MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report
-
MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Dec 2016
Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths - United States, 2010-2015.
The U. S. opioid epidemic is continuing, and drug overdose deaths nearly tripled during 1999-2014. Among 47,055 drug overdose deaths that occurred in 2014 in the United States, 28,647 (60.9%) involved an opioid (1). ⋯ However, rates of deaths involving other opioids, specifically heroin and synthetic opioids other than methadone (likely driven primarily by illicitly manufactured fentanyl) (2,3), increased sharply overall and across many states. A multifaceted, collaborative public health and law enforcement approach is urgently needed. Response efforts include implementing the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain (4), improving access to and use of prescription drug monitoring programs, enhancing naloxone distribution and other harm reduction approaches, increasing opioid use disorder treatment capacity, improving linkage into treatment, and supporting law enforcement strategies to reduce the illicit opioid supply.
-
MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Dec 2016
Characteristics of Electronic Cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students - United States, 2015.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are now the most commonly used tobacco product among U. S. youths (1,2); in 2015, 5.3% of middle school students and 16.0% of high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days (1). However, limited information exists on the e-cigarette product types and brands used and the substances used in these products by youths. ⋯ One third (32.5%) of those who reported ever using an e-cigarette also reported having used e-cigarettes for substances other than nicotine. Preventing youths from beginning use of any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, is critical to tobacco use prevention and control strategies in the United States (3). Monitoring the characteristics of e-cigarette use among youths, including product types, brands, and ingredients, is important to inform strategies to prevent and reduce e-cigarette use among youths.
-
MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Dec 2016
Resurgence of Progressive Massive Fibrosis in Coal Miners - Eastern Kentucky, 2016.
Coal workers' pneumoconiosis, also known as "black lung disease," is an occupational lung disease caused by overexposure to respirable coal mine dust. Inhaled dust leads to inflammation and fibrosis in the lungs, and coal workers' pneumoconiosis can be a debilitating disease. The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 (Coal Act),* amended in 1977, established dust limits for U. ⋯ This report describes a cluster of 60 cases of PMF identified in current and former coal miners at a single eastern Kentucky radiology practice during January 2015-August 2016. This cluster was not discovered through the national surveillance program. This ongoing outbreak highlights an urgent need for effective dust control in coal mines to prevent coal workers' pneumoconiosis, and for improved surveillance to promptly identify the early stages of the disease and stop its progression to PMF.
-
MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. · Dec 2016
Preliminary Report of Microcephaly Potentially Associated with Zika Virus Infection During Pregnancy - Colombia, January-November 2016.
In Colombia, approximately 105,000 suspected cases of Zika virus disease (diagnosed based on clinical symptoms, regardless of laboratory confirmation) were reported during August 9, 2015-November 12, 2016, including nearly 20,000 in pregnant women (1,2). Zika virus infection during pregnancy is a known cause of microcephaly and serious congenital brain abnormalities and has been associated with other birth defects related to central nervous system damage (3). Colombia's Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS) maintains national surveillance for birth defects, including microcephaly and other central nervous system defects. ⋯ The temporal association between reported Zika virus infections and the occurrence of microcephaly, with the peak number of reported microcephaly cases occurring approximately 24 weeks after the peak of the Zika virus disease outbreak, provides evidence suggesting that the period of highest risk is during the first trimester of pregnancy and early in the second trimester of pregnancy. Microcephaly prevalence increased more than fourfold overall during the study period, from 2.1 per 10,000 live births in 2015 to 9.6 in 2016. Ongoing population-based birth defects surveillance is essential for monitoring the impact of Zika virus infection during pregnancy on birth defects prevalence and measuring the success in preventing Zika virus infection and its consequences, including microcephaly.