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Republican-led US states had an average public health protective index (PPI) that was 10 percentage points weaker than Democrat-led US states, according to a study published yesterday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Besides suggesting the politicization of public health policy, the researchers say the lower PPI was associated with an 8% increase in expected new COVID-19 cases. The PPI looked at 15 categories of public health measures and was calculated each day in each state on a national, state, and aggregate level. The researchers then used a Bayesian model to look at the connection between PPI and COVID-19 virus spread, while also accounting for state-specific variations in population density, poverty, number of physicians, and cardiovascular disease. (10/12)

SARS-CoV-2 was common among young infants hospitalized for an SBI evaluation during periods of high but not low community SARS-CoV-2 circulation in New York City, although most infants did not require intensive care admission. (Paret et al, 10/1)

With adherence to basic mitigation strategies, within-school transmission of SARS-CoV-2 can be interrupted, even during a surge of community infections. (Zimmerman et al, 10/1)

An estimated 53.2 million additional cases of major depressive disorder and 76.2 million additional cases of anxiety disorders occurred during the pandemic, with women and young people most affected, according to a study published late last week in The Lancet. The researchers used a systematic literature review to find 48 eligible data sources, 46 involving major depressive disorder and 27 involving anxiety disorders. The studies, which were conducted from Jan 1, 2020, to Jan 29, 2021, were used to extrapolate global data using the Global Burden of Disease Study Model; most were from Western Europe (22) and high-income North America (14). (10/12)

Huntington's disease is a fatal condition involving the death of brain cells, typically striking in midlife. But new findings suggest the disease process starts decades earlier. Although symptoms emerge in adulthood, researchers have been able to detect the earliest effects of Huntington's in the first two weeks of human embryonic development.  Rockefeller University, 10/5)

In a nationally representative sample of very preterm infants with EOS from 2018 to 2019, approximately one-third of isolates were neither group B Streptococcus nor E coli. Three-quarters of all infected infants either died or survived with a major medical morbidity. The profoundly negative impact of EOS on very preterm infants highlights the need for novel preventive strategies. (Flannery et al, 10/1)