COCA Email Updates: February 27 – March 12, 2012

COCA News & Announcements Recent COCA Conference Call/Webinar
CDC News & Announcements CDC Vitalsigns Town Hall Conference Tomorrow
Public Health Preparedness
Natural Disasters & Severe Weather
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

Available for download: March 12, 2012 COCA Email Update (211 Kb, 5 pages)

COCA News and Announcements

Recent COCA Conference Calls/Webinars:

2011-2012 Influenza Season: Antiviral Medication Recommendations

Epidemiology and Clinical Features of Lyme Disease

Archived COCA Conference Calls

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CDC News and Announcements

CDC Vitalsigns Town Hall Teleconference
Please join CDC subject matter experts and other public health professionals for this town hall teleconference.

Topic: Making Healthcare Safer: Stopping Clostridium difficile Infections

Date/Time: (Tomorrow) Tuesday, March 13, 2012; 2:00pm – 3:00pm (EDT)

Call number: 800-857-0764 (USA only)

Participant passcode: 795-4413

For more information on this call

CDC Scienceclips: Volume 4 – Mar 07 (CDC)
This week, Science Clips is pleased to collaborate with CDC Vital Signs by featuring scientific articles from the current issue on Healthcare Associated Infections: Clostridium difficile.

Life-threatening germ poses threat across medical facilities – Mar 06 (CDC)
CDC highlights steps to prevent spread of deadly C. difficile bacteria, which impacts patients in nursing homes and outpatient care, not just hospitals.

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Public Health Preparedness

Preparedness Resources for Schools – Mar 05 (CDC)
Schools and education agencies cannot prevent natural disasters or even many man-made crises, but they can prepare for and plan to respond to such emergencies. Resources are available to help schools, education agencies, and institutions of higher education develop such plans, usually in collaboration with public health and first responder agencies.

Blast and Bombing Injuries – Mar 02 (CDC)
In an instant, an explosion or blast can wreak havoc; producing numerous casualties with complex, technically challenging injuries not commonly seen after natural disasters such as floods or hurricanes. CDC in collaboration with the TIIDE partners with leadership from America Trauma Society has developed seventeen topic-specific fact sheets on the treatment of blast injuries. Fact sheet topics range from blast lung and blast abdomen to the treatment of pediatric and older adult populations.

Emergency Preparedness and Response – (CDC)
Find resources for All Hazards and Specific Hazards preparedness.

Emergency Preparedness and Response Training Resources Page for Clinicians – (CDC)
Find online and in-person training centers and resources.

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Natural Disasters and Severe Weather

Prevent Carbon Monoxide (CO) Poisoning – Mar 05 (CDC)
Daylight Saving Time began on Sunday, March 11th, 2012. As you prepare to set your clocks forward one hour, remember to change the batteries in your CO detector. If you don't have a battery-powered or battery back-up CO alarm, now is a great time to buy one. More than 400 people die each year in the US from unintentional, non-fire related CO poisoning. Learn more about preventing CO poisoning.

Tornadoes: Being Prepared – (CDC)

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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

MMWR publications are prepared by the CDC. Electronically subscribe.

March 9, 2012 / Vol. 61 / No. 9 Download .pdf document of this issue

March 2, 2012 / Vol. 61 / No. 8 Download .pdf document of this issue

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Infectious, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

Influenza

Weekly Flu View – Mar 09 (CDC)
During week 9, 7.6% of all deaths reported through the 122-Cities Mortality Reporting System were due to pneumonia and influenza. This percentage was below the epidemic threshold of 7.9% for week 9.

FDA approves first quadrivalent vaccine to prevent seasonal influenza – Feb 29 (FDA)
FluMist Quadrivalent, a vaccine to prevent seasonal influenza in people ages 2 years through 49 years, has been approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. FluMist Quadrivalent is the first influenza vaccine to contain four strains of the influenza virus, two influenza A strains and two influenza B strains.

New influenza virus discovered in Guatemalan fruit bats – Feb 27 (CDC)
Bat flu virus is not believed to present a threat to humans. A new influenza A virus discovered in fruit bats in Guatemala does not appear to present a current threat to humans, but should be studied as a potential source for human influenza, according to scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who worked with University of the Valley of Guatemala. The study was published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Travel Safety

Current Travel Warnings – Mar 06 (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.

Stay Healthy and Safe on Spring Break – Mar 05 (CDC)
Getting ready for spring break is more than just picking a destination.
While you're choosing among an exotic island getaway, a ski vacation, or just a short ride down the highway, click on the link below to the steps to ensure you have a healthy and safe spring break trip.

Medical Tourism - Getting Medical Care in Another Country – Feb 27 (CDC)
Receiving medical care abroad can be risky.

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Food, Drug and Device Safety

FoodSafety.gov Reports FDA and USDA Food Recalls, Alerts, Reporting & Resources – Mar 06 (HHS/UDSA/FDA/CDC/NIH)
For recalls and alerts by both FDA and USDA, or to report a problem or make inquiries, visit FoodSafety.gov.

Mercury Poisoning Linked to Skin Products – Mar 06 (FDA)
Federal health officials are warning consumers not to use skin creams, beauty and antiseptic soaps, or lotions that might contain mercury. The products are marketed as skin lighteners and anti-aging treatments that remove age spots, freckles, blemishes and wrinkles. Adolescents also may use these products as acne treatments. Products with this toxic metal have been found in at least seven states.

FDA Announces Availability of the 2010 NARMS Retail Meat Annual Report – Mar 01 (FDA)
The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is announcing publication of the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) Retail Meat Annual Report for 2010 on its website. The primary purpose of the NARMS retail meat surveillance program is to monitor antimicrobial resistance (AR) among foodborne Salmonella, Campylobacter, Enterococcus and E. coli in raw, unprocessed retail meats.

Consumers to Receive Timely Food Safety Alerts Through State Twitter Feeds Social media will alert followers to state-specific food recalls or emergency preparation alerts – Mar 01 (FSIS)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) launched a series of Twitter feeds that will provide state-specific, food safety alerts to consumers. Followers of these Twitter accounts will receive alerts about recalls of meat, poultry and processed egg products in their state, as well as information on how to protect their food supply during severe weather events.

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