The Field Epidemiology Training Program's Contribution to Essential Public Health Functions in Seven National Public Health Institutes.

This study explores how Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETP) whose National Public Health Institutes (NPHI) are supported by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have contributed to strengthening essential public health functions.

Evaluation of Ethiopia's field epidemiology training program - frontline: perspectives of implementing partners.

Background: Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) has been adopted as an epidemiology and response capacity building strategy worldwide. FETP-Frontline was introduced in Ethiopia in 2017 as a three-month in-service training. In this study, we evaluated implementing partners' perspectives with the aim of understanding program effectiveness and identifying challenges and recommendations for improvement.

A comparative cross-sectional evaluation of the Field Epidemiology Training Program-Frontline in Ethiopia.

Background: The Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP)-Frontline is a three-month in-service training aimed at improving surveillance officers' capacity to collect, analyze, and interpret surveillance data, and respond to health emergencies. We evaluated the effectiveness of the FETP-Frontline which was introduced in Ethiopia in 2016.

Methods: We conducted a comparative, randomized cross-sectional study to assess surveillance-related knowledge, skills, and performance among trained and untrained officers using a structured questionnaire and observation checklist.

One Field Epidemiologist per 200,000 Population: Lessons Learned from Implementing a Global Public Health Workforce Target.

The World Health Organization monitoring and evaluation framework for the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005) describes the targets for the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) indicators. For workforce development, the JEE defines the optimal target for attaining and complying with the IHR (2005) as 1 trained field epidemiologist (or equivalent) per 200,000 population. We explain the derivation and use of the current field epidemiology workforce development target and identify the limitations and lessons learned in applying it to various countries' public health systems.

Chronic kidney disease of nontraditional etiology in Central America: a provisional epidemiologic case definition for surveillance and epidemiologic studies.

SYNOPSIS Over the last two decades, experts have reported a rising number of deaths caused by chronic kidney disease (CKD) along the Pacific coast of Central America, from southern Mexico to Costa Rica. However, this specific disease is not associated with traditional causes of CKD, such as aging, diabetes, or hypertension. Rather, this disease is a chronic interstitial nephritis termed chronic kidney disease of nontraditional etiology (CKDnT).

Anthrax cases in pregnant and postpartum women: a systematic review.

Objective: To describe the worldwide experience of Bacillus anthracis infection reported in pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women.

Data Sources: Studies were identified through MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase, and Global Health databases from inception until May 2012. The key words (["anthrax" or "anthracis"] and ["pregna*" or "matern*" or "postpartum" or "puerperal" or "lact*" or "breastfed*" or "breastfeed*" or "fetal" or "fetus" or "neonate" or "newborn" or "abort*" or "uterus"]) were used.

Patterns and predictors of current cigarette smoking in women and men of reproductive age-Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Objective: To estimate smoking prevalence by gender, describe patterns of cigarette use, and identify predictors of current smoking in reproductive-age adults in four Latin American countries.

Methods: Self-reported smoking was examined using data from Reproductive Health Surveys of women aged 15-49 years in Ecuador (2004), El Salvador (2002-2003), Guatemala (2002), and Honduras (2001), and of men aged 15-59 years in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras for the same years. Current smoking was assessed by demographic characteristics, and independent associations were examined using logistic regression.

Preparing for influenza after 2009 H1N1: special considerations for pregnant women and newborns.

Pregnant women and their newborn infants are at increased risk for influenza-associated complications, based on data from seasonal influenza and influenza pandemics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) developed public health recommendations for these populations in response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. A review of these recommendations and information that was collected during the pandemic is needed to prepare for future influenza seasons and pandemics.

Burden of rotavirus disease among children visiting pediatric emergency departments in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Oakland, California, in 1999-2000.

Objective: We assessed the incidence of rotavirus disease requiring an emergency department visit among children <5 years of age.

Methods: We conducted active surveillance for acute gastroenteritis in pediatric emergency departments in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Oakland, California, from March 1999 to May 2000, among children 2 weeks to 59 months of age with acute diarrhea and/or vomiting. We obtained clinical and demographic information from participants and tested their stool specimens for rotavirus.

Outbreak of necrotizing enterocolitis caused by norovirus in a neonatal intensive care unit.

Objectives: To investigate an outbreak of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and to identify the etiology, describe illness risk factors, and develop control measures.

Study Design: A retrospective case-control study was performed including newborns with NEC and newborns without NEC, examining demographic factors and exposures to medications, staff members, and procedures before illness. Stool samples from affected newborns were collected and tested for bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

Outbreak of rotavirus gastroenteritis with high mortality, Nicaragua, 2005.

Objectives: We investigated a nationwide outbreak of severe rotavirus gastroenteritis in Nicaragua in children under 5 years old, leading to many consultations, hospitalizations, and deaths. We questioned whether a vaccine might have prevented these illnesses and deaths, sought to identify risk factors for death, and developed a clinical profile of children hospitalized with diarrhea.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study to determine whether children who died had access to routine immunizations, a proxy predicting access to a rotavirus vaccine.

Burden of diarrhea among children in Honduras, 2000-2004: estimates of the role of rotavirus.

Objectives: To estimate the annual burden of diarrhea and of diarrhea that is associated with rotavirus (RV) in children who are treated at public clinics and hospitals in Honduras.

Methods: Data were collected from computerized records of all children < 5 years old treated for diarrhea at clinics and hospitals operated by the Secretary of Health for the period of 2000 through 2004. A review of studies of RV in Honduras and neighboring countries provided estimates of detection rates of RV among children treated for acute diarrhea as outpatients or as inpatients.