Research findings from nonpharmaceutical intervention studies for pandemic influenza and current gaps in the research.

In June 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a request for applications to identify, improve, and evaluate the effectiveness of nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)-strategies other than vaccines and antiviral medications-to mitigate the spread of pandemic influenza within communities and across international borders (RFA-CI06-010). These studies have provided major contributions to seasonal and pandemic influenza knowledge. Nonetheless, key concerns were identified related to the acceptability and protective efficacy of NPIs.

Defining and applying a method for improving the sensitivity and specificity of an emergency department early event detection system.

The sensitivity and specificity of syndrome definitions used in early event detection (EED) systems affect the usefulness of the system for end-users. The ability to calculate these values aids system designers in the refinement of syndrome definitions to better meet public health needs. Utilizing a stratified sampling method and expert review to create a gold standard dataset for the calculation of sensitivity and specificity, we describe how varying syndrome structure impacts these statistical parameters and discuss the relevance of this to outbreak detection and investigation.

Pre-event willingness to receive smallpox vaccine among physicians and public safety personnel.

Background: Planning for voluntary smallpox vaccination of health and safety officials began in December 2002.

Materials And Methods: Surveys were conducted among physicians and fire and police department personnel in Atlanta, Georgia. Information on demographics, willingness to receive smallpox vaccine, self-reported knowledge level, and potential vaccine contraindications was analyzed.

Development of an interactive bioterrorism and emerging infections curriculum for medical students and internal medicine residents.

While awareness of bioterrorism threats and emerging infectious diseases has resulted in an increased sense of urgency to improve the knowledge base and response capability of physicians, few medical schools and residency programs have curricula in place to teach these concepts. Public health agencies are an essential component of a response to these types of emergencies. Public health education during medical school is usually limited to the non-clinical years.

The recording of demographic information on death certificates: a national survey of funeral directors.

Objective: The authors sought to ascertain the methods used by funeral directors to determine the demographic information recorded on death certificates.

Methods: Standardized questionnaires were administered to funeral directors in five urban locations in the U.S.