Congenital syphilis investigation processes and timing in Louisiana.

Background: Congenital syphilis (CS) is a potentially life-threatening yet preventable infection. State and local public health jurisdictions conduct investigations of possible CS cases to determine case status and to inform public health prevention efforts. These investigations occur when jurisdictions receive positive syphilis test results from pregnant women or from infants.

Challenges in congenital syphilis surveillance: how are congenital syphilis investigations classified?

Background: Congenital syphilis is a serious, preventable, and nationally notifiable disease. Despite the existence of a surveillance case definition, congenital syphilis is sometimes classified differently using an algorithm on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's case reporting form.

Methods: We reviewed Louisiana's congenital syphilis electronic reporting system for investigations of infants born from January 2010 to October 2011, abstracted data required for classification, and applied the surveillance definition and the algorithm.

Enhanced Collection of Laboratory Data in HIV Surveillance Among 5 States with Confidential Name-based HIV Infection Reporting, 2005-2006.

Laboratory data reported through HIV surveillance can provide information about disease severity and linkage to care; however these measures are only as accurate as the quality and completeness of data reported. Using data from five states that implemented enhanced collection of laboratory data in HIV surveillance from 2005-2006, we determined completeness of reporting, stage of disease at diagnosis, the most common opportunistic illnesses (OI) at diagnosis, and linkage to medical care. Methods to enhance laboratory reporting included increasing active surveillance efforts, identifying laboratories not reporting to HIV surveillance, increasing electronic reporting, and using laboratory results from auxiliary databases.

Estimating the return of persons living with HIV/AIDS to New Orleans: methods for conducting disease surveillance in the wake of a natural disaster.

Hurricane Katrina disrupted HIV/AIDS surveillance by invalidating the New Orleans, La, surveillance and population data on persons living with HIV/AIDS. We describe 2 methods--population return and HIV surveillance data--to estimate the return of the infected population to New Orleans. It is estimated that 58% to 64% of 7068 persons living with HIV/AIDS returned by summer 2006.