Maayan Simckes

Washington State Department of Health · Department of Health

Objectives Appropriate face covering use at public venues can help mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in the absence of widespread vaccination and provide protection when viral variants become more infectious. The objective of this study was to evaluate compliance with a statewide face mask mandate by examining trends in face covering use in p...

Context: Shortly after the first COVID-19 case in the United States was identified in Washington, the Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH) determined that real-time knowledge of scientific findings related to SARS-CoV-2 was critical for an effective response. Epidemiologists at the WA DOH established the Daily Literature Situation Report...

While negative encounters between police and the community are not a new trend, recent high profile deaths of unarmed people of color have gained widespread national attention and ignited new movements demanding reform, accountability, and progress. Increasingly over the past few decades, researchers have examined the most extreme cases of lethal u...

Violence in its many forms can affect the health of people who are the targets, those who are the perpetrators, and the communities in which both live. In this article we review the literature on the health consequences of many forms of violence, including child physical and sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, elder abuse, sexual violence, you...

Researchers have investigated the underlying mechanisms and consequences of militarization in law enforcement agencies for decades, yet there is no agreed-upon definition for this concept. Without consensus, discourse and research on the intersection of policing and community well-being are hampered. The aim of this study was to develop a comprehen...

National-level evaluations may fail to identify capacity improvements for detecting and responding to outbreaks which begin and are first detected at the local level. In response to this issue, we conducted a field-based assessment of the malaria outbreak surveillance system in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe. We visited eleven clinics in Mudzi and Goro...

Objective To conduct a field-based assessment of the malaria outbreak surveillance system in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe.IntroductionInfectious disease outbreaks, such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, highlight the need for surveillance systems to quickly detect outbreaks and provide data to prevent future pandemics.1–3 The World Health Organiz...

In 2015, the University of Washington School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology established the Student Epidemic Action Leaders (SEAL) team to provide public health students with experience in field epidemiology in state and local public health communicable disease divisions. The University of Washington Department of Epidemiology develop...

Purpose Gun access and bullying are risk factors for sustaining or perpetrating violence among adolescents. Our knowledge of gun access among bullied students is limited. Methods We used data on students, aged 12–18 years, from the 2011 and 2013 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey to assess the association between se...

In July 2014, Multnomah County public health officials investigated a norovirus outbreak among persons visiting Blue Lake Regional Park in Oregon. During the weekend of the reported illnesses (Friday, July 11-Sunday, July 13) approximately 15,400 persons visited the park. The investigation identified 65 probable and five laboratory-confirmed cases...

BACKGROUND: In Oregon, there has been an ongoing increase in the number of schools reporting non-medical vaccine exemptions among students. In 2012, 84% of kindergartens in the Portland Metropolitan Area had at least one student with a non-medical exemption, compared to just 69% in 2009. Lower vaccination coverage can reduce herd immunity in school...

BACKGROUND: Over the past two decades, opioid-related deaths (ORDs) have become an increasingly prominent public health issue in the United States. Local public health agencies continue to struggle with response and community-based interventions, partially due to a lack of reliable and up-to-date surveillance data for ORDs. National and state agenc...

BACKGROUND: Timely and complete data are crucial for effective monitoring of opiate-related death (ORD) trends. Timely surveillance at the state level may mean complete data within a few months of case investigation, while national public health agencies may be satisfied with a year or more delay. At the local level, access to frequently updated da...

Previous studies examining pet ownership as a risk factor for respiratory conditions have yielded inconsistent results. Little is known about whether or not pet ownership modifies the relationship between air pollutants and respiratory symptoms and asthma in children. In order to evaluate the interaction between pet and air pollution on respiratory...

Objective: The association between air pollution and the prevalence of overweight and obesity is evaluated. Methods: The population consisted of 30,056 children (aged 2-14 years), randomly selected from 25 districts in Northeast China. Child weight and height were measured, and exposures to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <= 10 mu m...

Objectives: To investigate the association of indoor air pollution with the respiratory health of children, we evaluated the associations of children's respiratory symptoms with asthma and recent home renovation. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a school recruitment sample of 31,049 children aged 2 to 14 years in 25 districts of...

Background: Heroin trafficking is a global concern and alarming effects can be seen locally. St. Louis City is an end market for a number of illicit drugs, including heroin, so identifying possible points of intervention for preventing heroin overdose is a major public health priority. Methods: Cases analyzed were accidental heroin-related deaths f...

In China, with the rapid economic development and improvement of living standards over the past few decades, the household living environment has shifted dramatically. The aim of the present study is to assess the impact of home environment factors on respiratory symptoms and asthma in Chinese children. Investigators analyzed data collected in the...

Background: Breastfeeding and air pollution are both important factors for respiratory symptoms and asthma in children. Few studies have examined possible interaction between them on respiratory outcomes. Methods: We studied 31,049 Chinese children, ages 2-14 years old, from 25 elementary schools and 50 kindergartens in the Seven Northeastern Ci...

Several studies have investigated the short-term effects of ambient air pollutants in the development of high blood pressure and hypertension. However, little information exists regarding the health effects of long-term exposure. To investigate the association between residential long-term exposure to air pollution and blood pressure and hypertensi...

Objective: This study is to evaluate the association between air pollution and the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Design and Methods: The population consisted of 30,056 children (aged 2 to 14 years), randomly selected from 25 districts in Northeast China. Child weight and height were measured, and exposures to particulate matter with an aer...

Objective: Experimental data suggest that obesity enhances the effects of ambient air pollutants on exacerbation of asthma; however, there is little supporting epidemiological evidence. The aim of present study is to evaluate whether obesity modifies the association between ambient air pollution and respiratory symptoms and asthma in children. Me...