Two articles that received extensive media coverage share the feature spotlight this week. A mycobacterial outbreak associated with premixed tattoo ink is reported in NEJM by BS Kennedy et al; last week MMWR posted a related article as an Early Release. Two concerning cases of primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) which occurred in conjunction with municipal tap water use are described by JS Yoder and colleagues.

A 2010 wild poliovirus outbreak in the Republic of Congo is the subject of related articles that serve as a reminder of the polio eradication challenges faced by non-polio endemic countries. Writing in Clinical Infectious Diseases, a group led by CJ Gregory document an elevated case-fatality rate and relevant risk factors, while MK Patel and collaborators provide a broader description of the outbreak and its public health practice implications.

With the approach of a hurricane to the Gulf Coast as well as the coming anniversary of September 11, diverse aspects of emergency preparedness are highlighted in this week's Clips. S Iqbal and colleagues from NCEH review disaster-related carbon monoxide poisoning, with an emphasis on preventive interventions. A study of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among police who responded to the World Trade Center attacks, authored by RH Pietrzak, sheds light on PTSD among disaster first responders.

Public health aspects of tracking established and emerging infections include screening, surveillance, and laboratory monitoring. AH Van't Hoog et al evaluate chest x-ray (CXR) and symptom screening in the context of a TB prevalence survey, concluding that combined symptom and CXR screening has the highest sensitivity. An analysis led by LM Hampton finds that, compared to population-based surveillance, most sentinel surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease can detect decreases related to use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Finally, P Kitikoon, working with CDC and non-CDC co-authors, provides detailed pathogenic and transmission data regarding recently isolated variant H3N2 influenza viruses.

John Iskander

Editor, Science Clips

1. Top Ten Articles of the Week
   Selected weekly by a senior CDC scientist from the standard sections listed below.
   • Communicable Diseases
     • Investigation of elevated case-fatality rate in poliomyelitis outbreak in Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo - 2010
       Gregory CJ, Ndiaye S, Patel M, Hakizamana E, Wannemuehler K, Ndinga E, Chu S, Talani P, Kretsinger K.
       Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Aug 21.
       
     • An outbreak of wild poliovirus in the Republic of Congo, 2010 - 2011
       Patel MK, Konde MK, Didi-Ngossaki BH, Ndinga E, Yogolelo R, Salla M, Shaba K, Everts J, Armstrong GL, Daniels D, Burns C, Wassilak S, Pallansch M, Kretsinger K.
       Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Aug 21.
       
     • Outbreak of Mycobacterium chelonae infection associated with tattoo ink
       Kennedy BS, Bedard B, Younge M, Tuttle D, Ammerman E, Ricci J, Doniger AS, Escuyer VE, Mitchell K, Noble-Wang JA, O'Connell HA, Lanier WA, Katz LM, Betts RF, Mercurio MG, Scott GA, Lewis MA, Goldgeier MH.
       N Engl J Med. 2012 Aug 22.
       
   • Disaster Control and Emergency Services
     • A review of disaster-related carbon monoxide poisoning: surveillance, epidemiology, and opportunities for prevention
       Iqbal S, Clower JH, Hernandez SA, Damon SA, Yip FY.
       Am J Public Health. 2012 Aug 1.
       
   • Environmental Health
     • Primary amebic meningoencephalitis deaths associated with sinus irrigation using contaminated tap water
       Yoder JS, Straif-Bourgeois S, Roy SL, Moore TA, Visvesvara GS, Ratard RC, Hill VR, Wilson JD, Linscott AJ, Crager R, Kozak NA, Sriram R, Narayanan J, Mull B, Kahler AM, Schneeberger C, da Silva AJ, Poudel M, Baumgarten KL, Xiao L, Beach MJ.
       Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Aug 22.
       
   • Epidemiology and Surveillance
     • Sentinel versus population-based surveillance of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine effectiveness
       Hampton LM, Zell ER, Schrag S, Cohen AL.
       Bull World Health Organ. 2012 Aug 1;90(8):568-77.
       
