Categories: Public Health Partners, U.S. Disease Outbreaks
February 7th, 2013 2:14 pm ET -
Blog Admin
A sneeze in progress
This year’s flu season hit the U.S. early and hard, with most of the country now experiencing high levels of flu activity. The flu should not be taken lightly – it sends, on average, 200,000 Americans to the hospital each year and kills thousands to tens of thousands of people depending on the severity of the season. CDC wants to make sure people know how to reduce their risk of getting sick – or if they are sick, when to seek medical care and how to avoid spreading germs to others.
Here are eight things you should know about this year’s flu:
1. The flu is here and it’s severely impacting seniors.
While the 2011-2012 flu season began late and was mild compared to previous seasons, the 2012-2013 flu season started early and is hitting hard – especially people who are age 65 or older. People in this age group are most likely to get seriously ill, be hospitalized, and die from flu. In addition, this year’s predominant flu virus is influenza A (H3N2), which can cause more serious illness compared to other subtypes.
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Categories: Disease Detectives, Emergency Preparedness & Response, Global Health Threats, Innovative Labs, Public Health Partners, State & Local Success, U.S. Disease Outbreaks
January 18th, 2013 3:37 pm ET -
Blog Admin
As America’s health protection agency, CDC works around-the-clock to save lives and protect people from health threats, whether they start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, are curable or preventable, or are the result of human error or deliberate attack.
Here’s a look at 13 public health issues CDC is working on for you in 2013:
1. Healthcare-Associated Infections: Protecting Patients, Saving Lives
More than 1 million Americans get a healthcare-associated infection during the course of their medical care, which accounts for billions of dollars in excess healthcare costs. CDC is working toward the elimination of healthcare-associated infections across all settings. CDC continues to target untreatable drug resistant infections that threaten patient safety and, in early 2013, will be releasing updated national and state numbers on healthcare-associated infections prevention in U.S. hospitals. (Above photo: CDC scientist Alicia Shams demonstrating K. pneumoniae growth on a MacConkey agar plate.)
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Categories: Disease Detectives, Emergency Preparedness & Response, Global Health Threats, Innovative Labs, Public Health Partners, State & Local Success, U.S. Disease Outbreaks
December 21st, 2012 2:36 pm ET -
Blog Admin
Photo of Hurricane Sandy courtesy of NASA
CDC has America’s back. We work around-the-clock to protect Americans from health and safety threats, both foreign and domestic. We also help people lead longer, healthier, more productive lives by preventing heart attacks, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and other leading causes of death.
Here’s a list of 13 ways CDC has been there for America and the world in 2012:
1. Multistate Fungal Meningitis Outbreak
CDC, in collaboration with state and local health departments and the Food and Drug Administration, is investigating a multistate outbreak of fungal meningitis and other infections among patients who received contaminated preservative-free MPA steroid injections from New England Compounding Center. Several patients suffered strokes that are believed to have resulted from their infections. The investigation also includes other infections from injections in a peripheral joint, such as a knee, shoulder, or ankle. Read the CDC Works for You 24/7 blog post, The Critical Role of State Health Depts. in the U.S. Fungal Meningitis Outbreak: 4 Key Efforts.
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Categories: Emergency Preparedness & Response, State & Local Success, U.S. Disease Outbreaks
November 21st, 2012 9:38 am ET -
Dr. Beth Bell, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC
CDC remains at the front line of the current U.S. fungal meningitis outbreak, which has since early October sickened 490 people and caused 34 deaths in 19 states. On Nov. 15, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing about this outbreak. This post is an excerpt from the testimony of Dr. Beth Bell, director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at CDC, who discussed, among other things, the critical role state health departments played in detecting and sounding the alarm on this outbreak of fungal meningitis and other infections.
(To read Dr. Bell’s complete written testimony, visit the CDC Washington website. To watch the full hearing, visit the committee’s website. Dr. Bell appears at the 40 minute mark. )
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Categories: Emergency Preparedness & Response, U.S. Disease Outbreaks
October 17th, 2012 4:30 am ET -
Blog Admin
The CDC lab has identified Exserohilum (pictured above) as the primary fungus responsible for the current meningitis outbreak. Photo courtesy of the CDC Public Health Image Library.
1. What’s going on?
- As of November 19, 478 cases, including 34 deaths, of fungal meningitis have been reported in 19 states (see case count map). Twelve cases of joint infections have also been reported.
- The meningitis and infections have been linked to three lots (i.e. batches) of an injectable steroid medication produced by New England Compounding Company (NECC) (see health care facilities map).
- The implicated lots of medication have been recalled; however, approx. 14,000 people may have been exposed to the contaminated injectable steroid medication.
- The medication in question differs from the epidural given to pregnant women during childbirth.
- For more information, visit CDC’s Current Situation webpage.
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