Eric H. Y. Lau
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View article: Assessing the costs of antenatal care in Eastern Ethiopia: implications for improving the free maternity services policy
Assessing the costs of antenatal care in Eastern Ethiopia: implications for improving the free maternity services policy Open
Most sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries are implementing free maternity services starting from the first antenatal care (ANC) visit to postnatal care. However, out of pocket (OOP) health expenditures significantly affect the utilization of…
View article: Age-related disparities and spatial distribution of low birthweight in sub-Saharan Africa: using data from demographic and health survey
Age-related disparities and spatial distribution of low birthweight in sub-Saharan Africa: using data from demographic and health survey Open
In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the burden of low birthweight (LBW) remains high, leading to considerable short- and long-term consequences for both newborns and mothers. However, limited evidence exists on the disparities and geographical di…
View article: Optimization of school closures during an Omicron epidemic in Hong Kong: a modelling study
Optimization of school closures during an Omicron epidemic in Hong Kong: a modelling study Open
Closing schools has been a prominent public health control measure for respiratory virus pandemics. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were more contentious, as children were at a lower risk of severe disease while prolonged closu…
View article: Retrospective assessment of vaccination policy optimizations during an Omicron BA.2 epidemic in Hong Kong: A modelling study
Retrospective assessment of vaccination policy optimizations during an Omicron BA.2 epidemic in Hong Kong: A modelling study Open
Low elderly primary series coverage led to the most preventable deaths, while high coverage in middle-aged groups significantly averted excess hospitalisations. Our study underscores the importance of targeting COVID-19 vaccinations in hig…
View article: Leaving no one behind: the impact of disability and socioeconomic status on maternal continuum of care
Leaving no one behind: the impact of disability and socioeconomic status on maternal continuum of care Open
Maternal CoC completion was lower among WwD, especially those with lower socioeconomic status. Effective strategies that ensure disability-friendly maternal health care services will play a pivotal role. Maternal health service programs sh…
View article: Investigating setting-specific superspreading potential and generation intervals of COVID-19 in Hong Kong
Investigating setting-specific superspreading potential and generation intervals of COVID-19 in Hong Kong Open
Superspreading is an important feature of COVID-19 transmission dynamics, but few studies have investigated this feature stratified by transmission setting. Using detailed clustering data comprising 8647 COVID-19 cases confirmed in Hong Ko…
View article: Impact of Population Immunity and Public Health Measures on the Transmission of Omicron Subvariants BA.2 and BA.5 in Hong Kong
Impact of Population Immunity and Public Health Measures on the Transmission of Omicron Subvariants BA.2 and BA.5 in Hong Kong Open
Background The rapid evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and population-level vaccine administration have significantly shifted the population immunity. In Hong Kong, these shifts, coupled with the eme…
View article: Impacts of viral respiratory infections on segments of fatal out-of-hospital cardiac arrests
Impacts of viral respiratory infections on segments of fatal out-of-hospital cardiac arrests Open
Purpose of the study Viral respiratory infections have been linked to fatal out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), yet the specific causes remain unclear, and the impact of individual viral infections is often confounded by local meteorolo…
View article: Food Insecurity Among Post-Secondary Students in High Income Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Food Insecurity Among Post-Secondary Students in High Income Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Open
Purpose of Review Food insecurity has recently emerged as a growing problem among students attending post-secondary institutions in high income countries, where it is associated with poorer health outcomes and poorer academic performance. …
View article: Estimation of trajectory of COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness against infection
Estimation of trajectory of COVID-19 vaccines effectiveness against infection Open
Understanding the waning of vaccine protection over time is critical for informing optimal vaccination strategies, booster schedules, and public health policies. This real-world study can capture changing dynamics that may differ from clin…
View article: Protection and waning of vaccine-induced, natural and hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Hong Kong
Protection and waning of vaccine-induced, natural and hybrid immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in Hong Kong Open
Hybrid immunity represents the most effective strategy for sustained protection against SARS-CoV-2. Public health policies should emphasize booster campaigns and hybrid immunity pathways to enhance population-level immunity and guide futur…
View article: Joint analysis of time-varying effect of vaccine and antiviral drug for preventing severe complications and mortality
Joint analysis of time-varying effect of vaccine and antiviral drug for preventing severe complications and mortality Open
This study investigated the time-varying effects of vaccines and oral antiviral drugs in preventing severe COVID-19 complications and mortality in Hong Kong. Utilizing data from hospitalized patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 between March…
View article: Improving influenza forecast in the tropics and subtropics: a case study of Hong Kong
Improving influenza forecast in the tropics and subtropics: a case study of Hong Kong Open
Influenza forecasts could aid public health response as shown for temperate regions, but such efforts are more challenging in the tropics and subtropics due to more irregular influenza activities. Here, we built six forecast approaches for…
View article: Comparative Effectiveness of Antivirals and Monoclonal Antibodies for Treating COVID‐19 Patients Infected With Omicron Variant: A Systematic Review and Network Meta‐Analysis
Comparative Effectiveness of Antivirals and Monoclonal Antibodies for Treating COVID‐19 Patients Infected With Omicron Variant: A Systematic Review and Network Meta‐Analysis Open
Antiviral drugs likely remain effective against the SARS‐CoV‐2 Omicron variant, while monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies have experienced drops in neutralizing ability. This systematic review and network meta‐analysis aims to estimate the…