     • Screening strategies for tuberculosis prevalence surveys: the value of chest radiography and symptoms
       Van't Hoog AH, Meme HK, Laserson KF, Agaya JA, Muchiri BG, Githui WA, Odeny LO, Marston BJ, Borgdorff MW.
       PLoS One. 2012 ;7(7):e38691.
       
   • Laboratory Sciences
     • Pathogenicity and transmission in pigs of the novel A(H3N2)v influenza virus isolated from humans and characterization of swine H3N2 viruses isolated in 2010-2011
       Kitikoon P, Vincent AL, Gauger PC, Schlink SN, Bayles DO, Gramer MR, Darnell D, Webby RJ, Lager KM, Swenson SL, Klimov A.
       J Virol. 2012 Jun;86(12):6804-14.
       
   • Occupational Safety and Health
     • The burden of full and subsyndromal posttraumatic stress disorder among police involved in the World Trade Center rescue and recovery effort
       Pietrzak RH, Schechter CB, Bromet EJ, Katz CL, Reissman DB, Ozbay F, Sharma V, Crane M, Harrison D, Herbert R, Levin SM, Luft BJ, Moline JM, Stellman JM, Udasin IG, Landrigan PJ, Southwick SM.
       J Psychiatr Res. 2012 Jul;46(7):835-42.
       
   
   
2. CDC Authored Publications
   The names of CDC authors are indicated in bold text.
   Articles published in the past 6-8 weeks authored by CDC or ATSDR staff.
   • Chronic Diseases and Conditions
     1. Descriptive epidemiology of malignant and nonmalignant primary spinal cord, spinal meninges, and cauda equina tumors, United States, 2004-2007
        Duong LM, McCarthy BJ, McLendon RE, Dolecek TA, Kruchko C, Douglas LL, Ajani UA.
        Cancer. 2012 Sep 1;118(17):4220-7.
        
   • Communicable Diseases
     2. Self-reported influenza-like illness and receipt of influenza antiviral drugs during the 2009 pandemic, United States, 2009-2010
        Biggerstaff M, Jhung M, Kamimoto L, Balluz L, Finelli L.
        Am J Public Health. 2012 Aug 16.
        
     3. A population-based study of neurologic manifestations of severe influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 in California
        Glaser CA, Winter K, Dubray K, Harriman K, Uyeki TM, Sejvar J, Gilliam S, Louie JK.
        Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Aug;55(4):514-20.
        
     4. Clinical recognition and management of tularemia in Missouri: a retrospective chart review of 121 cases
        Weber IB, Turabelidze G, Patrick S, Griffith KS, Mead PS, Kugeler KJ.
        Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Aug 21.
        
     5. Responding to pertussis
        Clark TA.
        J Pediatr. 2012 Aug 18.
        
     6. Viral and bacterial causes of severe acute respiratory illness among children less than 5 years old in a high malaria prevalence area of western Kenya, 2007-2010
        Feikin DR, Njenga MK, Bigogo G, Aura B, Aol G, Audi A, Jagero G, Muluare PO, Gikunju S, Nderitu L, Winchell JM, Schneider E, Erdman DD, Oberste MS, Katz MA, Breiman RF.
        Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2012 Aug 20.
        
     7. Tenofovir use and renal insufficiency among pregnant and general adult population of HIV-infected, ART-naive individuals in Lilongwe, Malawi
        Johnson DC, Chasela C, Maliwichi M, Mwafongo A, Akinkuotu A, Moses A, Jamieson DJ, Kourtis AP, King CC, van der Horst C, Hosseinipour MC.
        PLoS One. 2012 ;7(7):e41011.
        
   • Disaster Control and Emergency Services
     8. EMS medical direction and prehospital practices for acute cardiovascular events
        Greer S, Williams I, Valderrama AL, Bolton P, Patterson DG, Zhang Z.
        Prehosp Emerg Care. 2012 Aug 22.
        
   • Environmental Health
     9. Prenatal bisphenol A exposure and child behavior in an inner-city cohort
        Perera F, Vishnevetsky J, Herbstman JB, Calafat AM, Xiong W, Rauh V, Wang S.
        Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Aug;120(8):1190-4.
        
