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School nurses played a key role in Maine's school-located influenza vaccination (SLV) clinics during the 2009-2010 pandemic season. The objective of this study was to determine, from the school district perspective, the labor hours and costs associated with outside-clinic coordination activities (OCA). The authors defined OCA as labor hours spent by staff outside of clinic operations. The authors surveyed a convenience sample of 10 school nurses from nine school districts. Eight nurses responded to the survey, representing seven districts, 45 schools and 84 SLV clinics that provided a total of 22,596 vaccine doses (H1N1 and seasonal combined) to children and adolescents. The mean total OCA time per clinic was 69 hours: out of total hours, 22 (36%) were spent outside regular clinic operation time. The authors estimated the mean cost of OCA to be $15.36 per dose. Survey respondents reported that costs would be lower during non-pandemic seasons and as schools become more proficient at planning clinics. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

This study retrospectively estimated costs for a convenience sample of school-located vaccination (SLV) clinics conducted in Maine during the 2009-2010 influenza season. Surveys were developed to capture the cost of labor including unpaid volunteers as well as supplies and materials used in SLV clinics. Six nurses from different school districts completed a clinic day survey on staff time; four of the six also provided data for materials and supplies. For all clinics, average per-dose labor cost was estimated at $5.95. Average per-dose material cost, excluding vaccine, was $5.76. From the four complete clinic survey responses, total per-dose cost was estimated to be an average of $13.51 (range = $4.91-$32.39). Use of donated materials and uncompensated volunteer staff could substantially reduce per-dose cost. Average per-dose cost could also be lowered by increasing the number of doses administered in a clinic. (Contains 2 tables, 1 figure and 1 note.)

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) cases and deaths in the United States fluctuated substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed multiple data sources to understand the factors contributing to these changes and estimated future TB trends., Methods: We identified four mechanisms potentially contributing to observed TB trends during 2020-2023: immigration, respiratory contact rates, rates of accurate diagnosis and treatment initiation, and mortality rates for persons with TB disease. We employed a Bayesian approach to synthesize evidence on how these mechanisms changed during the pandemic and how they might have combined to produce observed 2020-2023 TB data, using a transmission-dynamic model to link mechanisms to TB outcomes. We also simulated a no-pandemic counterfactual scenario that assumed mechanisms followed pre-pandemic trends. We estimated TB outcomes associated with the pandemic until 2035 to capture lagged effects. We evaluated additional scenarios to estimate the individual effect of each mechanism., Results: Over the 2020-2035 study period, we estimate an additional 2,784 (95% uncertainty interval: 2,164-3,461) TB cases and 1,138 (1,076-1,201) TB deaths in the United States associated with changes occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. The four mechanisms had offsetting effects - decreases in TB diagnosis rates and increases in TB mortality rates led to more TB deaths, while reductions in contact rates reduced TB deaths. Immigration changes initially reduced TB deaths, but increased deaths over time., Discussion: While the direct impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic occurred between 2020-2023, these changes may continue to influence TB incidence and mortality in future years.