Tag Archives: center for disease control

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TB OUTBREAK IN LOS ANGELES


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Reports of an outbreak of tuberculosis (TB) in the downtown area of Los Angeles has even the police taking precautions. Over the weekend, LAPD officers in the skid row area were advised via email and roll calls to use masks to protect themselves from risk of being infected by the disease if a situation seems to warrant the preccaution.

Mabel Aragon, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Health Department (LACHD), gave a statement Friday that the federal agency, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is helping in the process of surveillance and statistic gathering as the LACHD is in the process of confirming the number and type of TB cases in LA County.

Scott Bryan, spokesman for the CDC, confirmed they have been asked by both state and local TB officials to assist with the investigation. They are planning on sending in a team in about 2 weeks to further help with containment of the disease.

According to the Los Angeles Times, there have been almost 80 cases of a unique strain of TB identified including 11 deaths. Of those, 60 of the cases were from homeless individuals from the skid row area of Los Angeles. The strain which is unique to Los Angeles can be treated with anti-TB medications for 6 – 9 months.

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Downtown L.A. TB outbreak: LAPD urges officers to wear masks

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Multi-State Meningitis Outbreak

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are currently coordinating a multistate investigation of fungal meningitis among patients who received an epidural steroid injection with a potentially contaminated product.

This form of meningitis is not contagious.

Several patients also suffered strokes that are believed to have resulted from their infection. The investigation has expanded to include fungal infections from other steroid injections.

The current case count has risen from 64 cases 6 days ago to 170 cases reported as of today, with 14 deaths so far.

Medicines associated with three lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (80mg/ml) from the New England Compounding Center (NECC) were recalled on September 26, 2012. The potentially contaminated injections were given starting May 21, 2012.

Persons with Fungal Infections Linked to Steroid Injections, by State

State Case Count Deaths
Florida (FL) 7 2
Idaho (ID) 1 0
Indiana (IN) 21 1
Maryland (MD) 13 1
Michigan (MI) 39 3
Minnesota (MN) 3 0
New Jersey (NJ) 2 0
North Carolina (NC) 2 0
Ohio (OH) 3 0
Tennessee (TN) 49 6
Virginia (VA) 30 1
TOTALS 170 14
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HIV Incidences in gay/bisexual men inexplicably continues to rise in US

The cumulative incidences of HIV in gay men in the United States is only slightly lower than that of gay men in portions of Africa and has been rising steadily since 2001.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), gay and bisexual men are the only group seeing this rise in rates of HIV infection.

See The Shocking Second HIV Epidemic Among U.S. Gay Men That No One Is Talking About | Alternet.