   • Genetics and Genomics
     10. Virological and molecular characterization of a simian human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) encoding the envelope and reverse transcriptase genes from HIV-1
         Pal R, Galmin L, Pereira LE, Li B, Zhang J, Li D, Francis J, McNicholl JM, Weiss DE, Smith JM.
         Virology. 2012 Oct 10;432(1):173-83.
         
   • Health Disparities
     11. Factors that mediate racial/ethnic disparities in US fetal death rates
         Lorch SA, Kroelinger CD, Ahlberg C, Barfield WD.
         Am J Public Health. 2012 Aug 16.
         
     12. Widening educational disparities in premature death rates in twenty six states in the United States, 1993-2007
         Ma J, Xu J, Anderson RN, Jemal A.
         PLoS One. 2012 ;7(7):e41560.
         
   • Healthcare Economics
     13. HIV treatment as prevention: issues in economic evaluation
         Barnighausen T, Salomon JA, Sangrujee N.
         PLoS Med. 2012 Jul;9(7):e1001263.
         
     14. Costs of, and reimbursement for, vaccines: a case study at the Board of Health Refugee Services in DeKalb county, Georgia
         Adachi K, Coleman MS, de la Motte Hurst C, Vargas ML, Oladele A, Weinberg MS.
         Vaccine. 2012 Aug 18.
         
     15. Economic impact of the 2009-2010 Guam mumps outbreak on the public health sector and affected families
         Mahamud A, Fiebelkorn AP, Nelson G, Aguon A, McKenna J, Villarruel G, Gallagher K, Ortega-Sanchez IR.
         Vaccine. 2012 Aug 14.
         
   • Immunity and Immunization
     16. H1N1 and seasonal influenza vaccination of U.S. healthcare personnel, 2010
         Lu PJ, Ding H, Black CL.
         Am J Prev Med. 2012 Sep;43(3):282-92.
         
     17. Progressive vaccinia: case description and laboratory-guided therapy with vaccinia immune globulin, ST-246 and CMX001
         Lederman ER, Davidson W, Groff HL, Smith SK, Warkentien T, Li Y, Wilkins KA, Karem KL, Akondy RS, Ahmed R, Frace M, Shieh WJ, Zaki S, Hruby DE, Painter WP, Bergman KL, Cohen JI, Damon IK.
         J Infect Dis. 2012 Aug 16.
         
     18. 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and otitis media: effectiveness of a 2-dose versus 3-dose primary series
         Stoecker C, Hampton LM, Moore MR.
         Vaccine. 2012 Aug 17.
         
   • Laboratory Sciences
     19. Antiviral activity of nucleoside analogues against norovirus
         Costantini VP, Whitaker T, Barclay L, Lee D, McBrayer TR, Schinazi RF, Vinje J.
         Antivir Ther. 2012 Aug 14.
         
     20. Performance of succinylacetone assays and their associated proficiency testing outcomes
         Adam BW, Hall EM, Meredith NK, Lim TH, Haynes CA, De Jesus VR, Hannon WH.
         Clin Biochem. 2012 Aug 11.
         
     21. Schistosoma mansoni infection impairs anti-malaria treatment and immune responses in mosquito-borne Plasmodium coatneyi infected rhesus macaques
         Semenya AA, Sullivan JS, Barnwell JW, Secor WE.
         Infect Immun. 2012 Aug 20.
         
     22. Implication of inflammatory macrophages, nuclear receptors, and interferon regulatory factors in increased virulence of pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus after host adaptation
         Josset L, Belser JA, Pantin-Jackwood MJ, Chang JH, Chang ST, Belisle SE, Tumpey TM, Katze MG.
         J Virol. 2012 Jul;86(13):7192-206.
         
   • Maternal and Child Health
     23. Preventing rapid repeat births among Latina adolescents: the role of parents
         Bouris A, Guilamo-Ramos V, Cherry K, Dittus P, Michael S, Gloppen K.
         Am J Public Health. 2012 Aug 16.
         
     24. Patterns of contact with hospital for children with an autism spectrum disorder: a Danish register-based study
         Atladottir HO, Schendel DE, Lauritsen MB, Henriksen TB, Parner ET.
         J Autism Dev Disord. 2012 Aug;42(8):1717-28.
         
