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Job loss and evictions tied to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are expected to increase homelessness significantly in the coming months. Reciprocally, homelessness and the many vulnerabilities that inevitably accompany it are driving COVID-19 outbreaks in US shelters and other congregate living situations. Unless we intervene to address homelessness, these co-existing and synergistic situations will make the current public health crisis even worse. Preventing homelessness and providing permanent affordable housing has reduced the ravages of the HIV epidemic. We must take the lessons learned in 40 years of fighting HIV to respond effectively to the COVID-19 crisis. Housing is an investment that will curb the spread of COVID-19 and help protect all of us from future pandemics.

BackgroundStaphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of bacteremia, yet there remains a significant knowledge gap in the identification of relevant biomarkers that predict clinical outcomes. Heterogeneity in the host response to invasive S. aureus infection suggests that specific biomarker signatures could be utilized to differentiate patients prone to severe disease, thereby facilitating earlier implementation of more aggressive therapies.MethodsTo further elucidate the inflammatory correlates of poor clinical outcomes in patients with S. aureus bacteremia, we evaluated the association between a panel of blood proteins at initial presentation of bacteremia and disease severity outcomes using 2 cohorts of patients with S. aureus bacteremia (n = 32 and n = 124).ResultsWe identified 13 candidate proteins that were correlated with mortality and persistent bacteremia. Prognostic modeling identified interleukin (IL)-8 and CCL2 as the strongest individual predictors of mortality, with the combination of these biomarkers classifying fatal outcome with 89% sensitivity and 77% specificity (P < .0001). Baseline IL-17A levels were elevated in patients with persistent bacteremia (P < .0001), endovascular (P = .026) and metastatic tissue infections (P = .012).ConclusionsThese results demonstrate the potential utility of selected biomarkers to distinguish patients with the highest risk for treatment failure and bacteremia-related complications, providing a valuable tool for clinicians in the management of S. aureus bacteremia. Additionally, these biomarkers could identify patients with the greatest potential to benefit from novel therapies in clinical trials.