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In response to the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the United States established national surveillance using a sensitive case definition incorporating clinical, epidemiologic, and laboratory criteria. Of 1,460 [...]

Iodine deficiency has traditionally been associated with goiter and cretinism. More recently, iodine deficiency has been recognized as the leading worldwide cause of preventable intellectual impairment. Intellectual and neurologic deficits occur because of a lack of thyroid hormone during critical phases of brain development. More sensitive biologic tests may be useful in determining the true extent of iodine deficiency in populations. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels among urban newborns from countries with known iodine deficiency problems were determined using a sensitive whole-blood spot assay. Results found prevalences of high TSH (>5 mu/L whole blood units using a sensitive monoclonal assay) ranging from 32-80% compared with a prevalence of 3% usually found in iodine-replete areas. These findings suggest that developing brains of newborns are at risk from the detrimental effects of iodine deficiency in these urban areas. The results presented suggest the need for effective intervention programs in urban areas as well. KEY WORDS: iodine deficiency * thyroid stimulating hormone * humans * newborns

Anemia is a condition of inadequate hemoglobin, due either to defects in hemoglobin formation or a reduced number of red blood cells. Cigarette smoking is known to cause an increase in the level of hemoglobin, apparently as a response to the tight chemical bond that becomes established between carbon monoxide (a by-product of tobacco smoking) and hemoglobin. The effects of smoking on the measured level of hemoglobin were analyze among 2,250 males and 2,454 women between 18 and 44 years of age. Smoking history, hemoglobin level and socioeconomic status of all individuals were known. There was no significant difference in hemoglobin levels between individuals who had never smoked and those who had given up the habit. However, cigarette smoking was found to cause elevated hemoglobin in both men and women. The underestimation of anemia in smokers as the result of the elevation of hemoglobin was seen as significant. The compensation values presented in this article should be applied to the hemoglobin values of all smokers in order to detect possible anemia. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Pediatric emergency room visits for asthma were studied in relation to air quality indices in a spatio-temporal investigation of approximately 130,000 visits (∽6,000 for asthma) to the major emergency care centers in Atlanta, Georgia, during the summers of 1993–1995. Generalized estimating equations, logistic regression, and Bayesian models were fitted to the data. In logistic regression models comparing estimated exposures of asthma cases with those of the nonasthma patients, controlling for temporal and demographic covariates and using residential zip code to link patients to spatially resolved ozone levels, the estimated relative risk per 20 parts per billion (ppb) increase in the maximum 8-hour ozone level was 1.04 (p < 0.05). The estimated relative risk for particulate matter less than or equal to 10 μ in aerodynamic diameter (PM was 1.04 per 15 μg/m3 (p < 0.05). Exposure-response trends (p < 0.01) were observed for ozone (>100 ppb vs. <50 ppb: odds ratio = 1.23, p = 0.003) and PM10 (>60 μg/m3 vs. <20 μg/m3 odds ratio = 1.26, p = 0.004). In models with ozone and PM both terms became nonsignificant because of collinearily of the variables (r = 0.75). The other analytical approaches yielded consistent findings. This study supports accumulating evidence regarding the relation of air pollution to childhood asthma exacerbation. Am J Epidemiol 2000;151:798–810. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Public health laboratories at all capacity levels are facing challenges in exchanging electronic data among themselves and with their partners. In response to this the Association of Public Health Laboratories working collaboratively with CDC launched an innovative portal development project in January 2006. This portal will enable public health laboratories to collaborate in a web-based environment to establish a standardized vocabulary for test identifications and test results, a cornerstone for creating interoperable information systems.