Ohio Department of Health

About: Ohio Department of Health is a government organization based out in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Public health. The organization has 308 authors who have published 354 publications receiving 14493 citations.

Census tract socioeconomic indicators and COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates-COVID-NET surveillance areas in 14 states, March 1-April 30, 2020.

Abstract: Author(s): Wortham, Jonathan M; Meador, Seth A; Hadler, James L; Yousey-Hindes, Kimberly; See, Isaac; Whitaker, Michael; O'Halloran, Alissa; Milucky, Jennifer; Chai, Shua J; Reingold, Arthur; Alden, Nisha B; Kawasaki, Breanna; Anderson, Evan J; Openo, Kyle P; Weigel, Andrew; Monroe, Maya L; Ryan, Patricia A; Kim, Sue; Reeg, Libby; Lynfield, Ruth; McMahon, Melissa; Sosin, Daniel M; Eisenberg, Nancy; Rowe, Adam; Barney, Grant; Bennett, Nancy M; Bushey, Sophrena; Billing, Laurie M; Shiltz, Jess; Sutton, Melissa; West, Nicole; Talbot, H Keipp; Schaffner, William; McCaffrey, Keegan; Spencer, Melanie; Kambhampati, Anita K; Anglin, Onika; Piasecki, Alexandra M; Holstein, Rachel; Hall, Aron J; Fry, Alicia M; Garg, Shikha; Kim, Lindsay | Abstract: ObjectivesSome studies suggested more COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among racial and ethnic minorities. To inform public health practice, the COVID-19-associated Hospitalization Surveillance Network (COVID-NET) quantified associations between race/ethnicity, census tract socioeconomic indicators, and COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates.MethodsUsing data from COVID-NET population-based surveillance reported during March 1-April 30, 2020 along with socioeconomic and denominator data from the US Census Bureau, we calculated COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates by racial/ethnic and census tract-level socioeconomic strata.ResultsAmong 16,000 COVID-19-associated hospitalizations, 34.8% occurred among non-Hispanic White (White) persons, 36.3% among non-Hispanic Black (Black) persons, and 18.2% among Hispanic or Latino (Hispanic) persons. Age-adjusted COVID-19-associated hospitalization rate were 151.6 (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 147.1-156.1) in census tracts with g15.2%-83.2% of persons living below the federal poverty level (high-poverty census tracts) and 75.5 (95% CI: 72.9-78.1) in census tracts with 0%-4.9% of persons living below the federal poverty level (low-poverty census tracts). Among White, Black, and Hispanic persons living in high-poverty census tracts, age-adjusted hospitalization rates were 120.3 (95% CI: 112.3-128.2), 252.2 (95% CI: 241.4-263.0), and 341.1 (95% CI: 317.3-365.0), respectively, compared with 58.2 (95% CI: 55.4-61.1), 304.0 (95%: 282.4-325.6), and 540.3 (95% CI: 477.0-603.6), respectively, in low-poverty census tracts.ConclusionsOverall, COVID-19-associated hospitalization rates were highest in high-poverty census tracts, but rates among Black and Hispanic persons were high regardless of poverty level. Public health practitioners must ensure mitigation measures and vaccination campaigns address needs of racial/ethnic minority groups and people living in high-poverty census tracts.

Salmonella kingabwa infections and lizard contact, United States, 2005.

