Molluscum contagiosum in a pediatric American Indian population: incidence and risk factors.

Background: Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV) causes an innocuous yet persistent skin infection in immunocompetent individuals and is spread by contact with lesions. Studies point to atopic dermatitis (AD) as a risk factor for MCV infection; however, there are no longitudinal studies that have evaluated this hypothesis.

Methods: Outpatient visit data from fiscal years 2001-2009 for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children were examined to describe the incidence of molluscum contagiosum (MC).

Trends in encephalitis-associated deaths in the United States, 1999-2008.

Background: While encephalitis may be caused by numerous infectious, immune and toxic processes, the etiology often remains unknown.

Methods: We analyzed multiple cause-of-death mortality data during 1999-2008 for the USA, using the 10th revision of International Classification of Diseases codes for encephalitis, listed anywhere on the death record, including 'specified' and 'unspecified' encephalitis. Annual and average annual age-adjusted and age-specific death rates were calculated.

Epidemiology of ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis among American Indians in the United States, 2000-2007.

Ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis infections among American Indians (AIs) have never been specifically examined, despite high rates of other tick-borne rickettsial diseases among AIs. The epidemiology of ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis among AIs was analyzed using the National Electronic Telecommunications System for Surveillance (NETSS), Case Report Forms (CRFs), and Indian Health Service (IHS) inpatient and outpatient visits. The 2000-2007 average annual ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis incidence among AIs reported to NETSS was almost 4-fold lower (4.

Trends in lower respiratory tract infection hospitalizations among American Indian/Alaska Native children and the general US child population.

Objective: To describe trends in the rate of hospitalization for lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) children and the general US population of children aged <5 years.

Study Design: This was a retrospective analysis of trends and hospitalization rates for LRTI-associated hospitalizations in 1998-2008 among AI/AN children aged <5 years using the Indian Health Service direct/contract inpatient data, and also among the general population of US children aged <5 years using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample.

Results: The 2006-2008 LRTI-associated hospitalization rate for AI/AN children aged <5 years (21.

Trends in clinical diagnoses of Rocky Mountain spotted fever among American Indians, 2001-2008.

American Indians are at greater risk for Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) than the general U.S. population.

Disparities in infectious disease hospitalizations for American Indian/ Alaska Native people.

Objectives: We described disparities in infectious disease (ID) hospitalizations for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people.

Methods: We analyzed hospitalizations with an ID listed as the first discharge diagnosis in 1998-2006 for AI/AN people from the Indian Health Service National Patient Information Reporting System and compared them with records for the general U.S.

Hospitalizations for Kawasaki syndrome among children in the United States, 1997-2007.

Background: The present study describes the rate and trends of childhood hospitalizations with Kawasaki syndrome (KS) in the United States.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of hospitalizations with KS among children <18 years of age in the United States using the Kids' Inpatient Database (1997, 2000, 2003, and 2006) and the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (1998-2007).

Results: The KS-associated hospitalization rate for children <5 years of age was 20.

Human prion diseases in the United States.

Background: Prion diseases are a family of rare, progressive, neurodegenerative disorders that affect humans and animals. The most common form of human prion disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), occurs worldwide. Variant CJD (vCJD), a recently emerged human prion disease, is a zoonotic foodborne disorder that occurs almost exclusively in countries with outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.