No abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to set back major successes that have been achieved in global vaccine initiatives. We conducted a rapid review and synthesis of the literature on immunization provision and Utilization since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 11 papers comprising peer-reviewed articles and key policies and guidelines, published between January 1 and June 15, 2020, were analyzed. Widespread disruptions of routine immunization and vaccination campaigns were reported leaving millions of children worldwide at risk of measles outbreaks. We present an expanded model of the World Health Organization’s Global Routine Immunization Strategic Plan (GRISP) action areas as a tool to help countries quickly adapt to immunization challenges in the presence of COVID-19 and close the emerging immunization coverage gaps. Key words: • Immunization • Child health • Vaccination • COVID-19 • Essential health services • Corona virus   Copyright © 2020 Olorunsaiye et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

Long-term home confinement during the ongoing COVID-19 can have negative mental and physical health consequences, which in turn can reduce productivity among those working remotely. We sought to delineate factors related to neuro-behavioral economics that employers should consider for their employees who are teleworking during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Physical and mental well-being are intertwined and are strongly correlated to high productivity at workplace. By integrating the factors of neuro-behavioral economics into the work culture, companies will alleviate work-related stress leading to improved mental and physical functioning; thus leading to increased productivity. Key words: • Neuro-behavioral economics • COVID-19 • Teleworking • Mental health   Copyright © 2020 Dongarwar et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

African Americans are bearing a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 pandemic. To our knowledge, no previous study has delineated inequities potentially incentivized by systemic racism, and whether synergistic effects impose an abnormally high burden of social determinants of mental health on African American families in the era of COVID-19 pandemic. We applied the social ecological model (SEM) to portray inequities induced by systemic racism that impact the mental health of African American families. In our model, we identified systemic racism to be the primary operator of mental health disparity, which disproportionately affects African American families at all levels of the SEM. Programs tailored towards reducing the disproportionate detrimental effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of African Americans need to be culturally appropriate and consider the nuances of systemic racism, discrimination, and other institutionalized biases. Key words: • African American • COVID-19 • Mental health • Systemic racism • Social determinants of mental health   Copyright © 2020 Ibrahimi et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in this journal, is properly cited.

Objectives To evaluate the association between macrosomia and stillbirth over the previous four decades and to determine the consistency of the relationship. Methods This was a population‐based retrospective cohort study using United States Natality and Fetal Death Data from 1982 to 2017 and restricted to the gestational age range of 37‐41 weeks inclusive. Macrosomia was defined as birthweight ≥4000 g and subdivided into its grades as previously recommended: grade 1 (4000‐4499 g), grade 2 (4500‐4999 g), and grade 3 (≥5000 g). We calculated temporal trends of stillbirth among fetuses with macrosomia over the years using joinpoint regression. We generated odds ratios from adjusted binomial logistic regression models to examine the association between macrosomia and risk of stillbirth stratified by grades using normal‐weight infants (2500‐3999 g) as referent. Results Within the fetal macrosomia group, the rate of stillbirth declined from 2.04/1000 in 1982 to 1.05/1000 by the end of the study period (2017), representing a drop of about 48.5%. For the normal‐weight fetuses, stillbirth rate declined from 1.95/1000 to 0.83/1000, equivalent to a decline of 57.4%. Macrosomia was significantly associated with elevated risk for stillbirth: grade 2 (OR = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.22‐1.32) and grade 3 (OR = 5.97; 95% CI = 5.69‐6.22). Conclusions Fetal macrosomia is a significant risk factor for fetal demise with the worst intrauterine survival observed among those classified as grade 3. Fetal macrosomia is a heterogeneous rather than a homogeneous entity in terms of risk profiles, and this needs to be considered in future policy guidelines.