Abstract: To the Editor: Nontyphoidal Salmonella infections cause an estimated 1.4 million illnesses and 400 deaths in the United States annually (1). Among the >2,500 Salmonella serotypes, Salmonella enterica serotype Kingabwa rarely causes human illness. This serotype was first reported in a patient in the Belgian Congo in 1953 (2). From 1995 through 2004, only 30 human illnesses caused by S. Kingabwa were reported to the National Salmonella Surveillance System (3). No common source for S. Kingabwa human illnesses has been previously identified. We recently investigated an outbreak of S. Kingabwa infections associated with 2 lizard species: the water dragon and the bearded dragon. Eighteen isolates of S. Kingabwa (antigenic formula: I 43:y:1,5) were received by PulseNet, the National Molecular Subtyping Network for Foodborne Disease Surveillance, from 2001 through 2005. When digested with restriction enzyme XbaI and subtyped by pulsed-field gel electrophoreisis (PFGE), 13 isolates produced a single, indistinguishable pattern (KINX01.0001). Of these, 1 (8%) was isolated in 2001, 4 (31%) were isolated in 2002, 2 (15%) were isolated in 2004, and 6 (46%) were isolated in 2005. We defined a case as illness during 2005 caused by S. Kingabwa that matched pattern KINX01.0001 by PFGE. Of the 9 S. Kingabwa isolates received by PulseNet in 2005, 6 matched KINX01.0001. Antimicrobial drug susceptibility of 3 isolates was determined by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) for Enteric Bacteria at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the isolates were susceptible to each of 15 antimicrobial agents tested. The 6 patients in the 2005 outbreak did not know each other and resided in 5 states: Maine (2 patients), Arizona, California, Idaho, and Ohio. Illness onset dates were in June, July, August, October (2 patients), and November 2005. Of the 6 patients, 4 (67%) were ≤1 year old (range <1–53 years), 4 were male, 2 were hospitalized, and none died. Interviews with patients or their parents or guardians conducted during routine public health surveillance collected information on specific food items, water sources, restaurant venues, travel history, and animal contact. No common food or environmental source was identified. However, 4 (67%) of the 6 patients had known exposure to lizards: 3 water dragons (Physignathus cocincinus, Figure) and 1 bearded dragon (Pogona sp.). Of these 4 patients, 3 had >1 lizard in their own household as pets; the other patient was exposed to a lizard when visiting a family member. The 2 patients who did not recall lizard exposure might represent patients with background cases unrelated to lizards. Single cultures of the 2 lizards available for testing in February 2006 did not yield S. Kingabwa, which could mean that they did not carry this rare Salmonella serotype. However, this does not exclude lizards as the source of these illnesses because lizards intermittently shed salmonellae (4). Figure Water dragon (Physignathus cocincinus). Three of the patients with Salmonella Kingabwa infections were exposed to this reptile species. Photo credit: Robert Lawton, rklawton@LawtonPhotos.com. The lizards had been purchased from local pet shops and a traveling reptile show. Shipments of reptiles were mixed together at points of sale, and numerous distributors and importers were used, so determining the origin of individual reptiles was not feasible. However, water dragons and bearded dragons are imported into the United States from Asia and Australia and are rarely bred domestically. Two thirds of the patients in this outbreak had documented exposure to 1 of 2 lizard species, and half of the patients had pet lizards in their homes. In 2001, the estimated number of households with lizards was 545,000, which represents ≈0.5% of all American households (5). Using a standard binomial model, the probability of finding at least 3 of 6 persons chosen at random to be lizard owners is 0.000002. To our knowledge, this is the first investigation to identify a strong association between the rare serotype S. Kingabwa and lizards and the first instance of which we are aware that a serotype has been associated with a particular species of lizard dispersed in homes across the United States. The association between reptile exposure and human salmonellosis is well-established (6–8). CDC has published recommendations for reducing the risk for infection from reptiles (http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/reptiles.htm); these include thoroughly washing hands with soap and water after handling reptiles or their cages and keeping reptiles out of food preparation areas. The young age of most patients in this outbreak supports the recommendation that reptiles should not be allowed in households with children <5 years of age.

Development of an Oral Health Survey: Columbus, Ohio

Abstract: This article describes the method used to develop and implement a local oral health survey (Columbus, Ohio) conducted in 1986. With the shift in the national dental disease pattern in the past decade, local oral health information is essential for program planning purposes. A collaborative effort by a city health department, a state health department, a dental school, and a school of public health demonstrated how this group worked harmoniously in a relatively inexpensive venture to determine the oral status of various age groups (grades 1–2, grades 6–7, age 35–44, and age 65 +). This information provided part of the framework for a five-year dental plan at the Columbus Health Department. The survey design will serve as a basis for conducting a similar survey statewide. Modifications of existing oral health survey instruments are discussed.

Records of imported tire-breeding mosquitoes in Ohio.

Abstract: The staff of the Vector-borne Disease Unit, Ohio Department of Health, in cooperation with the staff of local health departments and other mosquito control agencies, engaged in a statewide survey for Aed.es albopictus (Skuse) during the summers of 1986 and 1987. It was performed at the request of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Arbovirus Ecology Branch, Ft. Collins, Colorado, following the discovery of this mosquito species in Houston, Texas and other southeastern states (Moore 1986, Monath 1986, Sprenger and Wuithiranyagool 1986). Our search, following CDC recommendations, concentrated on the used tire industry-those businesses which remanufacture or recycle tires, and locations which store or dispose of waste tires. Among the remanufacturing companies, we concentrated on those which deal with truck tires or off-road vehicle tiresWe were especially interested in companies which imported tires from out of the state or country, since it was believed that Ae. ahopictus could be transported to Ohio via used tire commerce. It has been postulated that Ae. albopictus was originally introduced into the U.S. in used truck tire casings since, on October 6-7, 1986, the species was found in a shipment of tires from Japan which arrived at the Port of Seattle, Washington (Moore 1986, Centers for Disease Control 1986). In 1986, 92 sites were screened by telephone; 44 of these in 15 counties were visited. In 1987, 56 sites in 25 counties were visited. Mosquitoes were collected by taking samples of larvae and pupae from tires, adults with mechanical aspirators and CDC miniature light traps supplemented with dry ice, and collecting eggs in ovitraps using muslin cloth as an egg-laying substrate. Immature specimens were reared to the adult stage in the laboratory. Most specimens were identified as adults. The following are new state, county, and locality records resulting from these and previous surveys. These and previously reported locality records are shown in Fig. 1 (Restifo and Lanzaro 1980, Berry and Craig 1984).