 2021. Responses were received from staff at 141 unique transplant centers. These respondents represented 56.4% of US transplant centers, and responding centers performed 78.5% of kidney transplants and 82.4% of liver transplants in the year prior to survey administration. Only 35.7% of centers reported implementing a vaccine mandate, while 60.7% reported that vaccination was not required. A minority (42%) of responding centers with a vaccine mandate for transplant candidates also mandated vaccination for living organ donors. Centers with a vaccine mandate most frequently cited clinical evidence supporting the efficacy of pre-transplant vaccination (82%) and stewardship obligations to ensure organs were transplanted into the lowest risk patients (64%). Centers without a vaccine mandate cited a variety of reasons including administrative, equity, and legal considerations for their decision. Transplant centers in the United States exhibit significant heterogeneity in COVID-19 vaccination mandate policies for transplant candidates. While all centers encourage vaccination, most centers have not mandated COVID-19 vaccination for candidates and living donors, citing administrative opposition, legal prohibitions, and concern about equity in access to transplants.

COVID-19 test result reporting for deceased donors: Emergent policies, logistical challenges, and future directions.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses unprecedented challenges to the transplant community, including organ procurement organizations (OPOs), transplant centers, regulatory agencies, and recipient candidates. Access to timely, accurate information on the status of deceased donor viral infection is essential in determining organ acceptance. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network expeditiously added fields to collect these data; however, use of the data collection fields was not uniform nationally. Standardized, field-defined data capture and reporting are vital to ensure optimal organ utilization during this pandemic, and to prepare the community for subsequent challenges.