COCA Email Updates: January 14 – January 28, 2013

COCA News and Announcements

Upcoming COCA Call/Webinar:

Evaluating and Responding to Chemical Emergencies: The Role of Poison Control Centers and Public Health Labs
Date: Thursday, January 31, 2013
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Call Number: 888-790-6180
Passcode: 1281914
Webinar Link: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=PW3729852&p=1281914&t=c
During this COCA call, subject matter experts will discuss biomedical testing for chemical agents, state level poison control center practices, and clinical resources for chemical emergencies.

Emergency Preparedness: Understanding Physicians’ Concerns and Readiness to Respond
Date: Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
Call Number: 888-233-9077
Passcode: 5070816
Webinar: https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=PW4267068&p=5070816&t=c
During this COCA call, a Harvard School of Public Health researcher will share findings from their physician preparedness poll, and representatives from two professional associations will discuss policy, practice, and operational tools and resources to assist physicians in All-Hazard emergency preparedness.

Recent COCA Call/Webinar:

Stopping Norovirus in its Tracks – What Every Clinician Should Know
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2013
During this COCA call, a CDC subject matter expert discussed the burden of norovirus outbreaks, reviewed diagnostics and surveillance tools, and shared resources to promote the prevention and control of norovirus infections.

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 News and Announcements

CDC Science Clips: Volume 5, Issue: 3 – (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.

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Public Health Preparedness

NEW: Public Health Matters Blog: Extreme Weather, Extreme Outbreaks, and Extreme Science-based Preparedness and Response – January 24 (CDC)
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the news media has increased discussion and debate about what needs to be done in the future to better prepare our country for emergencies.

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

Emergency Preparedness and Response Training Resources for Clinicians – (CDC)
A resource for scheduled and on-demand emergency preparedness and response trainings offered by federal agencies and COCA partners.

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Natural Disasters and Severe Weather

Extreme Cold: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety – (CDC)
The Extreme Cold Prevention Guide combines all of the key content of the CDC Winter Weather website into one downloadable, printable file. Printing this PDF file will ensure that you will have important winter weather health and safety information available even when you're without power or Internet service.

Health and Safety Concerns for All Disasters – (CDC)

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Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Journal

EID is prepared by the CDC. EID Home Page
Volume 19, Number 2 – February 2013
Highlights in this issue include:

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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

MMWR publications are prepared by the CDC. Electronically subscribe.

January 11, 2013 / Vol. 62 / No. 3 Download .pdf document of this issue

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Infectious, Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

NEW: CDC Health Advisory: Notice to Clinicians: Summary of CDC Recommendations for Influenza Antiviral Medications – January 15 (CDC)
CDC continues to recommend antiviral medications for treatment of seasonal influenza and annual vaccination as the best tools for prevention.

NEW: CDC Press Release: New norovirus strain causing most norovirus outbreaks in United States – January 24 (CDC)
CDC researchers analyzed 2012 data collected through CaliciNet on norovirus strains associated with outbreaks in the United States. They found that of the 266 norovirus outbreaks reported during the last four months of 2012, 141 were caused by the GII.4 Sydney strain.

Weekly Flu View – January 19 (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.

Planning and Preparedness: Health Professionals and Seasonal Flu – (HHS)
Health care providers play an important role during flu season. The following guidance and information will assist health care providers and service organizations to plan and respond to seasonal flu.

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Travel Safety

Current Travel Warnings – January 23 (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.

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Food, Drug and Device Safety

NEW: CDC Health Advisory: Recommendations for Drug Allocation, Tuberculosis Prevention, and Patient Care During Isoniazid Shortages – January 28 (CDC)
Shortages of isoniazid (INH), a cornerstone drug for treating tuberculosis disease (TB) and latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection (LTBI), are continuing. This notice gives an update on the shortages and expands general guidance to public health officials and clinicians about how to adjust practices in response to the shortages.

FDA approves new seasonal influenza vaccine made using novel technology – January 16 (FDA)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has approved Flublok, the first trivalent influenza vaccine made using an insect virus (baculovirus) expression system and recombinant DNA technology. Flublok is approved for the prevention of seasonal influenza in people 18 through 49 years of age.

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.

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

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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. CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organizations.