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Tag: center for disease control

  • China Bubonic Plague Nothing to Panic Over … Yet

    An estimated 30,000 people have been quarantined in parts of a northern Chinese city following the death of a man from bubonic plague.

    China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday the city of Yumen in Gansu province was sealed off with 151 people under observation after authorities determined they had come in contact with a 38-year-old man who died of the plague July 16.

    Authorities believe the man contracted the bacterial infection after contact with a marmot, Xinhua said. The man reportedly chopped up the rodent to feed to his dog and developed a fever the same day.

    The report said all the people under quarantine were in good health, but that 10 checkpoints were still blocking off parts of the city of about 180,000.

    The plague is a bacterial disease borne by fleas attached to rodents and is highly curable with modern antibiotics. However, lack of treatment can lead to the death of a victim within 24 hours of contracting it. Yumen has set aside about $160,000 for emergency vaccinations, according to the South China Morning Post. “The city has enough rice, flour and oil to supply all its residents for up to one month,” reported Chinese state television.

    Symptoms of bubonic plague in humans include fever, chills, headaches, vomiting, diarrhea and swollen lymph nodes. Pneumonic plague, which is an infection of the lungs, can include severe cough, difficulty breathing and bloody sputum.

    Bubonic plague has cropped up to kill millions at various times in history. An epidemic in the 14th century — a period referred to as the Black Death — wiped out roughly half the population of Europe, and tens of thousands died in China in the 19th century. It is still prevalent today in northwest China.

    The plague is incredibly rare in the U.S., but isolated cases do occur from time to time, typically in northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, southern Colorado, southern Oregon and far western Nevada. An average of seven plague cases are reported each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    Last year, a 7-year-old girl in Colorado contracted the disease after she came in contact with a dead squirrel while camping in southwest Colorado. The girl survived thanks to early treatment with antibiotics.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Colon Cancer Testing Leveling Off In U.S.

    Colon Cancer Testing Leveling Off In U.S.

    According to the Center for Disease Control, “Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cancer killer of men and women in the US, following lung cancer.” Why then are more people not having the necessary screenings? The study shows that one in three adults in the 50 and 75-year-old age group have not been getting their recommended screenings.

    It seems it is not from a lack of money, because studies show that 2 of every 3 adults, who have not been tested for CRC, have health insurance that could pay for the test.

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    There was hope that more people were getting tested each year seeing as though the numbers rose from 54 percent in 2002 to 65 percent between in 2010. However, judging by last year’s numbers, they are no longer increasing, but leveling off.

    According to the National Cancer Institute, colon cancer is defined as “cancer that forms in the tissues of the colon (the longest part of the large intestine). Most colon cancers are adenocarcinomas (cancers that begin in cells that make and release mucus and other fluids).” In 2013, there were 102,480 new cases of colon cancer.

    CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden says the decrease in testing is “very disturbing”. Many fear the most common test, the colonoscopy. However, Frieden says there are other, less invasive, tests that can be done at home, and they are equally as effective as the colonoscopy. “Colonoscopy is clearly preferred for high-risk people,” said Frieden. “But for others, there’s not a huge difference. The bottom line is the best test is the test that gets done.”

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    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Government Shutdown: What to Expect

    Government Shutdown: What to Expect

    Since Congress was unable to agree on the fiscal near-future, it’s looking likely that the government will grind to a screeching halt.

    As complex as the process is, and as unpredictable as it may be (Congress may reach a last-minute agreement unbeknownst to the public), government programs have begun to identify areas that need to remain in operation. Any workers not responsible for life or property will keep working, but will not be paid until the shutdown is resolved.

    CNN Money reported a large series of updates today about the potential effects of the government shutdown:

    •Military service members will see a paycheck delay, although all active-duty military and reserve personnel will remain working.
    •Temporary duty travel will be canceled unless its related to the war in Afghanistan or connected to the safety of life, protection of property, or maintaining foreign relations.
    •Families of service members who died in the line of duty will not receive benefits until the shutdown is resolved.
    •Essential civilian defense personnel will keep working, but non-essential personnel will be furloughed without pay unless their salary isn’t funded by appropriations.
    •Museums and zoos run by the federal government will be closed, and tourists will be turned away.
    •The housing department will be furloughed; thus, FHA loans may be delayed.
    •The Department of Housing and Urban Development will furlough 96 percent of its workforce.
    •Employees whose jobs are not funded by federal appropriations will keep working, alongside presidential appointees.
    •The Federal Courts will remain open for approximately 10 business days; all proceedings and deadlines will remain unaffected unless otherwise indicated.
    •The Department of Justice will furlough 15 percent of its workforce.
    •The Department of Health and Human Services will furlough 52 percent of its workforce; hardest hit will be the Administration for Children and Families, the Administration for Community Living and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
    •The Center for Disease Control will maintain a minimal amount of staff required to oversee outbreak investigations, protect lab samples and staff the 24/7 emergency operations center.
    •The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will continue to implement the Affordable Healthcare Act (popularly known as Obamacare) and that Medicare will largely remain uninterrupted.
    •Chemical spill investigations will be halted, as the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will furlough 37 of 40 staff members.
    •NASA will keep enough employees on to verify the safety of crews on the International Space Station and continue in-progress satellite missions. All other NASA activity will virtually cease.

