Joint paper with several external colleagues
Responses to the letters on “Mortality in Norway and Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 – 22: A comparative study.” in Journal of Infection and Public Health.
New paper: SES is associated with a higher confidence in flu vaccination
We are proud to announce yet another publication from the project PANRISK: Socioeconomic risk groups, vaccination and pandemic influenza (Research Council of Norway grant agreement No 302336)
The paper is joint for with colleagues from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. You can read the paper here:
Joint paper with Danish colleagues
We are happy to see that collaboration with PANSOC and PandemicX has led to a new paper: Full article: The 1919–21 influenza pandemic in Greenland (tandfonline.com). This paper is also part of the CAS project on Pandemics and Indigenous Peoples.
Abstract:
In Alaska, the 1918–20 influenza pandemic was devastating, with mortality rates up to 90% of the population, while in other arctic regions in northern Sweden and Norway mortality was considerably lower. We investigated the timing and age-patterns in excess mortality in Greenland during the period 1918–21 and compare these to other epidemics and the 1889–92 pandemic. We accessed the Greenlandic National Archives and transcribed all deaths from 1880 to 1921 by age, geography, and cause of death. We estimated monthly excess mortality and studied the spatial-temporal patterns of the pandemics and compared them to other mortality crises in the 40-year period. The 1918–21 influenza pandemic arrived in Greenland in the summer of 1919, one year delayed due to ship traffic interruptions during the winter months. We found that 5.2% of the Greenland population died of the pandemic with substantial variability between counties (range, 0.1% to 11%). We did not see the typical pandemic age-pattern of high young-adult mortality, possibly due to high baseline mortality in this age-group or remoteness. However, despite substantial mortality, the mortality impact was not standing out relative to other mortality crises, or of similar devastation reported in Alaskan populations.
7 March 2024 Seminar: The Economic Impact of the Black Death in England, 1350 to 1400
For the third Pandemics & Society Seminar of our Spring 2024 series, we are pleased to welcome Professor Mark Bailey (University of East Anglia). The seminar will be held on Thursday, 7 March at the normal time (1600 CET). You can sign up for email notifications about the seminar series, including the Zoom details, here.
Abstract
The Black Death of 1348–9 halved the population of Europe, and the English sources provide unparalleled insights into the economic consequences of this catastrophe. Recent research and re-readings of older research underline the profound importance of the Black Death in causing long-term shifts in wealth distribution, patterns of consumption and production, the decline of serfdom, and the spread of contractual relations in the land and labour markets.
About the Speaker
Mark Bailey is Professor of Later Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, UK. In 2019 he delivered the Ford Lectures at Oxford University, subsequently published as After the Black Death. Economy, society and the law in fourteenth-century England (Oxford University Press, 2021).
29 February 2024 Seminar: Using cellular-scale viral and immunological models to inform macro-scale public health decision making
For the second Pandemics & Society Seminar of our Spring 2024 series, we are pleased to welcome Thomas Finnie (UK Health Security Agency). The seminar will be held on Thursday, 29 February at the normal time (1600 CET). More information about our speaker and the presentation is below. You can sign up for email notifications about the seminar series, including the Zoom details, here.
Abstract
All viral pathogens mutate, sometimes that mutation has profound effects on how the pathogen affects the human population (for example by evading the human immune system), often it does not. In this talk I will explore how we have begun to bring together the multiple scales of understanding required to turn raw genomic, or virological information into modelling the effects on a population so that public health actions may be taken.
About the Speaker
Thomas Finnie is Head of Modelling and Data-Science for Emergency Preparedness, Resilience, and Response at the UK Health Security Agency. He worked for more than a decade as a modeller at the UKHSA’s predecessor organization, Public Health England, and has a PhD in Numerical Ecology from Imperial College London.
22 February 2024 Seminar: Navigating gaps and biases in surveillance data
For the first Pandemics & Society Seminar of our Spring 2024 series, we are pleased to welcome Nita Bharti (Penn State). The seminar will be held on Thursday, 22 February at the normal time (1600 CET). More information about our speaker and the presentation is below. You can sign up for email notifications about the seminar series, including the Zoom details, here.
Abstract
As global health emphasizes data-driven approaches to improve health equity, it is increasingly important to assess the quality and representativeness of data that are used in decision making. We measured the inclusion of health vulnerable populations in mobile phone data, which are used to measure mobility, access to health care, and potential pathogen transmission. We find that the representation of health vulnerable populations in these data is both low and biased in ways that would magnify, rather than reduce, health inequities. We discuss strategies for detecting and overcoming data biases due to exclusion.
About the Speaker
Nita Bharti is Huck Early Career Professor and Associate Professor of Biology at the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State University. Her research lab investigates the underlying links between humans, pathogens, and the environment.
New Paper
The paper “Do sociodemographic factors play a role in the relation between COVID-19 infection and obesity? Findings from a cross-sectional study in eastern Oslo” is just published in Journal of Public Health. The author is our former post-doc Margarida Pereira who wrote this paper withing the Reaseach Council of Norway funded project Socioeconomic risk groups, vaccination and pandemic influenza (PANRISK) – OsloMet
Executive summary
The new paper discusses the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity globally and in Norway, highlighting the associated health risks, including an increased susceptibility to severe outcomes from infectious diseases like COVID-19. It explores the social determinants of obesity and how they intersect with the risk of COVID-19 infection, especially in vulnerable populations. The study aims to investigate the relationship between weight status, sociodemographic factors, and COVID-19 infection in Oslo, Norway.
The research, conducted through a web-based survey, examines a sample of individuals from socioeconomically deprived areas with a higher migrant population in Oslo. The survey collected data on weight status, sociodemographic characteristics, and COVID-19 infection status. Statistical analyses, including logistic regression models, were performed to assess the associations between weight status, sociodemographic factors, and COVID-19 infection.
Key findings include:
1. Individuals with overweight or obesity had higher odds of having COVID-19, particularly when adjusted for age, employment status, and other sociodemographic factors.
2. Sociodemographic factors such as age, employment status, district of residence, migrant status, and BMI were significantly associated with the odds of COVID-19 infection.
3. Immigrant women who were young, unemployed, and had overweight or obesity were identified as a high-risk group for COVID-19 infection.
4. The study suggests a syndemic relationship between obesity and COVID-19, emphasizing the need for a multidisciplinary approach to address the complex interplay between biological and social factors contributing to these health outcomes.
Strengths of the study include its large dataset and individual-level data analysis. However, limitations include potential biases related to self-reported height and weight and the small number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the sample.
In conclusion, the study underscores the importance of considering sociodemographic factors in understanding the relationship between weight status and COVID-19 infection. It advocates for tailored public health interventions targeting vulnerable populations to mitigate the syndemic impact of obesity and COVID-19. Further research is needed to deepen our understanding of these complex interactions and inform more effective public health strategies.