Synopsis for June 18, 2004

The MMWR is embargoed until Thursday, 12 PM EDT.

1. Cigarette Use Among High School Students ― United States, 1991-2003
2. Diminishing Racial Disparities in Early-Onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease ― United States, 2002-2003
3. Laboratory Practices for Prenatal Group B Streptococcal Screening ― Seven States, 2003
4. Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections After Cosmetic Surgery ― Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 2003-2004
5. Lead Poisoning from Ingestion of a Toy Necklace ― Oregon, 2003
6. West Nile Virus Activity ― United States, June 9-15, 2004

Synopsis for June 18, 2004

Cigarette Use Among High School Students ― United States, 1991-2003

While current cigarette smoking rates among high school youth have declined by 40% since 1997, further reductions in youth smoking will require that states and communities sustain or even increase the comprehensive programs implemented during the late 1990s.

A study published in the June 18 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, reporting information collected in 2003 from a nationally representative sample of students in grades 9–12, found that the rate of cigarette smoking among U.S. high school students has declined dramatically since the late 1990’s and is at the lowest level since the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was initiated in 1991. According to the report, 21.9 percent of high school students in the U.S. currently smoke, down from 36.4 percent in 1997. Lifetime cigarette use had also declined. In 1999, CDC reported that 70.4 percent of high school students had tried cigarette smoking during their lives. By 2003, that number had fallen to 58.4 percent. The report concludes that if prevention efforts are sustained and this pattern continues, the United States could achieve the 2010 national health objective of reducing current smoking rates among high school students to 16 percent or less.

Diminishing Racial Disparities in Early-Onset Neonatal Group B Streptococcal Disease ― United States,
2002-2003

Revised guidelines for the prevention of perinatal GBS disease led to new declines in early-onset GBS disease and reductions in racial disparities.

The bacteria group B streptococcus (GBS) is a leading cause of mortality among babies less than 1 week old. In 2002, CDC and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) released revised guidelines for the prevention of perinatal GBS disease that recommend testing all pregnant women for GBS colonization and giving colonized women antibiotic prophylaxis during labor. A year after release of the guidelines, the incidence of perinatal GBS disease declined by 34% to below the national health objective 2010 target of 0.5 cases per 1,000 live births. The disparity between blacks and whites was reduced in 2003 and the incidence among blacks now approaches the national health objective target. Improved implementation of prevention guidelines may lead to further declines in racial disparities.

Laboratory Practices for Prenatal Group B Streptococcal Screening ― Seven States, 2003

Increased outreach, particularly to small and rural laboratories, to raise awareness about the 2002 recommendations and enhanced communication between laboratorians and clinicians to facilitate appropriate susceptibility testing and reporting of GBS bacteriuria will improve laboratory adherence to GBS guidelines.

Group B streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of serious bacterial infections in newborns. In 2002, revised guidelines were published recommending late antenatal culture-based screening for GBS in all pregnant women. Under this new universal screening policy, laboratories have a key role to play in perinatal GBS prevention by ensuring appropriate methods of GBS isolation, reporting of GBS bacteriuria and susceptibility testing of colonized women at high risk of penicillin anaphylaxis. To assess laboratory compliance with recommendations, we surveyed a sample of clinical laboratories across the country in 2003. Adherence to the recommendation to isolate GBS using selective broth medium was high while implementation of recommendations related to antimicrobial susceptibility testing and reporting of GBS bacteriuria during pregnancy could be improved.

Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Infections After Cosmetic Surgery ― Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic,
2003-2004

No summary available.

Lead Poisoning from Ingestion of a Toy Necklace ― Oregon, 2003

No summary available.

West Nile Virus Activity ― United States, June 9-15, 2004

No summary available.

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