Prism health lab covid vaccine12/18/2023 “Since that study is nationwide, we’re going to be using our mailed testing processes where people would collect their own specimens at home and mail them back to our commercial lab,” says Sanchez. Related to that project, PRISM has been working on validation studies. Like other mapping tools PRISM has developed (like AIDSvuand HepVu) the idea is for the data to feed into a COVIDVu application that can provide useful, visually representative data. The intent of the study-which will begin this month- is to develop a representative nationwide understanding of the burden of COVID-19 that can then be broken into state and regional estimates, which can in turn assist decision-makers in understanding the scope of COVID-19 and guide their decisions. Recently funded by the NIH, the study will examine COVID-19 infection as well as antibody prevalence. Sanchez is also involved with a national probability sample household study, led by PRISM members Patrick Sullivan, DVM, PhD, and Aaron Siegler, PhD. Collaborators at the University of Washington and the University of Michigan are interested in doing analyses with the data as well. PRISM, in partnership with colleagues at Johns Hopkins, will conduct additional data collection surveys likely in June or July, with a third survey (another annual survey) slated for early fall. PRISM recently launched an at-home HIV testing service that could also assist in these and other continued efforts surrounding sexual health both during and after the pandemic. These initial survey findings point toward the need for increased telehealth visits, revised refill policies that enable people to continue their medications without interruption, and communication about sexual health during COVID-19. For the next few months, we could see a substantial impact in terms of increased HIV infections, which is why we will be repeating the surveys.” “Our concern is that as people re-engage and discontinue physical distancing, they might be doing so in an environment where there is less access to services or tests. “Past studies, especially those conducted after 9/11 show the impact of the survivor effect… that people have rebound risk behavior,” says Sanchez. The survey showed an increase in substance abuse and alcohol use, a decrease in the number of sexual partners, and increased difficulty accessing STI prevention services-including scheduling doctor’s appointments and accessing prescriptions or prescription refills for drugs like PrEP. Many from the group surveyed already experience socio-economic constraints and food access issues, which have only been compounded during the pandemic, particularly among younger respondents. The findings, published as a rapid study in AIDS and Behavior, show that COVID-19 has had substantial impacts to survey respondents’ wellbeing, especially heightened anxiety levels and feelings of un-wellness and disconnection. “We had been hearing anecdotally that things have substantially changed in both the service environment and in people’s behaviors, so we wanted to do a quick assessment to see whether this was really happening.” “What we ended up doing was conducting a rapid, time-limited survey to understand how COVID-19 and plans to mitigate it were impacting both people’s general wellbeing as well as their sexual behaviors and access to sexually transmitted infection (STI) treatments and HIV prevention services,” says Sanchez. In early May, the group revised an existing annual survey of 10,000 MSM to include questions related to the effects of COVID-19 on sexual and mental health, particularly during state shut-downs. Research associate professor, Travis Sanchez, DVM, MPH, along with colleagues in Programs, Research & Innovation in Sexual Minority Health (PRISM Health) are leading national surveys looking at the implications of COVID-19 on minority health, particularly in populations of men who have sex with men (MSM) and those who are HIV positive.
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