Utility of emergency, telephone-based national surveillance for Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome

Article Abstract:

The implementation of a telephone-based hotline following an outbreak of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome resulted in the identification of additional cases outside the Four Corners area of the Southwest. In June, 1993, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was alerted to a cluster of cases of adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by a newly discovered Hantavirus in the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. The agency set up a national hotline for reporting cases of unexplained pulmonary disease. Callers could also receive information about the Four Corners cases. Between June and December, the CDC received 21,443 calls from all 50 states. A total of 303 suspected cases were reported, and specimens for 280 were sent to laboratories for testing. Twenty-one confirmed cases were documented in addition to the 34 from the Four Corners area. All 55 cases occurred west of the Mississippi River, but the habitat for the deer mouse that carries the virus extends into the Northeast.

Evaluation, Demographic aspects, Hantavirus infections, Emergency communication systems, Emergency communications systems

---

Trends in infectious diseases mortality in the United States

Article Abstract:

Mortality from infectious diseases in the US has increased since 1980. Researchers reclassified codes in the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) to identify those indicating diseases caused primarily by an infectious organism. These codes, along with existing ICD-9 codes for infection, were used to determine the percentage of all deaths in the US between 1980 and 1992 that were due to infectious diseases. During this time, the death rate from infectious diseases increased 58%, from 41 per 100,000 to 65 per 100,000. The death rate from infectious diseases increased 25% in those 65 or older, but the greatest increase was in 25- to 44-year olds, whose death rate from infectious disease increased more than six-fold. Much of the increase in this age group could be a result of AIDS. In 1992, infectious diseases were the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer, up from the fifth cause of death in 1980.

Infection, Patient outcomes, Mortality

---

Addressing emerging microbial threats in the United States

Article Abstract:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expanding its infectious disease programs. The CDC in 1994 published a report containing recommendations for dealing with the emergence of pathogenic bacteria and other organisms. In 1995, the CDC gave funding to 10 state and local health departments to develop innovative surveillance programs. Other projects will link emergency rooms nationwide as the sentinels of emerging infections. Ten emerging infections programs, or EIPs, have been planned nationwide, and each EIP will study specific infectious diseases in its own local as well as provide training programs for doctors, microbiologists and public health officials. The CDC is resurrecting a program to fund research in infectious diseases that was cancelled in 1973. The agency is also disseminating its publications electronically and is establishing microbiology fellowships.

Social policy, Disease reporting, United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: The feasibility of a three-dimensional charting interface for general dentistry. Heuristic evaluation of clinical functions in four practice management systems
• Abstracts: Clinical experience with atovaquone on a treatment investigational drug protocol for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
• Abstracts: Mortality among children with Kawasaki disease in Japan. Serum concentrations of total bile acids in patients with acute Kawasaki syndrome
• Abstracts: Participation of international medical graduates in graduate medical education and hospital care for the poor
• Abstracts: Increased genital shedding of herpes simplex virus type 2 in HIV-seropositive women. Menstrual function in human immunodeficiency virus-infected women without acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.