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Comp Med 2022 Aug 18. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Comparative Medicine Brand, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, Durham, North Carolina.

The existence of coronaviruses has been known for many years. These viruses cause significant disease that primarily seems to affect agricultural species. Human coronavirus disease due to the 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and the 2012 outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome made headlines; however, these outbreaks were controlled, and public concern quickly faded. Read More

J Am Coll Cardiol 2022 Aug;80(8):804-817

Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA; Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, California, USA. Electronic address:

Background: Effective equity-focused health policy for hypertension in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) requires an understanding of the condition's current socioeconomic gradients and how these are likely to change in the future as countries develop economically.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine how hypertension prevalence in LMICs varies by individuals' education and household wealth, and how these socioeconomic gradients in hypertension prevalence are associated with a country's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

Methods: We pooled nationally representative household survey data from 76 LMICs. Read More

Commun Dis Intell (2018) 2022 Aug 18;46. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Background: Human metapneumovirus (hMPV), first described in 2001, is a cause of acute respiratory tract infection in the elderly, with symptoms ranging from mild to severe, including pneumonia, but outbreaks are rarely described.

Methods: Between 1 July and 31 December 2018, there were three outbreaks of Influenza-like Illness (ILI) where hMPV was the primary pathogen observed, among 64 aged-care facilities (ACFs) in Western Sydney. These outbreaks were investigated by the Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) Public Health Unit (PHU); multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was performed on nasopharyngeal swabs collected by the ACF. Read More

Commun Dis Intell (2018) 2022 Aug 18;46. Epub 2022 Aug 18.

National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Doherty Institute, 792 Elizabeth St, Melbourne 3000, Victoria, Australia.

Australia monitors its polio-free status by conducting surveillance for cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) in children less than 15 years of age, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Cases of AFP in children are notified to the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit or the Paediatric Active Enhanced Disease Surveillance System, and faecal specimens are referred for virological investigation to the National Enterovirus Reference Laboratory. In 2021, no cases of poliomyelitis were reported from clinical surveillance and Australia reported 1. Read More