COCA Email Updates: September 24 - October 8, 2012
On this Page
- COCA News & Announcements
- CDC Emergency Response
- CDC News & Announcements
- Public Health Preparedness
- Natural Disasters & Severe Weather
- Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) Journal
- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
- Infectious, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Disease
- Travel Safety
- Food, Drug & Device Safety
If you have any questions on these or other clinical issues, please write to us at coca@cdc.gov
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Available for download: October 8, 2012 COCA Email Update 
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COCA News and Announcements
Recent COCA Call/Webinar:
Influenza Prevention and Control for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs
Date: Thursday, September 27, 2012
Learn about subspecialist and primary care pediatrician collaborations regarding influenza prevention and control strategies for improving care for high-risk children.
Additional archived COCA Conference Calls
Free CE credit/contact hours (CME, CNE, ACPE, CEU, CECH, and AAVSB/RACE) are available for most COCA calls.
CDC Emergency Response
NEW: CDC Health Advisory: Update: Multistate Outbreak of Meningitis and Stroke Associated with Potentially Contaminated Steroid Medication – October 8 (CDC)
CDC and FDA are coordinating a multi-state investigation of fungal meningitis among patients who received an epidural steroid injection. Investigation into the exact source is ongoing; however, interim data show that all infected patients received injection with preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml) prepared by New England Compounding Center, located in Framingham, MA.
Clinician Resources:
Frequently Asked Questions For Clinicians: Multistate Meningitis Outbreak Investigation – October 7 (CDC)Interim Treatment Guidance for Central Nervous System and/or Parameningeal Infections Associated with Injection of Potentially Contaminated Steroid Products – October 6 (CDC)
Case Definitions: Multistate Outbreak Associated with Injection of Potentially Contaminated Steroid Product – October 6 (CDC)
Role of antifungal prophylaxis in asymptomatic patients – October 6 (CDC)
Lumbar puncture in asymptomatic patients – October 6 (CDC)
CDC News and Announcements
Minding the Mental Health of Humanitarian Aid Workers – October 2 (CDC)
In a recent article in PLOS ONE, CDC and collaborators conducted a longitudinal study among over 200 international humanitarian workers to measure levels of anxiety, depression and burnout after deployment, and assess risk and protective factors. The article makes several recommendations for organizations that deploy staff to emergency settings.
Did You Know?
“Did You Know?” is a weekly feature from the Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support to highlight prevention activities. The series features research and program activity from CDC. Please access, use, and share this information broadly with your colleagues and partners.
CDC Science Clips: Volume 4, Issue: 39 – October 1 (CDC)
Each week select science clips are shared with the public health community to enhance awareness of emerging scientific knowledge. The focus is applied public health research and prevention science that has the capacity to improve health now.
Public Health Preparedness
Public Health Matters Blog – Disease Detection: Laboratories on the front lines– (CDC)
You can’t respond to threats if you don’t know what they are, which is one reason that laboratories play such an important role in public health. Since 1999, CDC, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) have been working together to support the Laboratory Response Network (LRN).
NEW: Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication Course (CERC) 2012 Edition is Now Available for Download – (CDC)
The basic CERC manual is an introductory course on risk communication, crisis communication, and issues management. It is intended for anyone who works in emergency response at the local, state, or federal level. The course contains 13 chapters and includes illustrations, templates, tables, worksheets, and checklists.
Emergency Preparedness and Response - (CDC)
Find resources for All Hazards and Specific Hazards preparedness.
Emergency Preparedness and Response Training Resources for Clinicians – (CDC)
Find online and in-person training centers and resources
Natural Disasters and Severe Weather
Health and Safety Concerns for All Disasters – (CDC)
Emerging Infectious Disease (EID) Journal
EID is prepared by the CDC. EID Home Page
Volume 18, Number 10 – October 2012
Highlights in this issue include
- Constant Transmission Properties of Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in 5 Countries
- Wild Birds and Urban Ecology of Ticks and Tick-borne Pathogens, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2005–2010
- Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Sequence Type 239-III, Ohio, USA, 2007–2009
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
MMWR publications are prepared by the CDC. To electronically subscribe, go to http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwrsubscribe.html.
October 5, 2012 / Vol. 61 / No. 39 Download .pdf document of this issue
- U.S-Acquired Human Rabies with Symptom Onset and Diagnosis Abroad, 2012
- Update: Influenza Activity — United States and Worldwide, May 20–September 22, 2012
- Notes from the Field: Tuberculosis Outbreak in a Long-Term–Care Facility for Mentally Ill Persons — Puerto Rico, 2010–2012
October 4, 2012 / Vol. 61 / (Early Release) Download .pdf document of this issue
Severe Respiratory Illness Associated with a Novel Coronavirus — Saudi Arabia and Qatar, 2012August 24, 2012 / Vol. 61 / No. 36 Download .pdf document of this issue
- Household Preparedness for Public Health Emergencies — 14 States, 2006–2010
- Notes from the Field: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A (H7N3) Virus Infection in Two Poultry Workers — Jalisco, Mexico, July 2012
Infectious, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
Weekly Flu View – (CDC)
This is a weekly influenza surveillance report prepared by CDC Influenza Division. All data are preliminary and may change as CDC receives more reports.
Update: 2012 West Nile Virus – October 2 (CDC)
As of October 2, 2012, 48 states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes. A total of 3,969 cases of West Nile virus disease in people, including 163 deaths, have been reported to CDC.
Travel Safety
Current Travel Warnings – October 5 (US Department of State)
Travel Warnings are issued when long-term, protracted conditions that make a country dangerous or unstable lead the State Department to recommend that Americans avoid or consider the risk of travel to that country. A Travel Warning is also issued when the U.S. Government's ability to assist American citizens is constrained due to the closure of an embassy or consulate or because of a drawdown of its staff.
Food, Drug and Device Safety
Update: Multistate Outbreak of Salmonella Bredeney Infections Linked to Peanut Butter Manufactured By Sunland, Inc. – October 6 (CDC)
CDC is collaborating with public health officials in several states and FDA to investigate a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Bredeney infections. A total of 35 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Bredeney have been reported from 19 states. Eight ill persons have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.63% percent of ill persons are children under the age of 10 years..
MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program – (HHS/USFDA)
Your FDA gateway for clinically important safety information and reporting serious problems with human medical products.
NEW: Hospira Lactated Ringer's And 5% Dextrose Injection, 1000 Ml, Flexible Containers: Recall - Mold Contamination – October 6 (FDA)
FDA and Hospira announced it is initiating a voluntary user-level recall of one lot of Lactated Ringer’s and 5% Dextrose Injection, USP, 1000 mL, Flexible Container, NDC 0409-7929-09. This action is due to one confirmed customer report where a leak was identified in the primary container between the cobra cap and fill-tube seal and a spore-like structured particulate, consistent with mold, was noted in the solution.
NEW: New England Compounding Center (NECC) Potentially Contaminated Medication: Fungal Meningitis Outbreak – October 6 (FDA)
On October 4, 2012, the CDC and FDA recommended that all health care professionals cease use and remove from their pharmaceutical inventory any product produced by NECC, located at 697 Waverly Street in Framingham, MA.
FoodSafety.gov Reports FDA and USDA Food Recalls, Alerts, Reporting & Resources – October 5 (HHS/UDSA/FDA/CDC/NIH)
For recalls and alerts by both FDA and USDA, or to report a problem or make inquiries.
The CDC and HHS logos are the exclusive property of the Department of Health and Human Services and may not be used for any purpose without prior express written permission. Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organizations.
- Page last updated October 10, 2012
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