Evidence, Experience, Expertise, and the US Coronavirus Disease 2019 Public Health Response.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state, tribal, and local health departments assess available and promising interventions and individual and population health outcomes when crafting public health recommendations.

Bacterial Infections Associated With Substance Use Disorders, Large Cohort of United States Hospitals, 2012-2017.

Background: Rises in the incidence of bacterial infections, such as infective endocarditis (IE), have been reported in conjunction with the opioid crisis. However, recent trends for IE and other serious infections among persons with substance use disorders (SUDs) are unknown.

Methods: Using the Premier Healthcare Database, we identified hospitalizations from 2012 through 2017 among adults with primary discharge diagnoses of bacterial infections and secondary SUD diagnoses, using International Classification of Diseases, Clinical Modification Ninth and Tenth Revision codes.

A National Approach to Pediatric Sepsis Surveillance.

Pediatric sepsis is a major public health concern, and robust surveillance tools are needed to characterize its incidence, outcomes, and trends. The increasing use of electronic health records (EHRs) in the United States creates an opportunity to conduct reliable, pragmatic, and generalizable population-level surveillance using routinely collected clinical data rather than administrative claims or resource-intensive chart review. In 2015, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recruited sepsis investigators and representatives of key professional societies to develop an approach to adult sepsis surveillance using clinical data recorded in EHRs.

Variation in Identifying Sepsis and Organ Dysfunction Using Administrative Versus Electronic Clinical Data and Impact on Hospital Outcome Comparisons.

Objectives: Administrative claims data are commonly used for sepsis surveillance, research, and quality improvement. However, variations in diagnosis, documentation, and coding practices for sepsis and organ dysfunction may confound efforts to estimate sepsis rates, compare outcomes, and perform risk adjustment. We evaluated hospital variation in the sensitivity of claims data relative to clinical data from electronic health records and its impact on outcome comparisons.

Assessing Variability in Hospital-Level Mortality Among U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries With Hospitalizations for Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock.

Objectives: To assess the variability in short-term sepsis mortality by hospital among Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services beneficiaries in the United States during 2013-2014.

Design: A retrospective cohort design.

Setting: Hospitalizations from 3,068 acute care hospitals that participated in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services inpatient prospective payment system in 2013 and 2014.

Incidence and Trends of Sepsis in US Hospitals Using Clinical vs Claims Data, 2009-2014.

Importance: Estimates from claims-based analyses suggest that the incidence of sepsis is increasing and mortality rates from sepsis are decreasing. However, estimates from claims data may lack clinical fidelity and can be affected by changing diagnosis and coding practices over time.

Objective: To estimate the US national incidence of sepsis and trends using detailed clinical data from the electronic health record (EHR) systems of diverse hospitals.

The Potential for Interventions in a Long-term Acute Care Hospital to Reduce Transmission of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Affiliated Healthcare Facilities.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are high-priority bacterial pathogens targeted for efforts to decrease transmissions and infections in healthcare facilities. Some regions have experienced CRE outbreaks that were likely amplified by frequent transmission in long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs). Planning and funding of intervention efforts focused on LTACHs is one proposed strategy to contain outbreaks; however, the potential regional benefits of such efforts are unclear.

Toxocariasis: A Review for Pediatricians.

Toxocariasis is a parasitic disease caused by roundworms of cats and dogs. The disease is endemic throughout the United States and causes significant morbidity in children, including damage to the lungs, liver, or central nervous system, especially the eyes. Two well established clinical syndromes of disease include visceral and ocular toxocariasis.

Neglected parasitic infections in the United States: toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasma gondii is a leading cause of severe foodborne illness in the United States. Population-based studies have found T. gondii infection to be more prevalent in racial/ethnic minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.

Effects of vaccine program against pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus, United States, 2009-2010.

