MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Jun 2007
Rapid HIV testing in emergency departments--three U.S. sites, January 2005-March 2006.
Approximately one fourth of the estimated 1 million persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the United States are unaware that they are infected with HIV and at risk for transmitting the virus to others. In April 2003, CDC announced a new initiative, Advancing HIV Prevention: New Strategies for a Changing Epidemic, aimed at reducing barriers to early diagnosis of HIV infection and increasing access of persons infected with HIV to medical care and prevention services. A priority strategy of this initiative is to make HIV testing a routine part of medical care. ⋯ This report summarizes the preliminary results of integrating rapid HIV testing into the health-care services routinely offered in the three EDs during January 2005-March 2006. Those results indicated that, of 9,365 persons tested, 97 (1.0%) ED patients had newly diagnosed HIV infection, and 85 (88%) of those 97 were linked after diagnosis to HIV care and treatment. EDs should consider integrating rapid HIV testing into their routine medical services to identify patients who are unaware that they are infected with HIV and link them to health and prevention services.
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In 2002, after a decade with no decrease in smoking prevalence, New York City began implementation of a five-point tobacco-control program consisting of increased taxation in 2002, establishment of smoke-free workplaces in 2003, public and health-care--provider education, cessation services, and rigorous evaluation, including annual cross-sectional, citywide telephone surveys using the same measures as CDC's state-based Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). During 2002-2004, estimated adult smoking prevalence decreased from 21.5% to 18.4%, representing nearly 200,000 fewer smokers. However, in 2005, no change in adult smoking prevalence occurred, either among New York City residents overall or among demographic subpopulations. ⋯ This report describes the two campaigns and analyzes citywide survey data before and after the campaigns. In 2006, during the first year of the media campaigns, adult smoking prevalence decreased significantly among men (11.6% decrease) and among Hispanics (15.2% decrease). These findings confirm the importance of comprehensive tobacco-control programs and suggest that this intensive, broad-based media campaign has reduced smoking prevalence among certain subgroups.
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Jun 2007
Decline in breast cancer incidence--United States, 1999-2003.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among females in the United States. The 2006 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer described a stabilization in female breast cancer incidence rates during 2001-2003, ending increases that began in the 1980s, and a decline in the number of breast cancer cases diagnosed in 2003. In addition, researchers who used 1990-2003 data from the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, representing approximately 14% of the U. ⋯ The results of this analysis indicated that age-adjusted incidence rates for invasive breast cancer decreased each year during 1999-2003, with the greatest decrease (6.1%) occurring from 2002 to 2003; women aged > or = 50 years experienced a significant decrease during this period. Rates of in situ (i.e., noninvasive) breast cancer increased each year during 1999-2002 and then decreased from 2002 to 2003; women aged 50-79 years experienced a significant decrease during this period. Future studies should focus on determining potential causes for these decreases.