COVID-19 Among Workers in the Seafood Processing Industry: Implications for Prevention Measures - Alaska, March-October 2020.

Large COVID-19 outbreaks have occurred in high-density workplaces, such as food processing facilities (1). Alaska's seafood processing industry attracts approximately 18,000 out-of-state workers annually (2). Many of the state's seafood processing facilities are located in remote areas with limited health care capacity.

Airport Traveler Testing Program for SARS-CoV-2 - Alaska, June-November 2020.

Travel can facilitate SARS-CoV-2 introduction. To reduce introduction of SARS-CoV-2 infections, the state of Alaska implemented a program on June 6, 2020, for arriving air, sea, and road travelers that required either molecular testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, or a 14-day self-quarantine after arrival. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) used weekly standardized reports submitted by 10 participating Alaska airports to evaluate air traveler choices to undergo testing or self-quarantine, traveler test results, and airport personnel experiences while implementing the program.

The 2017 Solar Eclipse: Implementing Enhanced Syndromic Surveillance on the Path of Totality in Kentucky.

Objective: The 2017 solar eclipse was associated with mass gatherings in many of the 14 states along the path of totality. The Kentucky Department for Public Health implemented an enhanced syndromic surveillance system to detect increases in emergency department (ED) visits and other health care needs near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where the point of greatest eclipse occurred.

Methods: EDs flagged visits of patients who participated in eclipse events from August 17-22.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of women of childbearing age testing negative for Zika virus in Kentucky, 2016.

Because infection with Zika virus during pregnancy can cause microcephaly and other birth defects, women of childbearing age are an important population for targeting of Zika-related public health messaging. To improve Zika-related communication and outreach in Kentucky, we conducted a survey to assess Zika knowledge, attitudes, and practices among all women of childbearing age who received a negative Zika test result from the state public health laboratory during February to July 2016. Although >90% of the 55 respondents knew the virus could be transmitted by mosquitoes and caused birth defects, just 56% (31/55) knew the virus could be sexually transmitted.

Routine Immunization Service Delivery Through the Basic Package of Health Services Program in Afghanistan: Gaps, Challenges, and Opportunities.

Background: The Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) program has increased access to immunization services for children living in rural Afghanistan. However, multiple surveys have indicated persistent immunization coverage gaps. Hence, to identify gaps in implementation, an assessment of the BPHS program was undertaken, with specific focus on the routine immunization (RI) component.

Case diagnosis and characterization of suspected paralytic shellfish poisoning in Alaska.

Clinical cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) are common in Alaska, and result from human consumption of shellfish contaminated with saxitoxin (STX) and its analogues. Diagnosis of PSP is presumptive and based on recent ingestion of shellfish and presence of manifestations consistent with symptoms of PSP; diagnosis is confirmed by detection of paralytic shellfish toxins in a clinical specimen or food sample. A clinical diagnostic analytical method using high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) was used to evaluate the diagnosis of saxitoxin-induced PSP (STX-PSP) in 11 Alaskan patients using urine specimens collected between June 2010 and November 2011.

Elevated Blood Lead Levels Among Fire Assay Workers and Their Children in Alaska, 2010-2011.

In October 2010, an employee at Facility A in Alaska that performs fire assay analysis, an industrial technique that uses lead-containing flux to obtain metals from pulverized rocks, was reported to the Alaska Section of Epidemiology (SOE) with an elevated blood lead level (BLL) ≥10 micrograms per deciliter (μg/dL). The SOE initiated an investigation; investigators interviewed employees, offered blood lead screening to employees and their families, and observed a visit to the industrial facility by the Alaska Occupational Safety and Health Section (AKOSH). Among the 15 employees with known work responsibilities, 12 had an elevated BLL at least once from October 2010 through February 2011.

Tracking progress toward polio eradication - worldwide, 2013-2014.

Global efforts to eradicate polio began in 1988 and have been successful in all but two of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions. Within these two regions (African and Eastern Mediterranean), three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan) have never interrupted transmission of wild poliovirus (WPV). Outbreaks following importation of WPV from these countries occurred in the Horn of Africa, Central Africa, and in the Middle East during 2013-2014.

Polio eradication in the World Health Organization African Region, 2008-2012.

A renewed commitment at the regional and the global levels led to substantial progress in the fight for polio eradication in the African Region (AFR) of the World Health Organization (WHO) during 2008-2012. In 2008, there were 912 reported cases of wild poliovirus (WPV) infection in 12 countries in the region. This number had been reduced to 128 cases in 3 countries in 2012, of which 122 were in Nigeria, the only remaining country with endemic circulation of WPV in AFR.

Progress toward polio eradication--Worldwide, 2013-2014.

In 1988, the World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization (WHO) resolved to interrupt wild poliovirus (WPV) transmission worldwide, and in 2012, the World Health Assembly declared the completion of global polio eradication a programmatic emergency for public health. By 2013, the annual number of WPV cases had decreased by >99% since 1988, and only three countries remained that had never interrupted WPV transmission: Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan. This report summarizes global progress toward polio eradication during 2013-2014 and updates previous reports.

The frequency of malaria is similar among women receiving either lopinavir/ritonavir or nevirapine-based antiretroviral treatment.

HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) show antimalarial activity in vitro and in animals. Whether this translates into a clinical benefit in HIV-infected patients residing in malaria-endemic regions is unknown. We studied the incidence of malaria, as defined by blood smear positivity or a positive Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 antigen test, among 444 HIV-infected women initiating antiretroviral treatment (ART) in the OCTANE trial (A5208; ClinicalTrials.

HIV-1 protease inhibitors and clinical malaria: a secondary analysis of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5208 study.

HIV-1 protease inhibitors (PIs) have antimalarial activity in vitro and in murine models. The potential beneficial effect of HIV-1 PIs on malaria has not been studied in clinical settings. We used data from Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group A5208 sites where malaria is endemic to compare the incidence of clinically diagnosed malaria among HIV-infected adult women randomized to either lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) or to nevirapine (NVP)-based ART.

Impact of human immunodeficiency virus infection in pregnant women on variant-specific immunity to malaria.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) increases susceptibility to Plasmodium falciparum infection, and this has most clearly been demonstrated in pregnant women. Variant surface antigens on the surfaces of erythrocytes infected with P. falciparum are major targets of protective immunity.