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Div. of Media Relations
1600 Clifton Road
MS D-14
Atlanta, GA 30333
(404) 639-3286
Fax (404) 639-7394 |
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Synopsis for January 28, 2000
MMWR articles are embargoed until 4 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday.
- Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, 1999
- Update: Influenza Activity — United States, 1999–2000 Season
- Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication— Chad, 1996–1999
- Outbreak of Shigella sonnei Infections Associated with Eating a Nationally Distributed Dip — California,
Oregon, and Washington, January 2000
Synopsis for January 28, 2000
Tobacco Use Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, 1999
New survey provides data on the most widely used tobacco products, including bidis and kretek cigarettes use among young people.
PRESS CONTACT:
Michael Eriksen, Sc.D.
CDC, Office on Smoking and Health
(770) 488–5493
(Alternate: Wick Warren, same phone number) |
A new national study found that 12.8% of middle school students and 34.8% of high school students use some form of tobacco (cigarettes,
smokeless, cigars, pipes, bidis, or kreteks). The National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted from September through October 1999, is the
first-ever study to measure the prevalence of current tobacco use among middle school students, and to document the use of bidis (or beedies)
and kreteks use (also called clove cigarettes) among middle and high school students. The survey found that cigarette smoking among African
American middle school students (9.0%) was similar to white (8.8%) and Hispanic (11.0%) middle school students. The latter finding raises public
health concerns since in recent years smoking rates among African American students are starting to rise. However, despite this recent trend,
African American students still smoke at much lower rates than other students.
Update: Influenza Activity — United States, 1999–2000 Season
Influenza activity appears to have peaked nationally during October 3, 1999 to January 15, 2000.
PRESS CONTACT:
Division of Media Relations
CDC, Office of Communication
(404) 639–3286 |
Influenza activity began to increase in mid-December and appears to have peaked. Levels of clinical illness and virological activity reported
were similar to the past two seasons. Mortality due to pneumonia and influenza reported to the 122 Cities Mortality Reporting System during the
second week of January was 10.5% and was higher than previous seasons. This increase could be due to several factors, including high levels of
influenza infection, other respiratory infections, and changes made to the reporting case definition. The predominant viruses isolated
throughout the U.S. this season have been influenza type A (H3N2) Sydney-like viruses which are well-matched by the 1999-2000 influenza vaccine.
If influenza vaccine is available, unvaccinated persons who are at high risk for complications of influenza should still consider vaccination.
Progress Toward Poliomyelitis Eradication— Chad, 1996–1999
Chad like other Central African countries has successfully implemented polio eradication activities to reach the polio eradication goal by 2000.
PRESS CONTACT:
Fabio Lievano, M.D.
CDC, National Immunization Program
(404) 639–8230 |
Polio eradication activities have been conducted in WHO's African Region since 1996. These activities have been recently accelerated in war-torn
countries like Chad, despite some difficulties in the implementation of national immunization days and surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis
(AFP). In 1999, Chad successfully started AFP surveillance, in part, due to a cooperative effort between the Ministry of Health and
international agencies. Since a very high incidence of polio cases in Chad (one of the highest in the world) has been detected by the
surveillance for AFP, the implementation of mass campaigns should be carefully conducted to achieve the goal of polio eradication by 2000.
Outbreak of Shigella sonnei Infections Associated with Eating a Nationally Distributed Dip — California, Oregon, and Washington,
January 2000
A multistate outbreak of Shigella sonnei is linked to a five-layer dip.
PRESS CONTACT:
Division of Media Relations
CDC, Office of Communication
(404) 639–3286 |
A multistate outbreak of Shigella sonnei infections with at least 30 cases in California, Oregon, and Washington has been linked to
consumption of a nationally distributed five-layer dip. Symptom onsets range between January 10 and January 23, 2000. The investigation is
ongoing. The implicated product is manufactured by Señor Felix's Mexican Foods, Baldwin Park, California, and distributed under the brand names
Señor Felix's 5-Layer Fiesta Dip (sold in 16-ounce, 20-ounce, and 41-ounce containers), Delicioso 5-Layer Fiesta Dip (33-ounce containers), and
Trader Joe's 5-Layer Fiesta Dip (20-ounce containers). Symptoms usually develop within 1 to 3 days after eating contaminated food. Many cases
resolve without the need for medical attention, but people with severe infections may benefit from antibiotic treatment.
| Fact Sheets |
National Youth Tobacco Survey 1999
January 28, 2000
CDC, Office on Smoking and Health
(770) 488–5493
Middle School Students
- The 1999 National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted from September through October by the American Legacy Foundation in collaboration
with the CDC Foundation and with scientific and technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
estimates that about one in eight (12.8 percent) middle school students reported using some form of tobacco (cigarettes, smokeless,
cigars, pipes, bidis, or kreteks) in the past month.
- Current cigarette use among middle school students was from 9.2 percent to 9.6 percent males and 8.8 percent for females.
- The rate of smoking among middle school students by race/ethnic groups was relatively equal, with about 1 in 10 African American
(9.0 percent), white (8.8 percent) and Hispanic (11.0 percent) middle school students reporting smoking cigarettes in the past month.
- Cigar use was the second most preferred tobacco product used in middle school, with 6.1 percent of students reporting smoking cigars
in the past month. African American middle school students (8.8 percent) were significantly more likely to smoke cigars than white
students (4.9 percent).
- Current smokeless tobacco prevalence among middle school students was from 2.7 percent to 4.2 percent for males and 1.3 percent for
females.
- Pipe tobacco use among middle school students was from 2.4 percent to 3.5 percent for males and 1.4 percent for females.
- Current use of novel tobacco products, such as bidis (or beedies) and kreteks (also called clove cigarettes) was 2.4 percent and 1.9
percent, respectively, among middle school students. There was no statistically significant difference in bidis use among race/ethnic
groups (1.8 percent for white), (2.8 percent for African American), and (3.5 percent for Hispanics) and kreteks use (1.7 percent for
white), (1.7 percent for African American), and (2.1 percent for Hispanics) among middle school students.
High School Students
- More than one-third (34.8 percent) of high school students reported using some form of tobacco in the past month.
- More than a quarter (28.4 percent) of high school students were current cigarette smokers, with male and female students smoking at
equal rates; 28.7 and 28.2 percent, respectively.
- Current cigarette smoking prevalence use by race/ethnic groups was higher among white high school students (32.8 percent) followed
by Hispanic (25.8 percent) and African American (15.8 percent) students.
- Cigar use among high school students was 15.3 percent. An estimated one in 5 male students (20.3 percent) had used cigars compared
to about 1 in 10 female students (10.2 percent) in the past month.
- Male (11.6 percent) high school students were significantly more likely to use smokeless tobacco products than female (1.5 percent)
high school students.
- The use of bidis (5.0 percent) and kreteks (5.8 percent) among high school students nearly equaled the use of smokeless tobacco (6.6
percent).
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