Combining genomics and epidemiology to track mumps virus transmission in the United States.

Unusually large outbreaks of mumps across the United States in 2016 and 2017 raised questions about the extent of mumps circulation and the relationship between these and prior outbreaks. We paired epidemiological data from public health investigations with analysis of mumps virus whole genome sequences from 201 infected individuals, focusing on Massachusetts university communities. Our analysis suggests continuous, undetected circulation of mumps locally and nationally, including multiple independent introductions into Massachusetts and into individual communities. Despite the presence of these multiple mumps virus lineages, the genomic data show that one lineage has dominated in the US since at least 2006. Widespread transmission was surprising given high vaccination rates, but we found no genetic evidence that variants arising during this outbreak contributed to vaccine escape. Viral genomic data allowed us to reconstruct mumps transmission links not evident from epidemiological data or standard single-gene surveillance efforts and also revealed connections between apparently unrelated mumps outbreaks

An Evaluation of Mumps Antibody Titers Among Pharmacy Students Before and After a University Mumps Outbreak

Mumps outbreaks continue to transpire across the United States despite the available MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccine and seemingly high vaccination rates. There is limited evidence surrounding the management, impact, and prevention of mumps outbreaks. In particular, there are currently no formal recommendations from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) regarding the administration of additional doses of the MMR vaccine during a mumps outbreak. Furthermore, there are unanswered questions of possible waning of vaccine-induced mumps immunity and the impact of a third dose of the MMR vaccine to assist in mumps outbreak control. Existing studies suggest that administration of the MMR vaccine during a mumps outbreak may decrease the attack rate and number of mumps cases. This study will characterize mumps antibody titer levels of pharmacy students obtained before and after a university mumps outbreak. The current study will also assess for evidence of possible waning of vaccine-induced mumps immunity in pharmacy student subjects

Mandatory vaccinations in European countries, undocumented information, false news and the impact on vaccination uptake: the position of the Italian pediatric society.

BACKGROUND: High rates of vaccination coverage are important in preventing infectious diseases. Enforcing mandatory vaccinations is one of the strategies that some Countries adopted to protect the community when vaccination coverage is not satisfactory. In Italy, in 2017 vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, poliovirus, Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella became compulsory in childhood. In order to contrast vaccination policies, anti-vaccination campaigns contribute to the spread of fake news. Among them, there is the false information that Italy is the only one country with mandatory vaccination policy. Aim of our study is confronting vaccination policies in children under 18 months against among different European countries for the following vaccines: diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, poliovirus, Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella. METHODS: Information on policies of mandatory or recommended vaccinations of the European Countries were gathered by ECDC and compared to the Italian one. RESULTS: European Countries recommend or contemplate compulsory vaccines. Among them, eleven Countries (35.4%) have mandatory vaccinations for at least one out of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, poliovirus, Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine. CONCLUSION: Not only in Italy, vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, poliovirus, Haemophilus influenzae type b, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella is mandatory in children under 18 months. Other European countries adopted compulsory policies in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and to protect the community

EPI Update, April 14, 2006

Weekly newsletter for Center For Acute Disease Epidemiology of Iowa Department of Public Health

A domain decomposing parallel sparse linear system solver

The solution of large sparse linear systems is often the most time-consuming part of many science and engineering applications. Computational fluid dynamics, circuit simulation, power network analysis, and material science are just a few examples of the application areas in which large sparse linear systems need to be solved effectively. In this paper we introduce a new parallel hybrid sparse linear system solver for distributed memory architectures that contains both direct and iterative components. We show that by using our solver one can alleviate the drawbacks of direct and iterative solvers, achieving better scalability than with direct solvers and more robustness than with classical preconditioned iterative solvers. Comparisons to well-known direct and iterative solvers on a parallel architecture are provided.Comment: To appear in Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematic

EPI Update, May 5, 2006

Weekly newsletter for Center For Acute Disease Epidemiology of Iowa Department of Public Health

A Social Controversy: Autism Spectrum Disorder\u27s Correlation to the Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination

A 1998 research study lead by Dr. Andrew Wakefield linked the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination as a probable cause to autism spectrum disorder. This publication has started a significant debate among healthcare professionals and instigated an anti-vaccination movement within the general population. This vaccination controversy was started by parents who readily accepted Wakefield’s findings as truth and frequently would choose to withdrawal the administration of vaccinations from their children’s care plans. There has also been disapproval by healthcare professionals over Wakefield’s study since numerous research teams have been unable to replicate his findings. This disagreement surrounding the MMR vaccination is likely putting millions of people, mostly children, at risk of contracting horrific diseases. Brian Deer established the fraud in Wakefield’s original study and rejected Wakefield’s null hypothesis. Deer’s seven years of investigation affirmed the countless research studies that rejected Wakefield’s null hypothesis. Deer’s analysis of Dr. Wakefield’s study demonstrates how the public and the media can be blindly misled by scientific studies. When information has reached people’s grasp, it is hard to retract false information once it has permeated millions of households, which is what needs to be accomplished regarding the truth behind the relationship between the MMR vaccination and autism. The medical world could benefit from knowing the cause of this detrimental disorder, in an effort to treat patients better and possibly someday cure them

Adaptive BDDC in Three Dimensions

The adaptive BDDC method is extended to the selection of face constraints in three dimensions. A new implementation of the BDDC method is presented based on a global formulation without an explicit coarse problem, with massive parallelism provided by a multifrontal solver. Constraints are implemented by a projection and sparsity of the projected operator is preserved by a generalized change of variables. The effectiveness of the method is illustrated on several engineering problems.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, 9 table