JMIR Public Health and Surveillance

While prior studies have examined structural and individual-level barriers to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake, little is known about the psychological mechanisms underlying resistance to PrEP, particularly among high-risk groups. The status quo bias (SQB) theory provides a theoretical framework for understanding why individuals may resist beneficial health innovations.

Vaccination in early childhood is essential to prevent serious infectious diseases and protect community health. In the United States, 7 vaccines (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis; polio; measles, mumps, and rubella; Haemophilus influenzae type b; hepatitis B; varicella; and pneumococcal conjugate) are recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for children aged 19-35 months, along with 3 others (hepatitis A, influenza, and rotavirus), which are recommended for full protection. Despite these guidelines, recent measles outbreaks in the United States have drawn attention to persistent gaps in coverage.

Public health data dashboards have substantial potential to improve transparency, understanding, and decision-making at multiple levels, from individuals to public health practitioners and policymakers. However, creating effective dashboards presents many challenges. In this case-based tutorial on public health dashboard development, we share lessons learned from our experience developing data dashboards for the HEALing Communities Study (HCS), a National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded, community-engaged intervention to deploy evidence-based practices to reduce opioid overdose deaths in 67 communities across 4 states. We present key decision points dashboard teams must address, along with the major considerations and trade-offs that shaped our approach. First, we describe core considerations of the who, what, why, where, when, and how of data dashboard development. Second, we outline steps in data curation, including the identification of key metrics and potential data sources and developing processes to acquire the data. Third, we discuss practical aspects of developing data visualizations that can effectively communicate key messages to the end users of interest. Fourth, we describe the infrastructure considerations to host and publish data dashboards. And finally, we discuss maintenance and sustainability of the dashboard. While the material can be read sequentially as a step-by-step guide, we refer to this resource as a “playbook” because readers may engage with specific domains in a random-access fashion, that is, based on their specific needs and/or starting point rather than a fixed sequence. The information, supplemental materials, and resources will assist individuals and organizations seeking to build data dashboards by fostering context-sensitive evaluation of design and implementation choices to realize the promise of data-driven decision-making.

Ambient ozone (O) exposure has been found to be associated with gestational hypertension, which, in turn, increases the risk of term low birth weight (LBW). As such, gestational hypertension acts as a potential mechanism mediating restricted fetal growth; however, few epidemiological studies have quantified this specific mediation pathway.

Despite the vast growth of vaccine studies during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, clinical trials failed to adequately represent diverse societal groups, resulting in the underrepresentation of specific populations. Understanding the factors hampering participation in vaccine clinical trials is essential to better identify structural, ethical, and communication barriers and to improve inclusive strategies for broader and more equitable participation in future vaccine research.

The Philippines accounts for 7% of the global tuberculosis (TB) burden. In 2022, an estimated 741,000 Filipinos developed TB, and 40,000 died as a result. Approximately 350,000 new TB diagnoses remain unreported annually.

Utilization of the maternal continuum of care (CoC)—comprising adequate antenatal care (ANC), skilled birth attendance, and postnatal care (PNC)—is critical for improving maternal and child health outcomes. However, dropout from the CoC remains substantial in Bangladesh, with women discontinuing services at different stages of pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum care.

Air pollution continues to impose a substantial health and economic burden in China. Despite recent improvements, national annual average PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) concentrations remain substantially above the levels deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO), underscoring the need for more stringent air quality control.

Contact tracing (CT), the process of identifying and managing contacts of infected cases, is one public health and social measure that may reduce the spread of infectious diseases. While previous systematic reviews of CT exist, a comprehensive review of both the effectiveness and potential unintended consequences has not been undertaken to our knowledge. Understanding effective CT strategies could help governments and health authorities prepare effectively for emergency epidemic or pandemic situations.

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and its associated factors have not been investigated in Vietnam, especially in rural areas.

In the last 2 decades, there has been an increasing number of sexually transmissible enteric infection (STEI) outbreaks among gay, bisexual, or other men who have sex with men (GBMSM). There remain important gaps in our understanding of how STEI transmission is sustained that repeated collection of samples could help to address.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant global health threat. Several public health campaigns aimed to raise AMR awareness and inspire related behavioral changes have been delivered in a time-specific, coordinated manner, while others have placed less emphasis on campaign timing. Social media platforms can be leveraged as key vehicles for delivering public health campaigns, particularly by collaborating with health content creators who serve as influential messengers. Increasingly, organizations such as the World Health Organization and TikTok have created health content creator networks; however, the impact of such networks in public health campaigns, especially when delivered in a coordinated, time-specific manner, remains uncertain.