Characteristics of Global Rapid Response Team Deployers and Deployment, United States, 2019-2022.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) Global Rapid Response Team (GRRT) was created in 2015 to efficiently deploy multidisciplinary CDC experts outside the United States for public health emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased the need for domestic public health responders. This study aimed to follow up on previously published data to describe the GRRT surge staffing model during the height of the COVID-19 response.

Vitamin B12 Status before and after Outpatient Treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition in Children Aged 6-59 Months: A Sub-Study of a Randomized Controlled Trial in Burkina Faso.

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is treated with ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) containing a vitamin-mineral premix. Yet little is known about micronutrient status in children with SAM before and after treatment. We aimed to investigate vitamin B12 status in children with uncomplicated SAM, aged 6-59 months in Burkina Faso, before and after treatment with a standard or a reduced dose of RUTF.

SARS-CoV-2 outbreak among staff and evacuees at Operation Allies Welcome Safe Havens.

We report on five SARS-CoV-2 congregate setting outbreaks at U.S. Operation Allies Welcome Safe Havens/military facilities.

Can severity of a humanitarian crisis be quantified? Assessment of the INFORM severity index.

Background: Those responding to humanitarian crises have an ethical imperative to respond most where the need is greatest. Metrics are used to estimate the severity of a given crisis. The INFORM Severity Index, one such metric, has become widely used to guide policy makers in humanitarian response decision making.

Outcomes after Acute Malnutrition Program Adaptations to COVID-19, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Somalia.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, protocols for community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) were implemented to support continuity of essential feeding services while mitigating COVID-19 transmission. To assess correlations between adaptation timing and CMAM program indicators, we evaluated routine program data in Uganda, Ethiopia, and Somalia for children 6-59 months of age. We specifically analyzed facility-level changes in total admissions, average length of stay (ALOS), total children screened for admission, and recovery rates before and after adaptations.

Public Health Actions to Control Measles Among Afghan Evacuees During Operation Allies Welcome - United States, September-November 2021.

On August 29, 2021, the United States government oversaw the emergent establishment of Operation Allies Welcome (OAW), led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and implemented by the U.

Vitamin A and iron status of children before and after treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition.

Background & Aims: Treatment of children with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is based on ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) and aims for quick regain of lost body tissues while providing sufficient micronutrients to restore diminished body stores. Little evidence exists on the success of the treatment to establish normal micronutrient status. We aimed to assess the changes in vitamin A and iron status of children treated for SAM with RUTF, and explore the effect of a reduced RUTF dose.

Body composition during outpatient treatment of severe acute malnutrition: Results from a randomised trial testing different doses of ready-to-use therapeutic foods.

Background & Aims: Treatment of children with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is based on ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) prescribed based on body weight and administered at home. Treatment performance is typically monitored through weight gain. We previously reported that a reduced dose of RUTF resulted in weight gain velocity similar to standard dose.

Impact of reduced dose of ready-to-use therapeutic foods in children with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition: A randomised non-inferiority trial in Burkina Faso.

Background: Children with uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are treated at home with ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTFs). The current RUTF dose is prescribed according to the weight of the child to fulfil 100% of their nutritional needs until discharge. However, there is doubt concerning the dose, as it seems to be shared, resulting in suboptimal cost-efficiency of SAM treatment.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Public Health Response to Humanitarian Emergencies, 2007-2016.

Humanitarian emergencies, including complex emergencies associated with fragile states or areas of conflict, affect millions of persons worldwide. Such emergencies threaten global health security and have complicated but predictable effects on public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emergency Response and Recovery Branch (ERRB) (Division of Global Health Protection, Center for Global Health) contributes to public health emergency responses by providing epidemiologic support for humanitarian health interventions.

Challenges to the programmatic implementation of ready to use infant formula in the post-earthquake response, Haiti, 2010: a program review.

