Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

About: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a government organization based out in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 58238 authors who have published 82592 publications receiving 4405701 citations. The organization is also known as: CDC & Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Costs of asthma in the United States: 2002-2007

Abstract: Background The economic burden of asthma is an important measure of the effect of asthma on society. Although asthma is a costly illness, the total cost of asthma to society has not been estimated in more than a decade. Objective The purpose of this study is to provide the public with current estimates of the incremental direct medical costs and productivity losses due to morbidity and mortality from asthma at both the individual and national levels for the years 2002-2007. Methods Data came from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Two-part models were used to estimate the incremental direct costs of asthma. The incremental number of days lost from work and school was estimated by negative binomial regressions and valued following the human capital approach. Published data were used to value lives lost with an underlying cause of asthma. Results Over the years 2002-2007, the incremental direct cost of asthma was $3,259 (2009 dollars) per person per year. The value of additional days lost attributable to asthma per year was approximately $301 for each worker and $93 for each student. For the most recent year available, 2007, the total incremental cost of asthma to society was $56 billion, with productivity losses due to morbidity accounting for $3.8 billion and productivity losses due to mortality accounting for $2.1 billion. Conclusion The current study finds that the estimated costs of asthma are substantial, which stresses the necessity for research and policy to work toward reducing the economic burden of asthma.

Vaccine-derived polioviruses and the endgame strategy for global polio eradication.

Abstract: As the global eradication of wild poliovirus nears, the World Health Organization (WHO) is addressing challenges unprecedented in public health. The live, attenuated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), used for more than four decades to interrupt poliovirus transmission, and the vaccine of choice for developing countries, is genetically unstable. Reversion of the small number of substitutions conferring the attenuated phenotype frequently occurs during OPV replication in humans and is the underlying cause of the rare cases of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) in OPV recipients and their close contacts. Whereas VAPP has long been recognized, two other adverse events have been identified more recently: (a) long-term excretion of highly evolved vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) in persons with primary immunodeficiencies, and (b) polio outbreaks associated with circulating VDPVs in areas with low rates of OPV coverage. Developing a posteradication strategy to minimize the risks of VDPV emergence and spread has become an urgent WHO priority.

Seroconversion to antibodies against Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-related latent nuclear antigens before the development of Kaposi's sarcoma

Abstract: Background If Kaposi's sarcoma–associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is the cause of Kaposi's sarcoma, serologic evidence of infection should be present in patients before the disease develops. Methods Using an immunoblot assay for two latent nuclear antigens of KSHV, we tested serum samples from homosexual male patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) with and without Kaposi's sarcoma, HIV-infected men with hemophilia, HIV-seronegative blood donors, and HIV-seronegative patients with high titers of antibodies against Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Serial serum samples obtained from patients with Kaposi's sarcoma before the diagnosis of the disease were tested for evidence of seroconversion. Results Of 40 patients with Kaposi's sarcoma, 32 (80 percent) were positive for antibodies against KSHV antigens by the immunoblot assay, as compared with only 7 of 40 homosexual men (18 percent) without Kaposi's sarcoma immediately before the onset of AIDS. Of 122 blood donors, 22 EBV-infected patients, and 20 ...

Evidence that the prevalence of childhood overweight is plateauing: Data from nine countries

Abstract: Until quite recently, there has been a widespread belief in the popular media and scientific literature that the prevalence of childhood obesity is rapidly increasing However, high quality evidence has emerged from several countries suggesting that the rise in the prevalence has slowed appreciably, or even plateaued This review brings together such data from nine countries (Australia, China, England, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and USA), with data from 467,294 children aged 2-19 years The mean unweighted rate of change in prevalence of overweight and obesity was +000 (049)% per year across all age ×sex groups and all countries between 1995 and 2008 For overweight alone, the figure was +001 (056)%, and for obesity alone -001 (024)% Rates of change differed by sex, age, socioeconomic status and ethnicity While the prevalence of overweight and obesity appears to be stabilizing at different levels in different countries, it remains high, and a significant public health issue Possible reasons for the apparent flattening are hypothesised

What Is Community? An Evidence-Based Definition for Participatory Public Health

Abstract: Increased emphasis on community collaboration indicates the need for consensus regarding the definition of community within public health.This study examined whether members of diverse US communities described community in similar ways. To identify strategies to support community collaboration in HIV vaccine trials, qualitative interviews were conducted with 25 African Americans in Durham, NC; 26 gay men in San Francisco, Calif; 25 injection drug users in Philadelphia, Pa; and 42 HIV vaccine researchers across the United States.Verbatim responses to the question “What does the word community mean to you?” were analyzed. Cluster analysis was used to identify similarities in the way community was described. A common definition of community emerged as a group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share common perspectives, and engage in joint action in geographical locations or settings.The participants differed in the emphasis they placed on particular elements of the definition. Community was defined similarly but experienced differently by people with diverse backgrounds.These results parallel similar social science findings and confirm the viability of a common definition for participatory public health.