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Background We used data from the Sentinel Enhanced Dengue Surveillance System (SEDSS) to describe influenza trends in southern Puerto Rico during 2012‐2018 and compare them to trends in the United States. Methods Patients with fever onset ≤ 7 days presenting were enrolled. Nasal/oropharyngeal swabs were tested for influenza A and B viruses by PCR. Virologic data were obtained from the US World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Laboratories System and the National Respiratory and Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS). We compared influenza A and B infections identified from SEDSS and WHO/NREVSS laboratories reported by US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) region using time series decomposition methods, and analysed coherence of climate and influenza trends by region. Results Among 23,124 participants, 9% were positive for influenza A and 5% for influenza B. Influenza A and B viruses were identified year‐round, with no clear seasonal patterns from 2012 to 2015 and peaks in December‐January in 2016‐2017 and 2017‐2018 seasons. Influenza seasons in HHS regions were relatively synchronized in recent years with the seasons in Puerto Rico. We observed high coherence between absolute humidity and influenza A and B virus in HHS regions. In Puerto Rico, coherence was much lower in the early years but increased to similar levels to HHS regions by 2017‐2018. Conclusions Influenza seasons in Puerto Rico have recently become synchronized with seasons in US HHS regions. Current US recommendations are for everyone 6 months and older to receive influenza vaccination by the end of October seem appropriate for Puerto Rico.

The appearance of first-degree atrioventricular block and mitral annulus calcification in an end-stage renal failure patient with elevated parathyroid hormone levels should raise the suspicion of metastatic cardiac calcification. Measures should be taken to normalize the parathyroid hormone, calcium, and phosphorus levels to limit the progression of atrioventricular block. Exploration or removal of parathyroid glands should be considered if heart block worsens.

Background: Over 40% of the world's population relies on solid fuels for heating and cooking. Use of improved biomass cookstoves (ICS) has the potential to reduce household air pollution (HAP). Objectives: As part of an evaluation to identify ICS for use in Kenya, we collected indoor air and personal air samples to assess differences between traditional cookstoves (TCS) and ICS. Methods: We conducted a cross-over study in 2012 in two Kenyan villages; up to six different ICS were installed in 45 households during six two-week periods. Forty-eight hour kitchen measurements of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) were collected for the TCS and ICS. Concurrent personal CO measurements were conducted on the mother and one child in each household. We performed descriptive analysis and compared paired measurements between baseline (TCS only) and each ICS. Results: The geometric mean of 48-hour baseline PM2.5 and CO concentrations in the kitchen was 586 μg/m3 (95% CI: 460, 747) and 4.9 ppm (95% CI: 4.3, 5.5), respectively. For each ICS, the geometric mean kitchen air pollutant concentration was lower than the TCS: median reductions were 38.8% (95% CI: 29.5, 45.2) for PM2.5 and 27.1% (95% CI: 17.4, 40.3) for CO, with statistically significant relationships for four ICS. We also observed a reduction in personal exposures to CO with ICS use. Conclusions: We observed a reduction in mean 48-hour PM2.5 and CO concentrations compared to the TCS; however, concentrations for both pollutants were still consistently higher than WHO air quality guidelines. Our findings illustrate that ICS tested in real-world settings can reduce exposures to HAP, but implementation of cleaner fuels and related stove technologies may also be necessary to optimize public health benefits. Keywords: Cookstove, Household air pollution, Particulate matter, Carbon monoxide

International audience; Since the 2007 Zika epidemic in the Micronesian state of Yap, it has been apparent that not all people infected with Zika virus (ZIKV) experience symptoms. However, the proportion of infections that result in symptoms remains unclear. Existing estimates have varied in their interpretation of symptoms due to other causes and the case definition used, and they have assumed perfect test sensitivity and specificity. Using a Bayesian model and data from ZIKV serosurveys in Yap (2007), French Polynesia (2013-2014), and Puerto Rico (2016), we found that assuming perfect sensitivity and specificity generally led to lower estimates of the symptomatic proportion. Incorporating reasonable assumptions for assay sensitivity and specificity, we estimated that 27% (95% credible interval (CrI): 15, 37) (Yap), 44% (95% CrI: 26, 66) (French Polynesia), and 50% (95% CrI: 34, 92) (Puerto Rico) of infections were symptomatic, with variation due to differences in study populations, study designs, and case definitions. The proportion of ZIKV infections causing symptoms is critical for surveillance system design and impact assessment. Here, we accounted for key uncertainties in existing seroprevalence data and found that estimates for the symptomatic proportion ranged from 27% to 50%, suggesting that while the majority of infections are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, symptomatic infections might be more common than previously estimated.

A prospective cohort of women with reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmed Zika virus infection aged 18–39 years in Puerto Rico found that pregnant women have about a 3-fold longer estimated median detection of Zika virus RNA in serum, which can increase definitive diagnosis of infection and facilitate timely and appropriate clinical management.

