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).

Bacterial Meningitis in the United States in 1995

Abstract: Background Before the introduction of the conjugate vaccines, Haemophilus influenzae type b was the major cause of bacterial meningitis in the United States, and meningitis was primarily a disease of infants and young children. We describe the epidemiologic features of bacterial meningitis five years after the H. influenzae type b conjugate vaccines were licensed for routine immunization of infants. Methods Data were collected from active, population-based surveillance for culture-confirmed meningitis and other invasive bacterial disease during 1995 in laboratories serving all the acute care hospitals in 22 counties of four states (total population, more than 10 million). The rates were compared with those for 1986 obtained by similar surveillance. Results On the basis of 248 cases of bacterial meningitis in the surveillance areas, the rates of meningitis (per 100,000) for the major pathogens in 1995 were Streptococcus pneumoniae, 1.1; Neisseria meningitidis, 0.6; group B streptococcus, 0.3; Listeria mono...

Guidelines for Preventing Health-Care-- Associated Pneumonia, 2003 Recommendations of CDC and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee

Abstract: This report updates, expands, and replaces the previously published CDC "Guideline for Prevention of Nosocomial Pneumonia". The new guidelines are designed to reduce the incidence of pneumonia and other severe, acute lower respiratory tract infections in acute-care hospitals and in other health-care settings (e.g., ambulatory and long-term care institutions) and other facilities where health care is provided. Among the changes in the recommendations to prevent bacterial pneumonia, especially ventilator-associated pneumonia, are the preferential use of oro-tracheal rather than naso-tracheal tubes in patients who receive mechanically assisted ventilation, the use of noninvasive ventilation to reduce the need for and duration of endotracheal intubation, changing the breathing circuits of ventilators when they malfunction or are visibly contaminated, and (when feasible) the use of an endotracheal tube with a dorsal lumen to allow drainage of respiratory secretions; no recommendations were made about the use of sucralfate, histamine-2 receptor antagonists, or antacids for stress-bleeding prophylaxis. For prevention of health-care--associated Legionnaires disease, the changes include maintaining potable hot water at temperatures not suitable for amplification of Legionella spp., considering routine culturing of water samples from the potable water system of a facility's organ-transplant unit when it is done as part of the facility's comprehensive program to prevent and control health-care--associated Legionnaires disease, and initiating an investigation for the source of Legionella spp. when one definite or one possible case of laboratory-confirmed health-care--associated Legionnaires disease is identified in an inpatient hemopoietic stem-cell transplant (HSCT) recipient or in two or more HSCT recipients who had visited an outpatient HSCT unit during all or part of the 2-10 day period before illness onset. In the section on aspergillosis, the revised recommendations include the use of a room with high-efficiency particulate air filters rather than laminar airflow as the protective environment for allogeneic HSCT recipients and the use of high-efficiency respiratory-protection devices (e.g., N95 respirators) by severely immunocompromised patients when they leave their rooms when dust-generating activities are ongoing in the facility. In the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) section, the new recommendation is to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether to administer monoclonal antibody (palivizumab) to certain infants and children aged <24 months who were born prematurely and are at high risk for RSV infection. In the section on influenza, the new recommendations include the addition of oseltamivir (to amantadine and rimantadine) for prophylaxis of all patients without influenza illness and oseltamivir and zanamivir (to amantadine and rimantadine) as treatment for patients who are acutely ill with influenza in a unit where an influenza outbreak is recognized. In addition to the revised recommendations, the guideline contains new sections on pertussis and lower respiratory tract infections caused by adenovirus and human parainfluenza viruses and refers readers to the source of updated information about prevention and control of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Epidemiology of Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreaks, United States, 1982-2002.

Abstract: Escherichia coli O157:H7 causes 73,000 illnesses in the United States annually. We reviewed E. coli O157 outbreaks reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to better understand the epidemiology of E. coli O157. E. coli O157 outbreaks (>2 cases of E. coli O157 infection with a common epidemiologic exposure) reported to CDC from 1982 to 2002 were reviewed. In that period, 49 states reported 350 outbreaks, representing 8,598 cases, 1,493 (17%) hospitalizations, 354 (4%) hemolytic uremic syndrome cases, and 40 (0.5%) deaths. Transmission route for 183 (52%) was foodborne, 74 (21%) unknown, 50 (14%) person-to-person, 31 (9%) waterborne, 11 (3%) animal contact, and 1 (0.3%) laboratory-related. The food vehicle for 75 (41%) foodborne outbreaks was ground beef, and for 38 (21%) outbreaks, produce.

Prevalence of autism in a US metropolitan area.

Abstract: ContextConcern has been raised about possible increases in the prevalence of autism. However, few population-based studies have been conducted in the United States.ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence of autism among children in a major US metropolitan area and to describe characteristics of the study population.Design, Setting, and PopulationStudy of the prevalence of autism among children aged 3 to 10 years in the 5 counties of metropolitan Atlanta, Ga, in 1996. Cases were identified through screening and abstracting records at multiple medical and educational sources, with case status determined by expert review.Main Outcome MeasuresAutism prevalence by demographic factors, levels of cognitive functioning, previous autism diagnoses, special education eligibility categories, and sources of identification.ResultsA total of 987 children displayed behaviors consistent with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria for autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified, or Asperger disorder. The prevalence for autism was 3.4 per 1000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.2-3.6) (male-female ratio, 4:1). Overall, the prevalence was comparable for black and white children (black, 3.4 per 1000 [95% CI, 3.0-3.7] and white, 3.4 per 1000 [95% CI, 3.2-3.7]). Sixty-eight percent of children with IQ or developmental test results (N = 880) had cognitive impairment. As severity of cognitive impairment increased from mild to profound, the male-female ratio decreased from 4.4 to 1.3. Forty percent of children with autism were identified only at educational sources. Schools were the most important source for information on black children, children of younger mothers, and children of mothers with less than 12 years of education.ConclusionThe rate of autism found in this study was higher than the rates from studies conducted in the United States during the 1980s and early 1990s, but it was consistent with those of more recent studies.