View article: Effective Real-time Transmission Estimations Incorporating Population Viral Load Distributions Amid SARS-CoV-2 Variants and Preexisting Immunity
Effective Real-time Transmission Estimations Incorporating Population Viral Load Distributions Amid SARS-CoV-2 Variants and Preexisting Immunity Open
Background Population-level cycle threshold (Ct) distribution allows for Rt estimation for SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain, however, its generalizability under different circulating variants and preexisting immunity remains unclear. Methods We…
View article: Hospital costs of <scp>COVID</scp>‐19, post‐<scp>COVID</scp>‐19 condition and other viral pneumonias: a cost comparison analysis
Hospital costs of <span>COVID</span>‐19, post‐<span>COVID</span>‐19 condition and other viral pneumonias: a cost comparison analysis Open
Objectives To compare hospital admission costs for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) cases to hospital admission costs for other viral pneumonia cases in Australia, and to describe hospital admission costs for post‐COVID‐19 condition. De…
View article: Immuno-persistence after the fourth and fifth doses of inactivated polio vaccines in school-aged children
Immuno-persistence after the fourth and fifth doses of inactivated polio vaccines in school-aged children Open
The results revealed the immuno-persistence after the fourth and fifth doses of IPV and highlighted the importance of completing immunization series to ensure high vaccination coverage, particularly among children in the developing countri…
View article: Impact of COVID-19 control measures on respiratory syncytial virus and hand-foot-and-mouth disease transmission in Hong Kong and South Korea
Impact of COVID-19 control measures on respiratory syncytial virus and hand-foot-and-mouth disease transmission in Hong Kong and South Korea Open
The public health and social measures (PHSMs) for mitigation/control of COVID-19 pandemic influenced the transmission dynamics of many other infectious diseases, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, and hand, foot and mou…
View article: Association between quality of antenatal care service utilisation and adverse birth outcomes among adolescent women in 22 Sub-Saharan African countries. A mixed-effects multilevel analysis
Association between quality of antenatal care service utilisation and adverse birth outcomes among adolescent women in 22 Sub-Saharan African countries. A mixed-effects multilevel analysis Open
Nearly one-fourth of adolescent women in SSA experienced at least one type of adverse birth outcome. Low quality of ANC was significantly associated with adverse birth outcomes. Policymakers need to consider a comprehensive, essential, and…
View article: Development of an Integrated Chatbot on the Website Using IBM Watson Assistant
Development of an Integrated Chatbot on the Website Using IBM Watson Assistant Open
This research develops an integrated chatbot using IBM Watson Assistant to improve customer interaction on the Martindo Fine Foods website. The main problem addressed is the inefficiency and inconsistency of customer service responses. Usi…
View article: Assessing the Impact of Primary-Series Infection and Booster Vaccination on Protection against Omicron in Hong Kong: A Population-Based Observational Study
Assessing the Impact of Primary-Series Infection and Booster Vaccination on Protection against Omicron in Hong Kong: A Population-Based Observational Study Open
This study aimed to assess the real-world effectiveness of vaccines and hybrid immunity in preventing infections during the Omicron prevalent period in Hong Kong. This study analyzed vaccination records and COVID-19 confirmed case records …
View article: Imagen 3
Imagen 3 Open
We introduce Imagen 3, a latent diffusion model that generates high quality images from text prompts. We describe our quality and responsibility evaluations. Imagen 3 is preferred over other state-of-the-art (SOTA) models at the time of ev…
View article: What is the prevalence of anabolic‐androgenic steroid use among women? A systematic review
What is the prevalence of anabolic‐androgenic steroid use among women? A systematic review Open
Background and aim Evidence suggests there has been an increase in anabolic‐androgenic steroid (AAS) use among women, driven by the evolving landscape of women's participation in sport. However, the extent of use is unknown. This systemati…
View article: Forecasting of influenza activity and associated hospital admission burden and estimating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 2019/20 winter season in Hong Kong
Forecasting of influenza activity and associated hospital admission burden and estimating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 2019/20 winter season in Hong Kong Open
Like other tropical and subtropical regions, influenza viruses can circulate year-round in Hong Kong. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant decrease in influenza activity. The objective of this study was to retrosp…
View article: Insights into COVID-19 epidemiology and control from temporal changes in serial interval distributions in Hong Kong
Insights into COVID-19 epidemiology and control from temporal changes in serial interval distributions in Hong Kong Open
The serial interval (SI) distribution of an epidemic is used to approximate the generation time distribution, an essential parameter for inferring the transmissibility (${R}_t$) of an infectious disease. However, SI distributions may chang…
View article: Predicting Efficacies of Fractional Doses of Vaccines by Using Neutralizing Antibody Levels: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Predicting Efficacies of Fractional Doses of Vaccines by Using Neutralizing Antibody Levels: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Open
Background With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants that have eluded immunity from vaccines and prior infections, vaccine shortages and vaccine effectiveness pose unprecedented challenges for governments in expanding booster vaccination p…
View article: Efficacy and safety of respiratory syncytial virus prefusion F protein vaccines in adults
Efficacy and safety of respiratory syncytial virus prefusion F protein vaccines in adults Open
•GSK and Pfizer's RSV pre-F vaccines demonstrate promising results in clinical trials of adults with encouraging efficacy.•Approval of RSV pre-F protein vaccines marks a milestone in preventing RSV illnesses in adults.•Continued research i…
View article: Investigating setting-specific superspreading potential and generation intervals of COVID-19 in Hong Kong
Investigating setting-specific superspreading potential and generation intervals of COVID-19 in Hong Kong Open
Superspreading is an important feature of SARS-CoV-2, though few studies have investigated quantitatively how transmission characteristics can vary by setting. Using detailed clustering data comprising 8635 SARS-CoV-2 cases confirmed in Ho…