     25. Is maternal food security a predictor of food and drink intake among toddlers in Oregon?
         Cunningham TJ, Barradas DT, Rosenberg KD, May AL, Kroelinger CD, Ahluwalia IB.
         Matern Child Health J. 2012 Aug 21.
         
     26. Racial/ethnic differences in infant mortality attributable to birth defects by gestational age
         Broussard CS, Gilboa SM, Lee KA, Oster M, Petrini JR, Honein MA.
         Pediatrics. 2012 Aug 20.
         
   • Occupational Safety and Health
     27. Prevalence rates of work organization characteristics among workers in the U.S.: data from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey
         Alterman T, Luckhaupt SE, Dahlhamer JM, Ward BW, Calvert GM.
         Am J Ind Med. 2012 Aug 21.
         
     28. The economic burden of all-terrain vehicle related adult deaths in the U.S. workplace, 2003-2006
         Helmkamp JC, Biddle E, Marsh SM, Campbell CR.
         J Agric Saf Health. 2012 Jul;18(3):233-43.
         
     29. Development of risk-based nanomaterial groups for occupational exposure control
         Kuempel ED, Castranova V, Geraci CL, Schulte PA.
         J Nanopart Res. 2012 ;14(9):1-15.
         
     30. The use of biomarkers in occupational health research, practice, and policy
         Schulte PA, Hauser JE.
         Toxicol Lett. 2012 Aug 13;213(1):91-9.
         
   • Public Health, General
     31. A new taxonomy for stakeholder engagement in patient-centered outcomes research
         Concannon TW, Meissner P, Grunbaum JA, McElwee N, Guise JM, Santa J, Conway PH, Daudelin D, Morrato EH, Leslie LK.
         J Gen Intern Med. 2012 Aug;27(8):985-91.
         
   • Reproductive Health
     32. Evaluation of bleeding disorders in women with menorrhagia: a survey of obstetrician-gynecologists
         Byams VR, Anderson BL, Grant AM, Atrash H, Schulkin J.
         Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2012 Jul 16.
         
     33. Expedited partner therapy for sexually transmitted infections
         Hogben M, Kidd S, Burstein GR.
         Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2012 Aug 17.
         
   • Social and Behavioral Sciences
     34. Systematic review of behavior change research on point-of-use water treatment interventions in countries categorized as low- to medium-development on the human development index
         Fiebelkorn AP, Person B, Quick RE, Vindigni SM, Jhung M, Bowen A, Riley PL.
         Soc Sci Med. 2012 Aug;75(4):622-33.
         
   
   
3. Public Health Articles Noted in the Media
   Articles about important public health topics that have been mentioned in the press.
   • MMWR in the Media
     35. Lead poisoning in pregnant women who used ayurvedic medications from India - New York City, 2011-2012
         MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012 Aug 24;61(33):641-6.
         
     36. Tattoo-associated nontuberculous mycobacterial skin infections - multiple states, 2011-2012
         MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012 Aug 24;61(33):653-6.
         
     37. Vaccination coverage among children in kindergarten - United States, 2011-12 school year
         MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2012 Aug 24;61(33):647-52.
         
   • Communicable Diseases
     38. Tattoo ink-related infections - awareness, diagnosis, reporting, and prevention
         LeBlanc PM, Hollinger KA, Klontz KC.
         N Engl J Med. 2012 Aug 22.
         
   
   

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DISCLAIMER: Articles listed in the CDC Science Clips are selected by the CDC Public Health Library and Information Center to provide current awareness of the public health literature. An article's inclusion does not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor does it imply endorsement of the article's methods or findings. CDC and DHHS assume no responsibility for the factual accuracy of the items presented. The selection, omission, or content of items does not imply any endorsement or other position taken by CDC or DHHS. Opinion, findings and conclusions expressed by the original authors of items included in the Clips, or persons quoted therein, are strictly their own and are in no way meant to represent the opinion or views of CDC or DHHS. References to publications, news sources, and non-CDC Websites are provided solely for informational purposes and do not imply endorsement by CDC or DHHS.