    In addition, USA Today has a fantastic Q-and-A session regarding the shutdown, which you can check out here.

    [Image via an 11-second HD YouTube video of the Capitol Building]

  • CDC: Poop Found in a Majority of Public Pools

    The CDC this week revealed that a new study on fecal matter in public pools uncovered a disturbing statistic. Over half of pools tested in the study were found to have E. coli, a marker for fecal contamination.

    The study tested pool filters from public pools, looking for genetic material. It found that 58% of the filters tested positive for a strain of E. coli that is normally found in human intestines and in feces. The CDC stated that the study indicates people are either pooping in pools or failing to clean themselves well before entering pools.

    “Swimming is an excellent way to get the physical activity needed to stay healthy,” said Michele Hlavsa, chief of the Healthy Swimming Program at the CDC. “However, pool users should be aware of how to prevent infections while swimming. Remember, chlorine and other disinfectants don’t kill germs instantly. That’s why it’s important for swimmers to protect themselves by not swallowing the water they swim in and to protect others by keeping feces and germs out of the pool by taking a pre-swim shower and not swimming when ill with diarrhea.”

    The CDC recommends several practices to cut down on pool contamination. Some of the obvious ones include people not swimming if they have diarrhea, showering with soap before swimming, and washing hands after using the restroom or after changing diapers. The agency also recommends taking bathroom breaks every hour, and checking children’s diapers every half-hour. More advanced pool users can check chlorine levels and water PH before swimming. Possibly the best advice the CDC gives, though, is that swimmers should not swallow the water they swim in.

  • Google Flu Trends Helps Hospitals Accurately Predict Influenza Cases

    A new study from John Hopkins University shows that Google’s influenza oracle, Flu Trends, turns out to be a reliable way for hospitals to anticipate outbreaks or “seasons” of patients sick with the flu, possibly more reliable than using “outdated” government flu reports.

    Conducted over the course of a 21-month period, the researchers found a “strong correlation between a rise in Internet searches for flu information, compiled by Google’s Flu Trends tool, and a subsequent rise in people coming into a busy urban hospital emergency room complaining of flu-like symptoms.” Primary investigator of the study, Dr. Richard Rothman, said that the results were promising for “eventually developing a standard regional or national early warning system for frontline health care workers.” More from the press release:

    Rothman and his team found the correlation between Internet searches and patient volume was most pronounced when researchers reviewed data showing a rise in search traffic for flu information and the number of children coming into the Hopkins pediatric emergency room with what doctors call influenza-like illness or ILI.

    Although the science and medical community has generally accepted that a rise in flu search queries on Google Flu Trends corresponds with a rise in people reporting flu-like symptoms, the Johns Hopkins team is believed to be the first to show that the Flu Trends data strongly correlates with an upswing in emergency room activity.

    Currently, emergency departments, hospitals and other health care providers rely on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention flu case reports provided during flu season, October to May, as a key way to track flu outbreaks.

    Those CDC reports currently dictating the preparation of hospitals for influenza outbreaks, the researchers say, are simply too slow to reach health care providers in order to be of any use. In the Google era of search technology, there’s a reason that news and cultural trends are described as “viral” when they become popular: they catch on and they spread among people quickly. If videos of politicians doing idiotic things at state fairs can race across an entire country within the period of a few hours in the afternoon, there’s no reason the CDC shouldn’t be able to quickly assess influenza outbreaks in a timely fashion. As a result, Rothman concludes, “[the CDC reports] don’t provide frontline health care workers with a strong tool to prepare day-to-day for a surge in flu cases, even as the flu is spreading in real time. Google Flu Trends, on the other hand, collects and provides data on search traffic for flu information on a daily basis by detecting and analyzing certain flu-related search terms.”

    Mark one more in the win column for Team Google, who’s now officially doing better at helping your community stave off flu outbreaks than the United States government agency charged with that same task.