Epidemiology of Culture-Negative Pulmonary Tuberculosis-Alameda County, 2010-2019.

Context: Patients with culture-negative pulmonary TB (PTB) can face delays in diagnosis that worsen outcomes and lead to ongoing transmission. An understanding of current trends and characteristics of culture-negative PTB can support earlier detection and access to care.

Objective: Describe epidemiology of culture-negative PTB.

Industry and occupation in California birth certificates (1998-2019): Reporting disparities and classification codability.

Background: Missing and noncodable parental industry and occupation (I/O) information on birth certificates (BCs) can bias analyses informing parental worksite exposures and family economic stability.

Methods: We used the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) software to code parental I/O in 1989-2019 California BC data (N = 21,739,406). We assessed I/O missingness and codability by reporting period, parental sex, race/ethnicity, age, and education.

Tuberculosis Disease Among Adults Aged 65 Years and Older: Alameda County, California, 2016-2019.

Background: Older adults aged ≥65 years old represent an increasing proportion of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the United States, but limited evidence exists on the characteristics and treatment outcomes that differentiate them from younger adults.

Methods: We evaluated Alameda County TB surveillance data from 2016 to 2019 and abstracted public health charts for older adult TB cases. Clinical presentation and treatment outcomes were compared in older and younger adults (15-64 years), and multivariable logistic regression was conducted to assess risk factors for TB treatment noncompletion among older adults.

Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis Infection Among Persons with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) and chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV) can be prevented through latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) treatment and HBV vaccination, respectively. Prevalence of LTBI and HBV are six- and ninefold higher among non-US-born compared to US-born persons, respectively. Few studies have described the prevalence of LTBI-HBV co-infection.

Estimating Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Coinfection Among Adults With Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis.

Background: While patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and tuberculosis (TB) have similar risk factors, little is known regarding the prevalence of HBV and TB coinfection. We aim to evaluate the prevalence of HBV among patients with TB across world regions.

Methods: We systematically reviewed the literature using PubMed from inception through September 1, 2019, to identify studies that provided data to calculate HBV coinfection prevalence among adults with TB infection.

Public Health Expenditures and Clinical and Social Complexity of Tuberculosis Cases-Alameda County, California, July-December 2017.

Context: Alameda County, California, is a high tuberculosis (TB) burden county that reported a TB incidence rate of 8.1 per 100 000 during 2017. It is the only high TB burden California county that does not have a public health-funded TB clinic.

Assessing the Use of PCR To Screen for Shedding of Salmonella enterica in Infected Humans.

Recovery from enteric bacterial illness often includes a phase of organismal shedding over a period of days to months. The monitoring of this process through laboratory testing forms the foundation of public health action to prevent further transmission. Regulations in most jurisdictions in the United States exclude individuals who continue to shed certain organisms from sensitive occupations and situations, such as food handling, providing direct patient care, or attending day care.

Combining surveillance systems to investigate local trends in tuberculosis-HIV co-infection.

Alameda County has some of the highest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis (TB) case rates of California counties. We identified TB-HIV co-infected patients in 2002-2015 by matching county TB and HIV registries, and assessed trends in TB-HIV case rates and estimated prevalence ratios for HIV co-infection. Of 2054 TB cases reported during 2002-2015, 91 (4%) were HIV co-infected.

Trichinellosis Outbreak Linked to Consumption of Privately Raised Raw Boar Meat - California, 2017.

On January 15, 2017, a hospital physician notified the Alameda County Public Health Department (ACPHD) in California of a patient with a suspected diagnosis of trichinellosis, a roundworm disease transmitted by the consumption of raw or undercooked meat containing Trichinella spp. larvae (1). A family member of the initial patient reported that at least three other friends and family members had been evaluated at area hospitals for fever, myalgia, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Epidemiologic Similarities in Pediatric Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Sensitive Staphylococcus aureus in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Background: Risk factors differentiating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from methicillin-sensitive S aureus (MSSA) infections in the pediatric community have been unclear.

Methods: We performed a prospective case-comparison investigation of clinical, epidemiological, and molecular factors in pediatric community-associated (CA) MRSA and MSSA cases in the San Francisco Bay Area. Chart reviews were conducted in 270 CA-MRSA and 313 CA-MSSA cases.

Using survey results regarding hepatitis B knowledge, community awareness and testing behavior among Asians to improve the San Francisco Hep B Free campaign.

Asians are disproportionately affected by chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection and its fatal consequences. The Hep B Free campaign was launched to eliminate HBV in San Francisco by increasing awareness, testing, vaccination and linkage to care. The campaign conducted 306 street intercept and telephone interviews of San Francisco Asians to assess current levels of HBV knowledge, testing behaviors and effectiveness of existing campaign media materials.

San Francisco hep B free: a grassroots community coalition to prevent hepatitis B and liver cancer.

Chronic hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver cancer and the largest health disparity between Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs) and the general US population. The Hep B Free model was launched to eliminate hepatitis B infection by increasing hepatitis B awareness, testing, vaccination, and treatment among APIs by building a broad, community-wide coalition. The San Francisco Hep B Free campaign is a diverse public/private collaboration unifying the API community, health care system, policy makers, businesses, and the general public in San Francisco, California.

Review of syndromic surveillance: implications for waterborne disease detection.

Syndromic surveillance is the gathering of data for public health purposes before laboratory or clinically confirmed information is available. Interest in syndromic surveillance has increased because of concerns about bioterrorism. In addition to bioterrorism detection, syndromic surveillance may be suited to detecting waterborne disease outbreaks.

Organochlorine pesticides and male genital anomalies in the child health and development studies.

Increasing rates of cryptorchidism and hypospadias in human populations may be caused by exogenous environmental agents. We conducted a case-control study of serum levels of p,p'-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its major metabolite, p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), and cryptorchidism and hypospadias in the Child Health and Development Study, a longitudinal cohort of pregnancies that occurred between 1959 and 1967, a period when DDT was produced and used in the United States. Serum was available from the mothers of 75 male children born with cryptorchidism, 66 with hypospadias, and 4 with both conditions.