February 2024

Historically, infectious diseases have disproportionately affected minority groups, such as Indigenous populations. In this study, Nathan C Nickel, Wanda Phillips-Beck and colleagues use population-wide healthcare data to assess whether the prioritization of COVID-19 vaccination for Indigenous populations in Manitoba, Canada was associated with improved access to and uptake of COVID-19 testing and vaccination compared to all other Manitobans. They report that these efforts led to faster vaccine access and uptake by First Nations peoples, likely resulting in reduced severe illness and deaths. Overall, the authors highlight that “informative, inclusive, and participatory decision-making and policy creation are key to protecting health and preventing the spread of communicable illnesses among Indigenous populations”.

Image Credit: Maksim Goncharenok, Pexels

Research Articles

Fetal loss and long-term maternal morbidity and mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Florentia Vlachou, Despoina Iakovou, Jahnavi Daru, Rehan Khan, Litha Pepas, Siobhan Quenby, Stamatina Iliodromiti

PLOS Medicine: published February 9, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004342

Food additive emulsifiers and cancer risk: Results from the French prospective NutriNet-Santé cohort

Laury Sellem, Bernard Srour, Guillaume Javaux, Eloi Chazelas, Benoit Chassaing, Emilie Viennois, Charlotte Debras, Nathalie Druesne-Pecollo, Younes Esseddik, Fabien Szabo de Edelenyi, Nathalie Arnault, Cédric Agaësse, Alexandre De Sa, Rebecca Lutchia, Inge Huybrechts, Augustin Scalbert, Fabrice Pierre, Xavier Coumoul, Chantal Julia, Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot, Benjamin Allès, Pilar Galan, Serge Hercberg, Mélanie Deschasaux-Tanguy, Mathilde Touvier

PLOS Medicine: published February 13, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004338

Health outcomes after myocardial infarction: A population study of 56 million people in England

Marlous Hall, Lesley Smith, Jianhua Wu, Chris Hayward, Jonathan A. Batty, Paul C. Lambert, Harry Hemingway, Chris P. Gale

PLOS Medicine: published February 15, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004343

COVID-19 diagnostic testing and vaccinations among First Nations in Manitoba: A nations-based retrospective cohort study using linked administrative data, 2020–2021

Nathan C. Nickel, Wanda Phillips-Beck, Jennifer E. Enns, Okechukwu Ekuma, Carole Taylor, Sarah Fileatreault, Nkiru Eze, Leona Star, Josée Lavoie, Alan Katz, Marni Brownell, Alyson Mahar, Marcelo Urquia, Dan Chateau, Lisa Lix, Mariette Chartier, Emily Brownell, Miyosha Tso Deh, Anita Durksen, Razvan Romanescu

PLOS Medicine: published February 16, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004348

Risk of long COVID and associated symptoms after acute SARS-COV-2 infection in ethnic minorities: A nationwide register-linked cohort study in Denmark

George Frederick Mkoma, Charles Agyemang, Thomas Benfield, Mikael Rostila, Agneta Cederström, Jørgen Holm Petersen, Marie Norredam

PLOS Medicine: published February 20, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004280

Estimating the impact of alternative programmatic cotrimoxazole strategies on mortality among children born to mothers with HIV: A modelling study

Shrey Mathur, Melanie Smuk, Ceri Evans, Catherine J. Wedderburn, Diana M. Gibb, Martina Penazzato, Andrew J. Prendergast

PLOS Medicine: published February 20, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004334

Comparison of 3 optimized delivery strategies for completion of isoniazid-rifapentine (3HP) for tuberculosis prevention among people living with HIV in Uganda: A single-center randomized trial

Fred C. Semitala, Jillian L. Kadota, Allan Musinguzi, Fred Welishe, Anne Nakitende, Lydia Akello, Lynn Kunihira Tinka, Jane Nakimuli, Joan Ritar Kasidi, Opira Bishop, Suzan Nakasendwa, Yeonsoo Baik, Devika Patel, Amanda Sammann, Payam Nahid, Robert Belknap, Moses R. Kamya, Margaret A. Handley, Patrick PJ Phillips, Anne Katahoire, Christopher A. Berger, Noah Kiwanuka, Achilles Katamba, David W. Dowdy, Adithya Cattamanchi

PLOS Medicine: published February 20, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004356

Combining fecal immunochemical testing and questionnaire-based risk assessment in selecting participants for colonoscopy screening in the Chinese National Colorectal Cancer Screening Programs: A population-based cohort study

Xuesi Dong, Lingbin Du, Zilin Luo, Yongjie Xu, Chenran Wang, Fei Wang, Wei Cao, Liang Zhao, Yadi Zheng, Hongting Zhu, Changfa Xia, Jiang Li, Mulong Du, Dong Hang, Jiansong Ren, Jufang Shi, Hongbing Shen, Wanqing Chen, Ni Li, Jie He, Cancer Screening Program in Urban China (CanSPUC) Group

PLOS Medicine: published February 22, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004340

Diagnosis and management of endometrial hyperplasia: A UK national audit of adherence to national guidance 2012–2020

Ian Henderson, Naomi Black, Hajra Khattak, UKARCOG Working Group Authors, Janesh K. Gupta, Michael P. Rimmer

PLOS Medicine: published February 29, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004346

Corrections

Correction: Migraine and risk of premature myocardial infarction and stroke among men and women: A Danish population-based cohort study

Cecilia Hvitfeldt Fuglsang, Lars Pedersen, Morten Schmidt, Jan P. Vandenbroucke, Hans Erik Bøtker, Henrik Toft Sørensen

PLOS Medicine: published February 13, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004353

Correction: Impact of taxes and warning labels on red meat purchases among US consumers: A randomized controlled trial

The PLOS Medicine Staff

PLOS Medicine: published February 21, 2024 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004357

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