Background And Objectives: Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, infant and young child feeding was identified as a priority nutrition intervention. A new approach to support breastfeeding mothers and distribute ready-to-use infant formula (RUIF) to infants unable to breastfeed was established. The objective of the evaluation was to assess the implementation of infant feeding programs using RUIF in displaced persons camps in Port-au-Prince, Haiti during the humanitarian response.

Suspected outbreak of riboflavin deficiency among populations reliant on food assistance: a case study of drought-stricken Karamoja, Uganda, 2009-2010.

Background: In 2009, a humanitarian response was launched to address a food security and livelihoods crisis in Karamoja, Uganda. During a polio immunization campaign in mid-August 2009, health workers in Nakapiripit District reported a concern about an increase in mouth sores, or angular stomatitis (AS) and gum ulcerations, among children in one village, and an investigation was launched.

Objective: This article describes the investigation, lessons learned, and provides guidance for monitoring micronutrient deficiencies among populations receiving food assistance.

Malnourished children in refugee camps and lack of connection with services after US resettlement.

Identifying and addressing malnutrition among US-bound refugee children is an important human rights issue. Failure to address childhood malnutrition can impair cognitive development and productivity. The target population was children aged 6-59 months, originating from eight countries representing 51 % of US-resettled refugees for 2005-2011, living in 22 camps prior to potential US-resettlement.

Nutritional status of under-five children living in an informal urban settlement in Nairobi, Kenya.

Malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa contributes to high rates of childhood morbidity and mortality. However, little information on the nutritional status of children is available from informal settlements. During the period of post-election violence in Kenya during December 2007-March 2008, food shortages were widespread within informal settlements in Nairobi.

Acceptability and use of iron and iron-alloy cooking pots: implications for anaemia control programmes.

Objective: To evaluate the acceptability of iron and iron-alloy cooking pots prior to an intervention trial and to investigate factors affecting retention and use.

Design: Pre-trial research was conducted on five types of iron and iron-alloy pots using focus group discussions and a laboratory evaluation of Fe transfer during cooking was undertaken. Usage and retention during the subsequent intervention trial were investigated using focus group discussions and market monitoring.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of stainless steel cooking pots in reducing iron-deficiency anaemia in food aid-dependent populations.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of stainless steel (Fe alloy) cooking pots in reducing Fe-deficiency anaemia in food aid-dependent populations.

Design: Repeated cross-sectional surveys. Between December 2001 and January 2003, three surveys among children aged 6-59 months and their mothers were conducted in 110 households randomly selected from each camp.

Retrospective determination of whether famine existed in Niger, 2005: two stage cluster survey.

Objective: To apply the famine scale by Howe and Devereux to the situation in Niger, west Africa, in 2005 to retrospectively determine whether famine existed.

Design: Two stage cluster survey.

Setting: Survey of households in each of Niger's eight regions.

Lessons learned from complex emergencies over past decade.

Major advances have been made during the past decade in the way the international community responds to the health and nutrition consequences of complex emergencies. The public health and clinical response to diseases of acute epidemic potential has improved, especially in camps. Case-fatality rates for severely malnourished children have plummeted because of better protocols and products.

Karenni refugees living in Thai-Burmese border camps: traumatic experiences, mental health outcomes, and social functioning.

In June 2001, we assessed mental health problems among Karenni refugees residing in camps in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, to determine the prevalence of mental illness, identify risk factors, and develop a culturally appropriate intervention program. A systematic random sample was used with stratification for the three camps; 495 people aged 15 years or older from 317 households participated. We constructed a questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, culture-specific symptoms of mental illness, the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25, the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire, and selected questions from the SF-36 Health Survey.

Short report: assessing field vaccine efficacy for measles in famine-affected rural Ethiopia.

Measles is a major cause of mortality in complex emergencies. Both high vaccination coverage and vaccine efficacy are required to prevent major epidemics of measles in such situations. Evaluation of field vaccine efficacy is a critical but underutilized component of program monitoring in emergencies, and is particularly important in rural areas where the integrity of the cold chain is difficult to guarantee.