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). According to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) mortality database, there are elevated rates of deaths related to kidney disease in many of these countries, with the highest rates being reported in El Salvador and Nicaragua. This condition has been identified in certain agricultural communities, predominantly among male farmworkers. Since CKD surveillance systems in Central America are under development or nonexistent, experts and governmental bodies have recommended creating standardized case definitions for surveillance purposes to monitor and characterize this epidemiological situation. A group of experts from Central American ministries of health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and PAHO held a workshop in Guatemala to discuss CKDnT epidemiologic case definitions. In this paper, we propose that CKD in general be identified by the standard definition internationally accepted and that a suspect case of CKDnT be defined as a person age < 60 years with CKD, without type 1 diabetes mellitus, hypertensive diseases, and other well-known causes of CKD. A probable case of CKDnT is defined as a suspect case with the same findings confirmed three or more months later.

Household air pollution (HAP) contributes to 3.5–4 million annual deaths globally. Recent interventions using improved cookstoves (ICS) to reduce HAP have incorporated temperature sensors as stove use monitors (SUMs) to assess stove use. We deployed SUMs in an effectiveness study of 6 ICSs in 45 Kenyan rural homes. Stove were installed sequentially for 2 weeks and kitchen air monitoring was conducted for 48 hours during each 2-week period. We placed SUMs on the ICSs and traditional cookstoves (TCS) and the continuous temperature data were analyzed using an algorithm to examine the number of cooking events, days of exclusive use of ICS, and how stove use patterns affect HAP. Stacking, defined as using both a TCS and an ICS in the same day, occurred on 40% of the study days, and exclusive use of the ICS occurred on 25% of study days. When researchers were not present, ICS use declined, which can have implications for long-term stove adoption in these communities. Continued use of TCSs was also associated with higher HAP levels. SUMs are a valuable tool for characterizing stove use and provide additional information to interpret HAP levels measured during ICS intervention studies.

From 2000 to 2011, the rate of death from unintentional drug poisoning in the USA more than doubled from 4.1 per 100,000 to 10.6 per 100,000, respectively [1]. Further, from 1999 to 2011, drug overdose deaths involving opioids quadrupled from 4030 to 16,917 [1]. Nationally, since 2009, more people have died each year from drug poisoning than from motor vehicle crashes [1]. In fact, overdose is the leading cause of adult unintentional injury death in Rhode Island, which is one of 30 states where overdose mortality exceeded motor vehicle collision mortality in 2010 [2]. The major driver of the increase in drug overdose deaths is pharmaceutical opioids. In 2010, 60 % of the unintentional drug poisoning deaths in the USA were caused by pharmaceuticals, and 75 % of the fatal pharmaceutical overdoses were caused by opioids [3]. Nationally, heroin use doubled from 2003 to 2012, and from 2002 to 2011, drug poisoning deaths involving heroin more than doubled from 2089 to 4397, respectively [4, 5]. In Rhode Island, overdose deaths caused by illicit drugs increased so much during 2011–2013 that it overtook fatal pharmaceutical overdoses, which remained steady during the same time period [6]. Fentanyl (N-(1-(2-phenethyl)-4-piperidinyl-N-phenyl-propanamide) is a synthetic opioid first synthesized by Janssen Pharmaceuticals in the 1960s and used medicinally since 1968. It is estimated to be between 80 and 100 times more potent than morphine [7, 8] and has over 200 chemical derivatives, some of which have been used recreationally or implicated in heroin adulteration in the past. The first fentanyl derivatives synthesized in the early 1970s showed similar pharmacokinetics but significantly different potencies. By the early 1980s, clandestinely produced synthetic fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives were becoming available on the black market [7, 9]. The speed of onset and potency of these drugs made them attractive to opioid users but also made them more dangerous. Fentanyl derivatives can be a few to hundreds of times more potent than heroin, and if users unknowingly obtain and administer packages sold as heroin but containing a more potent fentanyl derivative, this can lead to inadvertent overdose and death [10]. Several epidemics of overdose deaths caused by illicitly manufactured fentanyl- and fentanyl derivative-adulterated heroin have occurred in the USA since the 1970s, leaving more than 1000 dead in their wakes. The first epidemic was identified in California in 1978 and was associated with a compound later identified as the fentanyl analog 3-methylfentanyl, branded by the street name “China White.” This drug is several hundred times more potent than morphine and accounted for more than 100 deaths in California [7–9, 11]. This same drug resurfaced in 1988 in Pennsylvania, where it was implicated in the deaths of 16 persons [12, 13]. In 1991, covertly manufactured fentanyl was sold as heroin on the streets of New York City in small envelopes labeled “Tango and Cash.” Because of difficulties in cutting the drug, these samples contained highly variable amounts of fentanyl and their use resulted in 12 deaths [14]. More recently, from 2005 to 2007, an outbreak of fentanyl-contaminated heroin caused 1013 deaths across several states [15]. The Rhode Island State Health Laboratory preliminarily identified acetyl fentanyl, a fentanyl analog, as the cause of ten overdose deaths during March–April 2013. Acetyl fentanyl (N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl]-acetamide, monohydrochloride) is an illicit synthetic opioid that is four to five times more potent than heroin; it is not FDA approved, not prescribed by physicians, and not commercially available. The objectives of this investigation were to (1) determine if these drug overdose deaths represented an increase above baseline, (2) characterize the acetyl fentanyl overdose decedents, and (3) identify potential risk factors for acetyl fentanyl overdose death relative to those for other illicit drug overdose deaths.