Vertebral osteomyelitis caused by group B streptococci ( Streptococcus agalactiae ) secondary to urinary tract infection

Infections due to group B streptococci usually occur in the peri- and neonatal setting or in adults with chronic underlying diseases. A case of pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis caused byStreptococcus agalactiae in a 54-year-old man suffering from phimosis with urinary retention and urinary tract infection is reported. This case adds to the few existing reports of vertebral osteomyelitis caused by group B streptococc

Divisive or Descriptive?: How Americans Understand Critical Race Theory

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has become a flashpoint of elite political discord, yet how Americans actually perceive CRT is unclear. We theorize that Republican elites utilized a strong framing strategy to re-define CRT as an “empty signifier” representing broader racial and cultural grievances. Using a survey and a pre-registered experiment among US adults (N=19,060), we find that this strategy worked. Republicans exhibit more familiarity with CRT and hold more negatively valenced (and wide ranging) sentiments toward CRT, relative to Democrats. Moreover, compared to teaching the legacy of racism in schools, Republicans are significantly more opposed to teaching CRT while Democrats express greater uncertainty. Our findings suggest that by framing CRT as a broad term that envelopes many grievances (including those beyond the scope of CRT), Republicans have shaped a subset of Americans’ understanding of and attitudes towards CRT

The COVID States Project #59: What Americans think about people who are not vaccinated

In this report, we evaluate how people feel about those who are vaccinated and those who are not. A common way of measuring these feelings is through feeling thermometers – special survey items aimed at capturing a respondent’s overall level of warmth towards a particular person, group, or idea. Two of the thermometer questions we asked measured feelings towards “People who are vaccinated against COVID-19” and “People who are NOT vaccinated against COVID-19”, with response options ranging from 0 to 100 degrees. These are the two key outcome variables for this report (see the appendix for full question wording). To evaluate the gap between feelings towards those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 and those who are not, we take the difference in scores between the two corresponding thermometer questions. That tells us how much more favorably respondents view one group compared to the other. Our analyses examine how feelings expressed by the respondents are linked to factors such as partisanship, education, gender, age, income, place of residence and personal vaccination status, among others

The COVID States Project #64: Continued high public support for mandating vaccines

COVID-19 continues to surge in the United States and elsewhere, propelled by the highly contagious Delta variant. As of this writing (on September 29, 2021), about three quarters (76%) of the eligible U.S. population (age 12 and up) have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This is likely not enough to achieve herd immunity in the United States. Though the specific number remains uncertain, a recent estimate by the Infectious Diseases Society of America suggests that over 80% of the entire population must be fully vaccinated to reach herd immunity. More worrisome, around 1 in 5 Americans, depending on the poll, continue to say they are either uncertain or will not get the vaccine. In our most recent survey wave (fielded from August 26 to September 27, 2021), 10% of respondents who indicated that they are not yet vaccinated claimed they are extremely unlikely to get it. Another 12% are “somewhat” unlikely to seek the vaccine. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has shifted tactics in its efforts to get as many Americans as possible vaccinated. The Administration had from the outset emphasized the benefits of getting vaccinated as its primary strategy for persuading reluctant Americans to do so. Yet, starting in September the prevailing strategy seemingly shifted from emphasizing carrots to sticks. On September 9th, President Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal employees and government contractors to be vaccinated, and also announced that the U.S. Department of Labor would require that all companies with more than 100 employees require vaccination or weekly testing, as well as provide paid time off for employees to get vaccinated. The Biden Administration has also encouraged states and smaller companies to impose similar vaccine mandates. The question arises as to whether the persistence of the Delta variant has increased public support for making COVID-19 vaccines mandatory. In our April/May survey wave, six in ten respondents approved of the government mandating vaccines for everyone (see Report #52). This figure increased modestly, to 64% in our June/July survey (see Report #58). In this report, we update our assessment of public support for vaccine mandates, both nationally and across the 50 states, based on our September survey wave

