News and Updates

In the news: Wake Forest faculty discusses H5N1 and ongoing research

Research

Epidemiology

Software

Outbreaks

Forecasting

CMEED

Mathematical Modeling

Dr Brinkley Bellotti was recently intervented by the MIT Technology Review on the topic of H5N1 and its continued spread in dairy cows and poultry. Members of the section on infectious diseases are working on a number of projects to help understand the spread of H5N1 and its impact on animal and human health.

Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2024

Epidemiology

CMEED

AMR

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine Medical Student Infectious Disease Interest Group generated a series of educational materials to help raise awareness about antimicrobial stewardship and resistance for Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2024. Check them out!

Collabathon on Estimating Real-Time Epidemic Growth Rates

Research

Epidemiology

Software

Outbreaks

Forecasting

CMEED

Mathematical Modeling

Two members of the Section on Infectious Diseases attended the 2024 Epistorm Rt-Estimate Collabathon in Boston hosted by Northeastern University and the Network Science Institute. As part of this project they developed new software to estimate real-time epidemic growth rates–a key epidemiologic parameter that drives infectious disease control and prevention measures.

Michael DeWitt, Brinkley Bellotti

Medical Student Research in 2024

Research

Publication

Students

The Section on Infectious Diseases had a productive summer this year with medical students attending conferences in Australia and participating in the summer Medical Student Research Program.

Michael E. DeWitt

IDWeek 2024

Research

Publication

The Section on Infectious Diseases and Atrium Health Division of Infectious Diseases attended IDWeek 2024 in Los Angeles, CA and was well represented!

Michael E. DeWitt

International Field Epidemiology and Tropical Medicine in Peru

Public Health

Education

Fellowship

Emerging Diseases

Surveillance

Michael DeWitt attended the 2024 International Field Epidemiology and Tropical Medicine course in Peru. This included practical field epidemiology skills, tropical medicine, and public health in Lima and Tumbes, Peru.

Truly Trading One Drug for Another”

Addiction

Public Health

Research

Publication

‘You are just trading one drug for another’ is a common refrain in the world of substance use disorders. Remember that addiction is not defined by WHAT you use but HOW you use and what the use does to your life and the life of your loved ones.

Why Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Is Not “Trading One Drug For Another: Part 2”

Addiction

Public Health

Research

Publication

Patients frequently refuse to take medications that are proven most effective for treating addiction because they fear they are simply ‘trading one drug for another’. Let us now have an overview about how the medications work and how they differ from the drugs people tend to become addicted to.

Why Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Is Not “Trading One Drug For Another”

Addiction

Public Health

Research

Publication

Patients frequently refuse to take medications that are proven most effective for treating addiction because they fear they are simply ‘trading one drug for another’. Here is why that is not the case.

Addiction As a Biopsychosocial Disease

Addiction

Public Health

Research

Publication

There are many arguments in academic circles about how to frame and think about addiction. In my personal experience, I find one of the most helpful ways to think of addiction is the classic framework that views addiction as a ‘biopsychosocial’ disease. I like this framework because it helps us identify and then examine all of the key ingredients that go into forming and maintaining a substance use disorder. That then provides us with multiple different paths to treatment.

A Case Series of Serratia Marcescens in Persons Who Inject Drugs

Addiction

Public Health

Research

Publication

Serratia marcescens is a gram-negative bacillus that is widespread in the environment and has been recognized as a rare cause of infective endocarditis (IE), particularly in persons who inject drugs (PWID). The literature consists of a 19 person case series in the 1970s followed by just a handful of case reports and small case series. At AHWFB (Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist), we have noticed an increasing number of severe infections, including IE, with Serratia marcescens in PWID. We aimed to gather data on the population that is getting this infection, the clinical characteristics of the infection, and its treatment at our facility.

An Introduction to the Intersection of Infectious Diseases and Addiction

Addiction

What does infectious diseases have to do with addiction!? How did you get into this?

Estimated Monkeypox Susceptible MSM Population in North Carolina Review

Monkeypox

Public Health

Research

Publication

In order to inform public health officials and understand the risk of monkeypox in North Carolina, researchers from across Atrium Health and Wake Forest University School of Medicine estimated the number of men who have sex with men by North Carolina county using the NHANES survey data in order to inform vaccination quantities and priorities given the current limited supply of vaccines.

Tracking Monkeypox Cases in North Carolina

Public Health

Monkeypox

Emerging Diseases

Surveillance

Tracking the reported Monkeypox (MPX) cases in North Carolina and the United States.