How do we…form and coordinate a national serosurvey of SARS-CoV-2 within the blood collection industry?

BackgroundA national serosurvey of U.S. blood donors conducted in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was initiated to estimate the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infections and vaccinations.MethodsBeginning in July 2020, the Nationwide Blood Donor Seroprevalence Study collaborated with multiple blood collection organizations, testing labs, and leadership from government partners to capture, test, and analyze approximately 150,000 blood donation specimens per month in a repeated, cross-sectional seroprevalence survey.ResultsA CDC website (https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#nationwide-blood-donor-seroprevalence) provided stratified, population-level results to public health professionals and the general public.DiscussionThe study adapted operations as the pandemic evolved, changing specimen flow and testing algorithms, and collecting additional data elements in response to changing policies on universal blood donation screening and administration of SARS-CoV-2 spike-based vaccines. The national serosurvey demonstrated the utility of serosurveillance testing of residual blood donations and highlighted the role of the blood collection industry in public-private partnerships during a public health emergency

Critical accommodations: Washington, Hollywood, and the World War II housing shortage

This article explores the extraordinary currency that the Washington housing crisis achieved during World War as a topic of popular joking. Looking at films, radio broadcasts, posters and other contemporary materials, I argue that the housing crisis provided a cultural scenario through which wartime audiences and the popular media could address (and express) ambivalent responses to the official paradigms of dutiful citizenship. In particular, I examine how a cycle of Hollywood films, mostly romantic comedies, make use of the housing crisis as a springboard for stories that examine the broader social and emotional accommodations required within the mobilized culture of wartime