The ANSI Federation and standardization community are stepping up with guidance, resources, and initiatives to support public health and safety and the nation's recovery. Suggestions for news items may be submitted to [email protected]. All submissions are published at ANSI's discretion.
CDC Launches Funding Opportunity to Establish Outbreak Response Network for Disease Forecasting
To help predict the trajectory of future infectious disease outbreaks—and to arm decision makers with the information that they need during public emergencies—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have launched a Notice for Funding Opportunity (NOFO) through the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) that will support a network for disease forecasting.
Grantees will work with the CFA to develop a network of innovators to design, prototype, test, and scale ground-breaking capabilities for improving analytics, modeling, and forecasting. The network is intended to support state and local decision-makers in developing and implementing new analytical tools that are best suited for their jurisdictions, based on the best available information.
The cooperative agreement will fund recipients to plan, prepare, and respond to future infectious disease outbreaks.
“Infectious disease outbreaks have and will continue to threaten our communities, friends, and families,” said Dylan George, director of the CFA. “This network will increase our national capacity to use disease models, analytics, and forecasts to support public health action, prevent infections, protect people, and safeguard economies. The network will also provide desperately needed tools to fight outbreaks quickly and effectively in our communities, where critical response decisions are made.”
The CDC reports that the new program will support advanced development of modeling, forecasting tools, and outbreak analytics through three critical operations: innovation, integration, and implementation.
Access more information from CDC’s news release. For more information about these funding opportunities, visit CFA’s website before the July 14, 2023, application deadline.
New NIH-funded Study Provides Insights into Long COVID
New research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides insights into the severity of long COVID symptoms and reveals who is most susceptible to symptoms. A study of nearly 10,000 Americans found that people who had COVID-19 before the Omicron strain emerged in 2021 and those who were unvaccinated were more likely to have long COVID and more severe cases. Additionally, reinfections were also linked to higher long covid frequency and severity, compared to people who only had COVID-19 once.
What is Long COVID?
SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with persistent, relapsing, or new symptoms or other health effects occurring after acute infection, termed “postacute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection” (PASC), also known as long COVID. Symptoms of long COVID can include fatigue, brain fog, and dizziness, and may last for months or years after a person has COVID-19, according to the NIH.
The study was coordinated through the NIH’s Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery (RECOVER) initiative, a nationwide effort dedicated to understanding why some people develop long-term symptoms following COVID-19. The initiative also serves as a reference on how to detect, treat, and prevent long COVID.
“This study is an important step toward defining long COVID beyond any one individual symptom,” said study author Leora Horwitz, M.D., director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Science, and co-principal investigator for the RECOVER Clinical Science Core, at NYU Langone Health. “This approach—which may evolve over time—will serve as a foundation for scientific discovery and treatment design.”
“Americans living with long COVID want to understand what is happening with their bodies,” said Admiral Rachel L. Levine, M.D., assistant secretary for health. “RECOVER, as part of a broader government response, in collaboration with academia, industry, public health institutions, advocacy organizations, and patients, is making great strides toward improving our understanding of long COVID and its associated conditions.”
NIH reports that to date, more than 100 million Americans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Access more information about the research via NIH’s news release.
See more ANSI member efforts in the ANSI COVID-19 Resource Webpage Highlighting the Standardization Community’s Response.