In April 2009, the United States began a response to the emergence of a pandemic influenza virus strain: A(H1N1)pdm09. Vaccination began in October 2009. By using US surveillance data (April 12, 2009-April 10, 2010) and vaccine coverage estimates (October 3, 2009-April 18, 2010), we estimated that the A(H1N1)pdm09 virus vaccination program prevented 700,000-1,500,000 clinical cases, 4,000-10,000 hospitalizations, and 200-500 deaths.

Expanding the recommendations for annual influenza vaccination to school-age children in the United States.

Background: Despite long-standing recommendations to vaccinate children who have underlying chronic medical conditions or who are contacts of high-risk persons, vaccination coverage among school-age children remains low. Community studies have indicated that school-age children have the highest incidence of influenza and are an important source of amplifying and sustaining community transmission that affects all age groups.

Methods: A consultation to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a universal recommendation for annual influenza vaccination of all children age ≥6 months was held in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2007.

Antiviral treatment of influenza in children.

Influenza causes substantial morbidity in children in the United States each year. The 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic disproportionately affected the pediatric population and resulted in a substantially increased number of hospitalizations and deaths among children. Early influenza antiviral treatment reduces the duration of illness, frequency of complications, antibiotic use, and health care utilization costs attributable to influenza.

Community-based values for 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1 illnesses and vaccination-related adverse events.

Objective: To evaluate community-based values for avoiding pandemic influenza (A) H1N1 (pH1N1) illness and vaccination-related adverse events in adults and children.

Methods: Adult community members were randomly selected from a nationally representative research panel to complete an internet survey (response rate = 65%; n = 718). Respondents answered a series of time trade-off questions to value four hypothetical health state scenarios for varying ages (1, 8, 35, or 70 years): uncomplicated pH1N1 illness, pH1N1 illness-related hospitalization, severe allergic reaction to the pH1N1 vaccine, and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Cost-effectiveness of 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) vaccination in the United States.

Background: Pandemic influenza A(H1N1) (pH1N1) was first identified in North America in April 2009. Vaccination against pH1N1 commenced in the U.S.

Antiviral agents for the treatment and chemoprophylaxis of influenza --- recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

This report updates previous recommendations by CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of antiviral agents for the prevention and treatment of influenza (CDC. Prevention and control of influenza: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices [ACIP]. MMWR 2008;57[No.

Prevention and control of influenza with vaccines: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2010.

This report updates the 2009 recommendations by CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of influenza vaccine for the prevention and control of influenza (CDC. Prevention and control of influenza: recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices [ACIP]. MMWR 2009;58[No.

Hospitalized patients with 2009 H1N1 influenza in the United States, April-June 2009.

Background: During the spring of 2009, a pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus emerged and spread globally. We describe the clinical characteristics of patients who were hospitalized with 2009 H1N1 influenza in the United States from April 2009 to mid-June 2009.

Methods: Using medical charts, we collected data on 272 patients who were hospitalized for at least 24 hours for influenza-like illness and who tested positive for the 2009 H1N1 virus with the use of a real-time reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay.

A primer on strategies for prevention and control of seasonal and pandemic influenza.

The United States has made considerable progress in pandemic preparedness. Limited attention, however, has been given to the challenges faced by populations that will be at increased risk of the consequences of the pandemic, including challenges caused by societal, economic, and health-related factors. This supplement to the American Journal of Public Health focuses on the challenges faced by at-risk and vulnerable populations in preparing for and responding to an influenza pandemic.

Antibody levels and protection after hepatitis B vaccine: results of a 22-year follow-up study and response to a booster dose.

Background: The duration of protection in children and adults (including health care workers) resulting from the hepatitis B vaccine primary series is unknown.

Methods: To determine the protection afforded by hepatitis B vaccine, Alaska Native persons who had received plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine when they were >6 months of age were tested for antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) 22 years later. Those with levels <10 mIU/mL received 1 dose of recombinant hepatitis B vaccine and were evaluated on the basis of anti-HBs measurements at 10-14 days, 30-60 days, and 1 year.