Synopsis for August 4, 2000

MMWR articles are embargoed until 4 p.m. E.S.T. Thursdays.

1. Missed Opportunities for Prevention of Tuberculosis Among Persons with HIV Infection - Selected Locations, United States, 1996-1997
2. Assessment of Infectious Disease Surveillance - Uganda, 2000
3. Intimate Partner Violence Among Men and Women - South Carolina, 1998

Synopsis for August 4, 2000

Missed Opportunities for Prevention of Tuberculosis Among Persons with HIV Infection - Selected Locations, United States, 1996-1997

To ensure that HIV-infected people receive appropriate screening and treatment for TB infection, it is critical to determine the HIV status of patients who are in prolonged, frequent, or intense contact with people with active TB disease.

 

PRESS CONTACT:  NCHSTP Office of Communications CDC, National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention (404) 639-8895

People in close contact with infectious TB patients are at high risk for becoming infected with TB. Previous studies have documented that people co-infected with HIV and TB are up to 800 times more likely to develop the potentially fatal active TB disease than the general population. To ensure that HIV-infected people receive appropriate screening and treatment for TB infection, it is critical to determine the HIV status of patients who are in prolonged, frequent, or intense contact with people with active TB disease. This study examined common practices at public health clinics in 11 major urban areas and found HIV status was unknown for 87 percent of 6,225 people who were close contacts of infectious TB patients. Furthermore, less than one sixth of known HIV-infected contacts completed preventive treatment for TB infection. These findings indicate a need for increased awareness among health care providers and HIV-infected people of the importance of adequate TB screening and benefits of treatment for latent TB infection to prevent TB disease. The study also points out the need for TB programs to make HIV counseling and testing services available to all close contacts of TB patients, and to ensure that preventive treatment is started and completed by patients to help eliminate TB in the United States.

Assessment of Infectious Disease Surveillance - Uganda, 2000

Strengthening the performance of infectious disease surveillance for response requires improving core activities of surveillance (case-patient detection, confirmation, registration, reporting, analysis) as well as managerial and support functions (supervision, training of staff and resources).

 

PRESS CONTACT: Peter Nsubuga, MD, MPH CDC, Epidemiology Program Office (770) 488-8334

In 1998, Member States of the African Region of the World Health Organization adopted the integrated disease surveillance (IDS) strategy with the intent to create district-focused, action-oriented, and integrated surveillance systems to strengthen national, infectious disease surveillance systems. The first step of the IDS strategy is to assess existing infectious disease surveillance systems and then to prioritize the strengths and weaknesses in an action-planning phase. This assessment suggests that in order to improve infectious disease surveillance in Uganda standardized case definitions have to be distributed to the health facilities and the health workers trained in their use. In addition, regular supervision should be instituted to check on the use of case definitions, registration and reporting veracity. Regular supervision has been shown to improve the willingness of health workers to participate in public health activities. In the short term, district staff members need to be able to do surveillance, risk factor assessments, laboratory specimen collection and transport. In the longer term, health facility staff need the capacity to gather surveillance data and perform laboratory confirmation of epidemic-prone diseases

Intimate Partner Violence Among Men and Women - South Carolina, 1998

Intimate partner violence is a significant public health problem in South Carolina, and low income people are at the greatest risk for reporting intimate partner violence.

 

PRESS CONTACT: Ann Coker, PhD University of South Carolina (803) 777-6647

Research findings indicate that approximately 25% of women and 13% of men in South Carolina have experienced some type of intimate partner violence (physical, sexual, or emotional abuse) during their lifetime. Although women were significantly more likely to report physical and sexual intimate partner violence, men were as likely as women to report emotional abuse without concurrent physical or sexual intimate partner violence. Respondents with incomes less than $15,000 were almost five times more likely to report intimate partner violence than were those with incomes greater than $50,000, but the age, education, and race were not associated with reporting intimate partner violence. These results stem from a 1998 survey of 18-64 year old South Carolina residents conducted by the University of South Carolina.

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