Outcomes among inmates treated for coccidioidomycosis at a correctional institution during a community outbreak, Kern County, California, 2004.

Background: Treatment of pulmonary coccidioidomycosis is typically limited to patients with severe disease or those with increased risk of dissemination. In response to an increase of coccidioidomycosis at a correctional institution in an endemic area, physicians initiated an enhanced diagnosis and treatment program.

Methods: Case patients were inmates with laboratory-confirmed coccidioidomycosis during January 1, 2003, through October 31, 2004.

Spatial analysis of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis near Lyme, Connecticut.

Geographic information systems combined with methods of spatial analysis provide powerful new tools for understanding the epidemiology of diseases and for improving disease prevention and control. In this study, the spatial distribution of a newly recognized tick-borne disease, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE), was investigated for nonrandom patterns and clusters in an area known to be endemic for tick-borne diseases. Analysis of confirmed cases of HGE identified in 1997-2000 in a 12-town area around Lyme, Connecticut, showed that HGE infections are not distributed randomly.