SARS2/COVID 19 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts: A Pilot Community Report
Main Article Content
Abstract
The rapid spread, and relentless mutations of SARS2, are a reminder of how quickly upper respiratory viruses that do not cause acute, debilitating disease in all infected persons can spread, and that continuing mutation is an adaptive hallmark of viruses. The global response to the SARS2/COVID19 pandemic varied widely, country to country, and state to state in the United States of America (U.S.). To better prepare for the next pandemic, the U.S. Government Accounting Office recommends that health agencies “…identify, document and share all challenges and lessons learned … to improve the response to ongoing and future public health emergencies…” Some countries continually published SARS2/ COVID19 reviews and adjusted recommendations throughout the pandemic, but an objective review of the U.S. SARS2/COVID19 public health response is lacking. This knowledge gap can be at least partially filled by taking advantage of publicly-available databases. As an example, this is a report of the spread of SARS2/COVID19 in diverse communities in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Neither mask mandates nor vaccinations halted the surge of SARS2/COVID19 in January, 2022; communities with the highest infection incidence were statistically significantly lowest in per capita income and highest in population density. If these findings apply globally, the development of a library of effective medications should be the first-line defense against the next pandemic, with a plan for effective distribution to the most vulnerable persons.
Keywords:
SARS2/COVID-19, Public health response, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Community health report, Infection incidence, Socioeconomic factors, Pandemic preparedness
Article Details
How to Cite
KIESSLING, Ann A.
SARS2/COVID 19 in Middlesex County, Massachusetts: A Pilot Community Report.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 12, n. 8, aug. 2024.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/5613>. Date accessed: 23 dec. 2024.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v12i8.5613.
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
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