Publications – Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics

Understanding early pandemic SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a medical center by incorporating public sequencing databases to mitigate bias.

Author(s): Turcinovic J, Schaeffer B, Taylor BP, Bouton TC, Odom-Mabey AR, Weber SE, Lodi S, Ragan EJ, Connor JH, Jacobson KR, Hanage WPJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 35993116 August 2022

Throughout the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, healthcare workers (HCWs) have faced risk of infection from within the workplace via patients and staff…

Cross-sectional assessment of SARS-CoV-2 viral load by symptom status in Massachusetts congregate living facilities.

Author(s): Lennon NJ, Bhattacharyya RP, Mina MJ, Rehm HL, Hung DT, Smole S, Woolley A, Lander ES, Gabriel SBJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 34255846 July 2021

Transmission of COVID-19 from people without symptoms confounds societal mitigation strategies. From April to June 2020, we tested nasopharyngeal swabs…

Childhood respiratory outpatient visits correlate with socioeconomic status and drive geographic patterns in antibiotic prescribing.

Author(s): Kissler SM, Klevens RM, Barnett ML, Grad YHJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 33903899 April 2021

Reducing geographic disparities in antibiotic prescribing is a central public health priority to combat antibiotic resistance, but the drivers of…

On the effect of age on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in households, schools and the community.

Author(s): Goldstein E, Lipsitch M, Cevik MJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 33119738 October 2020

There is limited information on the effect of age on the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection in different settings. We reviewed…

Reply to Hasford and to Spinola et al.

Author(s): Eyal N, Lipsitch M, Smith PGJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 32845306 August 2020

We proposed human challenge trials (HCTs) as a possible alternative or complement to conventional phase 3 trials for expedited severe…

Response to Cioffi.

Author(s): Eyal N, Lipsitch M, Smith PGJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 32348499 June 2020

Dr Cioffi rails against our comparison of human challenge studies to organ donation, but the risk of donor death from…

Response to Dawson et al.

Author(s): Eyal N, Lipsitch M, Smith PGJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 32495823 June 2020

Dawson et al raise three concerns about human challenge trials to assess the efficacy of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. First, that current…

Human challenge studies to accelerate coronavirus vaccine licensure.

Author(s): Eyal N, Lipsitch M, Smith PGJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 32232474 May 2020

Controlled human challenge trials of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates could accelerate the testing and potential rollout of efficacious vaccines. By replacing…

Tube Well Use as Protection Against Rotavirus Infection During the Monsoons in an Urban Setting.

Author(s): Martinez PP, Mahmud AS, Yunus M, Faruque ASG, Ahmed T, Pascual M, Buckee COJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 31776559 November 2019

Rotavirus, a diarrheal pathogen spread via fecal-oral transmission, is typically characterized by a winter incidence peak in most countries. Unlike…

Impact of Antimicrobial Treatment for Acute Otitis Media on Carriage Dynamics of Penicillin-Susceptible and Penicillin-Nonsusceptible Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Author(s): Lewnard JA, Tähtinen PA, Laine MK, Lindholm L, Jalava J, Huovinen P, Lipsitch M, Ruohola AJournal: J Infect DisPMID: 29873739 September 2018

Despite concerns that antimicrobial treatment of prevalent infections may select for drug-resistant bacteria, the effects of antimicrobial treatment on colonization…