Centre for Research on Pandemics & Society (PANSOC)
An OsloMet Centre of Research Excellence studying the societal aspects of pandemics
Scientific publications from the researchers involved in PANSOC.
We at PANSOC have been co-authoring a preprint that might help answer that question using 100 years of data from three countries including Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. We looked at age adjusted monthly estimates of excess mortality to show that in 2020 these countries recorded highest monthly excess and all-cause mortality levels driven by an infectious disease since the 1918 pandemic.
The preprint can be downloaded here 37204759 (medrxiv.org)
This new study by our new post-doc Margarida Pereira suggests that the economic crisis in 2008 enhanced the social inequalities regarding childhood obesity in Portugal. These results aid the development of evidence-based strategies to lessen the social inequities in health outcomes created by the crisis.
The paper is published in the journal Public Health and can be found here: The economic crisis impact on the body mass index of children living in distinct urban environments – ScienceDirect
Why is a new approach needed to reduce ethnic inequalities in pandemic disease burden & improve public health? In this paper, the PANSOC Centre leader discuss this question in collaboration with Esperanza Díaz Pérez and her colleagues at the Pandemic Research Center in Bergen and also colleagues at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
The paper is published in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health and can be found here:
Nan Zou Bakkeli is the author of this new paper published in SSM Population Health
En stor del av Norges befolkning kan jobbe hjemmefra, men vi har også mange ansatte i Norge som ikke utøver yrket sitt foran PC-en. For de fleste av disse er ikke hjemmekontor et alternativ. Ulike yrker har dermed ulike forutsetninger for å kunne følge smittevernrådene som sosial distansering i jobben. I en ny artikkel skrevet av Mari Holm Ingelsrud (som del av NFR-prosjektet CorRisk), ser hun på hvem som har og ikke har hatt mulighet for å bruke hjemmekontor som smitteverntiltak.
Les hele artikkellen her fra side 14: ramazzini-01.2021.pdf (legeforeningen.no)
You can read the paper here: Social Disparities in Adopting Non-pharmaceutical Interventions During COVID-19 – Svenn-Erik Mamelund, Jessica Dimka, Nan Zou Bakkeli, 2021 (sagepub.com)
In the absence of vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020 governments had to respond by rely on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Socioeconomic inequalities likely influenced the uptake of NPIs. Using Norwegian survey data, we study whether income was associated with increased handwashing, keeping 1 m distance, using facemasks increased use of home office, and less use of public transportation. Except for using facemasks and less public transportation in a non-work context, all analyzed NPIs showed an independent positive association with income. Social disparities in NPI uptake may be important drivers of higher risks of disease outcomes for people of lower socioeconomic status.
The Centre leader, Svenn-Erik Mamelund, and co-centre leader, Jessica Dimka, has published an invited comment article in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health.
The comment is basically explaining the core idea of PANSOC. Here is a quote from the article:
“During pandemics like COVID-19, socioeconomic inequalities produce disparities in both disease outcomes & potential negative consequences of control measures. Preparedness and response plans must address social & medical risk factors”.
You can read the article in full here: Social inequalities in infectious diseases – Svenn-Erik Mamelund, Jessica Dimka, 2021 (sagepub.com)
New excellent paper out by the co-leader of The Centre for Research on Pandemics & Society, Jessica Dimka, and long-time collaborator, professor Lisa Sattenspiel at University of Missouri Columbia.
The Centre leader has written an invited editorial for the latest issue of American Journal of Public Health. The editorial is discussing what we can learn from historical pandemics such as the 1918 influenza pandemic. You can read more here:
COVID-19: The Power of Historical Lessons | AJPH | Vol. 111 Issue 3 (aphapublications.org)
RECENTLY PUBLISHED PAPERS:
Jessica Dimka and Svenn-Erik Mamelund (2020): 1918 Influenza Outcomes among Institutionalized Norwegian Populations: Implications for Disability-Inclusive Pandemic Preparedness. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research 22(1): 175-186.
ACCEPTED AND FORTHCOMING:
S-E Mamelund (2021): COVID-19: The power of historical lessons”, invited editorial, in press, American Journal of Public Health
Jessica Dimka & Lisa Sattenspiel (2021): We Didn’t Get Much Schooling Because We Were Fishing All the Time”: Potential Impacts of Irregular School Attendance on the Spread of Epidemics, accepted and in press, American Journal of Human Biology.
Jessica Dimka and Svenn-Erik Mamelund (2021): Commentary: Social inequalities in infectious diseases, accepted in Scandinavian Journal of Public Health
S-E Mamelund, Jessica Dimka & Nan Zou Bakkeli (2021): Social disparities in adopting non-pharmaceutical interventions during COVID-19”, Accepted and in press, The Journal of Developing Societies, special issue Pandemics: Causes, Consequences, and Catastrophe Responses.
