MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Sep 2006
Case ReportsChikungunya fever diagnosed among international travelers--United States, 2005-2006.
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus indigenous to tropical Africa and Asia, where it is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes, usually of the genus Aedes. Chikungunya (CHIK) fever, the disease caused by CHIKV, was first recognized in epidemic form in East Africa during 1952-1953. The word "chikungunya" is thought to derive from description in local dialect of the contorted posture of patients afflicted with the severe joint pain associated with this disease. ⋯ During 2005-2006, 12 cases of CHIK fever were diagnosed serologically and virologically at CDC in travelers who arrived in the United States from areas known to be epidemic or endemic for CHIK fever. This report describes four of these cases and provides guidance to health-care providers. Clinicians should be alert for additional cases among travelers, and public health officials should be alert to evidence of local transmission of chikungunya virus (CHIKV), introduced through infection of local mosquitoes by a person with viremia.
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Sep 2006
Case ReportsCiguatera fish poisoning--Texas, 1998, and South Carolina, 2004.
Ciguatera fish poisoning is characterized by gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea and neurologic symptoms such as weakness, tingling, and pruritus (itching). The condition is caused by eating fish containing toxins produced by the dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus toxicus, a one-celled plantlike organism that grows on algae in tropical waters worldwide. ⋯ This report describes ciguatera fish poisoning in four persons (two in 1998, two in 2004) who ate fish caught by recreational fishers in waters outside of ciguatera-endemic areas (e.g., the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic and Gulf Coast waters off southern Florida). These cases underscore the need for physicians, regardless of whether they are in a ciguatera-endemic area, to consider ciguatera in patients who have gastrointestinal or neurologic symptoms after eating large, predatory fish.
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Jun 2006
Progress toward poliomyelitis eradication--Pakistan and Afghanistan, January 2005-May 2006.
As of March 2006, wild poliovirus (WPV) remained indigenous in four countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Since 2005, WPV-endemic countries in Asia have intensified their polio eradication measures through use of type 1 monovalent oral polio vaccine (mOPV1) and implementation of innovative social mobilization, communication, and vaccine-delivery strategies. This report describes polio eradication strategies in Afghanistan and Pakistan during January 2005-May 2006.
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Jun 2006
Notice to readers: updated recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the control and elimination of mumps.
On May 17, 2006, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) updated criteria for mumps immunity and mumps vaccination recommendations. According to the 1998 ACIP recommendations for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, for routine vaccination, a first dose of MMR vaccine is recommended at ages 12-15 months and a second dose at ages 4-6 years. Two doses of MMR vaccine also are recommended for students attending colleges and other post-high school institutions. However, documentation of mumps immunity through vaccination has consisted of only 1 dose of mumps-containing vaccine for all designated groups, including health-care workers.
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MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · May 2006
Tobacco use among students aged 13-15 years--Kurdistan Region, Iraq, 2005.
Tobacco use is one of the major preventable causes of premature death and disease in the world. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), part of the Global Tobacco Surveillance System initiated by the World Health Organization (WHO), CDC, and the Canadian Public Health Association, was developed to monitor tobacco use, attitudes about tobacco, and exposure to secondhand smoke among youths and has been conducted in 140 countries. ⋯ Boys (21%) were statistically significantly more likely than girls (2.1%) to smoke cigarettes, but no significant difference was observed between boys and girls in their use of other tobacco products. Public health authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq can use the baseline information from the GYTS to design and implement tobacco-control programs to reduce youth smoking.