Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)

April 6, 2012 / Vol. 61 / No. RR–2
Good Laboratory Practices for Biochemical Genetic Testing and Newborn Screening for Inherited Metabolic Disorders
CE Available

This report provides recommendations for good laboratory practices for biochemical genetic testing and newborn screening for inherited metabolic disorders. The recommended practices address the benefits of using a quality management system approach, factors to consider before introducing new tests, establishment and verification of test performance specifications, the total laboratory testing process, confidentiality of patient information and test results, and personnel qualifications and responsibilities for laboratory testing for inherited metabolic diseases. These recommendations are intended for laboratories that perform biochemical genetic testing to improve the quality of laboratory services and for newborn screening laboratories to ensure the quality of laboratory practices for inherited metabolic disorders. These recommendations also are intended as a resource for medical and public health professionals who evaluate laboratory practices, for users of laboratory services to facilitate their collaboration with newborn screening systems and use of biochemical genetic tests, and for standard-setting organizations and professional societies in developing future laboratory quality standards and practice recommendations.

March 30, 2012 / Vol. 61 / No. SS–3
Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008

This report provides updated autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence estimates from the 2008 surveillance year, representing 14 Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) sites in the United States. For 2008, the overall estimated prevalence of ASDs among the 14 ADDM sites was 11.3 per 1,000 (one in 88) children aged 8 years who were living in these communities during 2008. The extent to which these increases reflect better case ascertainment as a result of increases in awareness and access to services or true increases in prevalence of ASD symptoms is not known.

May 13, 2011 / Vol. 58 / No. 53
Summary of Notifiable Diseases — United States, 2009

The Health-care providers in the United States are required to report certain infectious diseases to a specified state or local authority. A disease is designated as notifiable if timely information about individual cases is considered necessary for prevention and control of the disease. Each year, CDC publishes a summary of the cases of notifiable disease reported for the most recent year for which data is available. This report presents a summary of notifiable diseases for 2009. The Summary is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_nd/index.html. This site also includes publications from previous years.

January 6, 2012 / Vol. 61 / Supplement
Guidelines for Safe Work Practices in Human and Animal Medical Diagnostic Laboratories: Recommendations of a CDC-convened, Biosafety Blue Ribbon Panel

Prevention of injuries and occupational-related infections in U.S. laboratories is a major concern. A previous publication presented biosafety guidelines for laboratories; however, it did not address safety in diagnostic labs in human and animal medicine. In 2008, CDC convened a Blue Ribbon Panel to review safety issues in diagnostic labs. This supplement presents the guidelines developed by this group of experts.