The COVID States Project #66: September 2021 update on executive approval

The COVID States Project survey regularly asks people in all 50 states about their approval of their governors and the President. Since our last report on executive approval, which examined trends through March 2021, the pandemic has notably evolved, with huge surges of cases and deaths associated with the Delta variant throughout the summer and early fall. Most states reacted to the dip in coronavirus infections and increase in vaccinations in late spring and early summer by lifting indoor mask mandates, only to struggle to adapt as cases surged again in the late summer and early fall 2021. Some of these states were responding to CDC guidance, which announced in May that fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear masks indoors or outdoors, only to reverse that guidance a few months later and recommend masks indoors for Americans living in areas of high transmission regardless of vaccination status. Other states rebuffed the guidance of public health agencies by, for instance, banning mask mandates in schools, businesses, and other public places. These policy decisions received wide criticism1 particularly as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths surged in those states with the loosest pandemic restrictions. September 2021 has also seen important political developments with respect to national policy around COVID-19. On September 9, President Biden issued an executive order requiring all federal employees and government contractors to be vaccinated. The President also announced that the U.S. Department of Labor would require all businesses with more than 100 employees to require vaccination or weekly testing and provide paid time off for employees to get vaccinated. On September 22, the FDA authorized booster shots for those vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for certain populations, including the elderly and those at higher risk of catching the disease due to their professions. In this report, we examine the approval of governors and the President for their handling of the pandemic -- and for the president's overall approval -- over time across the U.S. to assess how the public reacted to the policy decisions and developments surrounding the pandemic as well as state and federal governmental responses

The COVID States Project #86: Misperceptions about the war in Ukraine and COVID-19 vaccines

For the past two years, the United States has endured what the World Health Organization has termed an infodemic of misinformation involving COVID-19 in general, and the COVID-19 vaccination in particular. We reviewed the current breadth and depth of the COVID misinformation problem in a recent report [#82]. In that report (based on our January 2022 survey), we found that about one in six respondents (16%) believed at least one out of four false claims about COVID-19 vaccines, while a little over 1/3 (37%) were unsure about at least one false claim. As we discuss below, those percentages have remained stable in our latest survey. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has once again thrust the misinformation problem to the center of public policy discourse. News reports feature alleged Russian false flag operations aimed at providing rationales for the invasion of Ukraine. Media also report on numerous false stories designed to shift blame for the conflict to the United States and its allies while preventing Russian citizens from learning the truth about the war and its consequences. In this report, we review the extent of Americans’ acceptance of false claims about COVID-19 and the conflict in Ukraine. We investigate the demographic and partisan correlates of believing false claims about Ukraine and the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as the confluence of these two overlapping misinformation crises. In particular, we explore whether and to what extent acceptance of COVID-19 misinformation is associated with accepting misinformation relating to the current conflict in Ukraine. Are people who are inclined to believe false claims about COVID-19 more likely to also believe false claims about the conflict in Ukraine

The COVID States Project #81: Child vaccination rates

It has been approximately 9 months since the FDA authorized youth ages 12 to 17 to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and 3 months since authorization for kids ages 5 to 11. After each authorization, vaccination rates initially surged among those age groups. Now that more time has elapsed - along with the spike in cases due to the Omicron variant - how have vaccination rates fared among minors, and how have parents’ likelihood of vaccinating their kids changed? Understanding these trends may also allow predictions about vaccination uptake among younger children, now that Pfizer has asked the FDA to approve the COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5

The COVID States Project #70: MA Governor Charlie Baker's Approval

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s announcement last week that he would not seek re-election comes on the heels of a wave of retirements of moderate Republican politicians who have found themselves at odds with former President Donald Trump and his vision of the Republican Party. Governor Baker’s decision to not seek re-election is somewhat surprising, given the Republican has consistently garnered some of the highest gubernatorial approval ratings according to numerous polls (including our own). However Baker has struggled to garner support from members of his own party, with numerous polls finding higher approval among Democrats and Independents than among Republicans. Baker’s struggles with his own party were on full display when President Trump endorsed Baker’s primary challenger, Geoff Diehl, in October. Baker faced grim primary prospects according to a Public Policy Polling1 poll that found Baker trailing Diehl in a hypothetical matchup between the two candidates. Baker has already served two terms as leader of the Bay state, and a third consecutive term would have been unprecedented for a Massachusetts governor. The Covid States Project regularly asks people in all 50 states about their approval of their governor’s handling of the pandemic and, in our most recent survey, about approval of their governor’s overall job performance. In this report, we focus on the approval of Governor Charlie Baker’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic since April 2020, and Baker’s most recent general approval rating