September 10, 2010 / Vol. 59 / No. RR–9
Use of World Health Organization and CDC Growth Charts for Children Aged 0–59 Months in the United States

In 2006, CDC, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Academy of Pediatrics convened an expert panel to review scientific evidence and discuss the potential use of the new 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) growth charts in clinical settings in the United States. On the basis of input from this expert panel, CDC recommends that clinicians in the United States use the 2006 WHO international growth charts, rather than the CDC growth charts, for children aged <24 months (available at http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts). The CDC growth charts should continue to be used for the assessment of growth in persons aged 2–19 years. The recommendation to use the 2006 WHO international growth charts for children aged <24 months is based on several considerations, including the recognition that breastfeeding is the recommended standard for infant feeding. In the WHO charts, the healthy breastfed infant is intended to be the standard against which all other infants are compared; 100% of the reference population of infants were breastfed for 12 months and were predominantly breastfed for at least 4 months. When using the WHO growth charts to screen for possible abnormal or unhealthy growth, use of the 2.3rd and 97.7th percentiles (or ±2 standard deviations) are recommended, rather than the 5th and 95th percentiles. Clinicians should be aware that fewer U.S. children will be identified as underweight using the WHO charts, slower growth among breastfed infants during ages 3–18 months is normal, and gaining weight more rapidly than is indicated on the WHO charts might signal early signs of overweight.

June 25, 2010 / Vol. 59 / No. SS–7
Malaria Surveillance — United States, 2008

The majority of malaria infections in the United States occur among persons who have traveled to areas with ongoing malaria transmission. CDC received reports of 1,298 cases of malaria with an onset of symptoms in 2008 among patients in the United States, a decrease of 13.8% from the 1,505 cases reported for 2007 (p<0.001). The first documented case of simian malaria, Plasmodium knowlesi, was reported in a U.S. traveler. The highest estimated relative case rates of malaria among travelers occurred among those returning from countries in West Africa. In the majority of reported cases, U.S. civilians who acquired malaria abroad had not adhered to a chemoprophylaxis regimen that was appropriate for the country in which they acquired the infection. Any person who has been to a malarious area and who subsequently develops a fever or influenza-like symptoms should seek medical care immediately and report their travel history to the clinician; investigation should always include blood-film tests for malaria with results available immediately. Malaria infections can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated promptly.

June 25, 2010 / Vol. 57 / No. 54
Summary of Notifiable Diseases — United States, 2008

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 2008. The Summary is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/mmwr_nd/index.html. This site also includes publications from previous years.