Assessing functional needs sheltering in Pike County, Kentucky: using a community assessment for public health emergency response.

Objective: During 2009-2011, Pike County, Kentucky, experienced a series of severe weather events that resulted in property damage, insufficient potable water, and need for temporary shelters. A Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) survey was implemented for future planning. CASPER assesses household health status, preparedness level, and anticipated demand for shelters.

Tightly clustered outbreak of group A streptococcal disease at a long-term care facility.

Objective: To describe investigation of a tightly clustered outbreak of invasive group A streptococcal (GAS) disease associated with a high mortality rate in a long-term care facility (LTCF).

Design: Cross-sectional carriage survey and epidemiologic investigation of LTCF resident and employee cohorts.

Setting: A 104-bed community LTCF between March 1 and April 7, 2004.

Shigellosis among swimmers in a freshwater lake.

Objective: Shigella infection is highly communicable; however, outbreaks associated with swimming in recreational fresh water are rarely identified.

Materials And Methods: A cohort study of lake visitors was performed.

Results: Seventeen (24.

Outbreak of poliomyelitis due to type 3 poliovirus, northern India, 1999-2000: injections a major contributing factor.

Background: A large outbreak of poliomyelitis due to poliovirus type 3 (P3) occurred in India in 1999. This raised concerns about oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) effectiveness, particularly the type 3 component, in preventing clinical disease and offered an opportunity to describe the epidemiology of a P3 outbreak.

Methods: We reviewed data collected by the National Polio Surveillance Project to describe the outbreak and conducted a case-control study to determine risk factors for the development of paralytic poliomyelitis.

Compatible poliomyelitis cases in India during 2000.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of compatible poliomyelitis cases and to assess the programmatic implications of clusters of such cases in India.

Methods: We described the characteristics of compatible poliomyelitis cases, identified clusters of compatible cases (two or more in the same district or neighbouring districts within two months), and examined their relationship to wild poliovirus cases.

Findings: There were 362 compatible cases in 2000.

Predictors of virologically confirmed poliomyelitis in India, 1998-2000.

As we progress toward eradication of polio, a growing proportion of cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) reported are due to causes other than polio. AFP surveillance data from India for 1998-2000 were analyzed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of signs and symptoms present at initial case investigation and of residual weakness (which is used to classify AFP cases) for virologically confirmed poliomyelitis. Sensitivity was highest for age of <5 years (93%-97%) and residual weakness (74%-96%).

Vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis in India during 1999: decreased risk despite massive use of oral polio vaccine.

Objective: Vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) is a rare but serious consequence of the administration of oral polio vaccine (OPV). Intensified OPV administration has reduced wild poliovirus transmission in India but VAPP is becoming a matter of concern.

Methods: We analysed acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance data in order to estimate the VAPP risk in this country.

Vibrio Infections Associated with Raw Oyster Consumption in Florida, 1981-1994.

While the problem of raw-oyster-associated Vibrio vulnificus infection is well known, less is known about other Vibrio infections associated with raw oyster consumption. Case reports of 333 patients with raw-oyster-associated infections with V. vulnificus and other Vibrio species reported in Florida from 1981 through 1994 were reviewed to define the epidemiology of these infections.