Delineation of public concerns that prevent vaccine compliance is a major step in generating assurances and enhancing the success of COVID-19 prevention programs. We therefore sought to identify public concerns associated with COVID-19 vaccines, as reflected by web and social media searches, with a focus on menstrual irregularities. We used trajectory analyses of web and social media search data in combination with global COVID-19 data to reveal time-dependent correlations between vaccination rates and the relative volume of vaccine and period related searches. A surge of period and vaccine related Google searches followed the introduction of Covid vaccines around the world, and the commencement of vaccination programs in English speaking countries and across the United States. The relative volume of searches such as “Covid vaccine menstrual irregularities”, “Covid vaccine menstrual period”, “Pfizer vaccine menstruation”, and “Moderna vaccine menstruation” was each significantly correlated with vaccination rates (Spearman r = 0.42–0.88, P = 4.33 × 10^–34–1.55 × 10^–5), and significantly different before and after the introduction of Covid vaccines (Mann–Whitney P = 2.00 × 10^–21–7.10 × 10^–20). TikTok users were more engaged in period problems in 2021 than ever before. International, national, and state-level correlations between COVID-19 vaccinations and online activity demonstrate a global major concern of vaccine-related menstrual irregularities. Whether it is a potential side effect or an unfounded worry, monitoring of web and social media activity could reveal the public perception of COVID-19 prevention efforts, which could then be directly addressed and translated into insightful public health strategies.

It has recently been shown that children with early shigellosis are at increased risk of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study aimed to evaluate the association between antibiotic treatment of shigellosis with long-term ADHD rates. A retrospective cohort study was conducted that included all the Leumit Health Services (LHS) enrollees aged 5–18 years between 2000–2018 with a documented Shigella-positive gastroenteritis before the age of 3 years. Of the 5176 children who were positive for Shigella gastroenteritis before the age of 3 years, 972 (18.8%) were treated with antibiotics early (<5 days), 250 (4.8%) were treated late (≥5 days), and 3954 children (76.4%) were not prescribed antibiotics. Late antibiotic treatment was associated with significantly increased rates of ADHD (adjusted OR = 1.61; 95% CI, 1.1–2.3). Early treatment with antibiotics was not associated with increased ADHD rates (adjusted OR = 1.02; 95% CI, 0.8–1.3). In conclusion, late antibiotic treatment of early childhood shigellosis was associated with increased rates of ADHD.

Several angiogenesis-dependent diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and infantile hemangioma, display differential prevalence among Black, as compared to White individuals. Although socioeconomic status and genetic architecture have been suggested as explaining these differences, we have recently shown that pigment productionper semight be involved. For example, we have shown that the extracellular protein fibromodulin is a pro-angiogenic factor highly secreted by melanocytes in White but not Black individuals. Still, additional pigment-dependent angiogenic factors and their molecular mechanisms remain to be identified. Understanding the contribution of pigmentation to angiogenesis in health and disease is essential for precision medicine of angiogenesis-dependent diseases with racial disparity. Toward that goal, we compared the transcriptomes of Black and White individuals in three tissues with angiogenic activity, namely artery, whole blood, and skin. We identified several differentially expressed angiogenesis pathways, including artery morphogenesis, regulation of endothelial cell chemotaxis, and cellular response to vascular endothelial growth factor stimulus. We then demonstrated that the expression of key genes in these pathways is directly modulated by the degree of pigmentation. We further identified the precise pigment production pathway controlling the expression of these genes, namely melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) signaling. These results demonstrate pigment-mediated regulation of angiogenesis-related pathways and their driver genes across human tissues.