Epidemiology

Estimated effectiveness of symptom and risk screening to prevent the spread of COVID-19

1. Katelyn Gostic
2. Ana CR Gomez
3. Riley O Mummah
4. Adam J Kucharski
5. James O Lloyd-Smith

Reviewed by ScreenIT

The impact of COVID-19 on cancer screening and treatment in older adults: The Multiethnic Cohort Study

1. Victoria P Mak
2. Kami White
3. Lynne R Wilkens
4. Iona Cheng
5. Christopher A Haiman
6. Loic Le Marchand

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors used the Multiethnic Cohort (MEC) study to study how COVID-19 impacted access to cancer screenings and treatment. This study's important findings served to identify key factors associated with cancer-related screening and healthcare-seeking during the pandemic. This investigation provides solid evidence to inform future policies, particularly in older and vulnerable populations.

Reviewed by eLife

Associations of four biological age markers with child development: A multi-omic analysis in the European HELIX cohort

1. Oliver Robinson
2. ChungHo E Lau
3. Sungyeon Joo
4. Sandra Andrusaityte
5. Eva Borras
6. Paula de Prado-Bert
7. Lida Chatzi
8. Hector C Keun
9. Regina Grazuleviciene
10. Kristine B Gutzkow
11. Lea Maitre
12. Dries S Martens
13. Eduard Sabido
14. Valérie Siroux
15. Jose Urquiza
16. Marina Vafeiadi
17. John Wright
18. Tim S Nawrot
19. Mariona Bustamante
20. Martine Vrijheid

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is an important study that examined multiple biological age measures in children, which has been lacking in literature. The findings of this study provided convincing evidence to interpret and understand the aging and developmental processes in children.

Reviewed by eLife

Quantification of impact of COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening programmes – a case study from Argentina, Bangladesh, Colombia, Morocco, Sri Lanka, and Thailand

1. Eric Lucas
2. Raul Murillo
3. Silvina Arrossi
4. Martin Bárcena
5. Youssef Chami
6. Ashrafun Nessa
7. Suraj Perera
8. Padmaka Silva
9. Suleeporn Sangrajrang
10. Richard Muwonge
11. Partha Basu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides important estimates from international cancer screening data repository about the impact of the COVID-pandemic related disruptions on cancer screening programs in selected low- and middle-income countries. The evidence supporting the study is solid and relies on national-level screening program attendee volumes and assessments of screen positives during 2019 (pre-pandemic) and 2020 (during the pandemic). The study provides real-world data estimates of proportions/volumes of missed screenings due to pandemic control measures (lockdowns and closures) and may contribute to future modelling efforts for measuring the impact on late/advanced stage detection and excess case burden and mortality.

Reviewed by eLife

Impact of social isolation on grey matter structure and cognitive functions: A population-based longitudinal neuroimaging study

1. Laurenz Lammer
2. Frauke Beyer
3. Melanie Luppa
4. Christian Sanders
5. Ronny Baber
6. Christoph Engel
7. Kerstin Wirkner
8. Markus Loffler
9. Steffi G Riedel-Heller
10. Arno Villringer
11. A Veronica Witte

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides an important demonstration that loneliness is associated with smaller hippocampal volume, reduced cortical thickness, and worse cognition in healthy older adults. This has theoretical or practical implications beyond a single subfield. The strength of evidence is solid given the cross-sectional and longitudinal design with a few weaknesses. With the analytical and interpretational part strengthened, this paper would be of interest to gerontologists, and dementia/cognitive aging researchers.

Reviewed by eLife

Rapid geographical source attribution of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis genomes using hierarchical machine learning

1. Sion C Bayliss
2. Rebecca K Locke
3. Claire Jenkins
4. Marie Anne Chattaway
5. Timothy J Dallman
6. Lauren A Cowley

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study presents a machine learning-based classifier that can accurately determine the geographic origin of a Salmonella enterica sample from its whole-genome sequencing data in under five minutes leading to actionable public health insights. Applying the method to 2,313 whole genome sequences collected in the United Kingdom and several external validation datasets, the authors provide convincing evidence that Salmonella genomic data can be used to identify the likely geographic source of a food-borne outbreak and, in most cases, correctly identify the country of origin of an infection acquired overseas. The work presents an excellent case for the potential utility of routine genomics coupled with machine learning for public health microbiology and the methods are likely to be applicable to other pathogens besides Salmonella enterica.

Reviewed by eLife

An umbrella review of systematic reviews on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer prevention and management, and patient needs

1. Taulant Muka
2. Joshua JX Li
3. Sahar J Farahani
4. John PA Ioannidis

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This convincing work reviews and synthesizes evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a variety of cancer outcomes. The results have potentially useful implications for various fields of cancer research as they review evidence spanning from cancer prevention efforts to changes in diagnoses and cancer treatment modalities.

Reviewed by eLife

Association of close-range contact patterns with SARS-CoV-2: a household transmission study

1. Jackie Kleynhans
2. Lorenzo Dall'Amico
3. Laetitia Gauvin
4. Michele Tizzoni
5. Lucia Maloma
6. Sibongile Walaza
7. Neil A Martinson
8. Anne von Gottberg
9. Nicole Wolter
10. Mvuyo Makhasi
11. Cheryl Cohen
12. Ciro Cattuto
13. Stefano Tempia
14. SA-S-HTS Group

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study examines the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and close contact among household members, measured using proximity sensors deployed after the first case was identified in the household. The authors provide solid evidence that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 within households is not dependent upon close contact, but the study suffers from a number of limitations that are fully acknowledged.

Reviewed by eLife

A modelled evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 on breast, bowel, and cervical cancer screening programmes in Australia

1. Carolyn Nickson
2. Megan A Smith
3. Eleonora Feletto
4. Louiza S Velentzis
5. Kate Broun
6. Sabine Deij
7. Paul Grogan
8. Michaela Hall
9. Emily He
10. D James St John
11. Jie-Bin Lew
12. Pietro Procopio
13. Kate T Simms
14. Joachim Worthington
15. G Bruce Mann
16. Karen Canfell

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents important results on the predicted impact of cancer screening disruptions in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic based on consultation with public health stakeholders. The evidence presented is solid, as simulations were based on several previously validated breast, cervical, and bowel cancer screening decision models, though the scenarios were based on hypothetical disruptions that do not always match experienced disruptions. The work will be of interest to local policy-makers, public health specialists, and cancer epidemiologists.

Reviewed by eLife

The effect of weight loss following 18 months of lifestyle intervention on brain age assessed with resting-state functional connectivity

1. Gidon Levakov
2. Alon Kaplan
3. Anat Yaskolka Meir
4. Ehud Rinott
5. Gal Tsaban
6. Hila Zelicha
7. Matthias Blüher
8. Uta Ceglarek
9. Michael Stumvoll
10. Ilan Shelef
11. Galia Avidan
12. Iris Shai

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This potentially important study examines brain age based on resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) following an 18-month lifestyle intervention. The design of the intervention study is generally solid; the randomized controlled trial includes three intervention groups and assessments at two-time points of numerous health markers, however, the methodology for brain age prediction appears somewhat incomplete and would benefit from more rigorous approaches. The lack of control groups also prevents firm conclusions about the extent to which the observed RSFC changes are linked to the intervention. With these parts strengthened, the paper would be of broad interest to neuroscientists and biologists working on obesity, lifestyle interventions, and brain health.

Reviewed by eLife