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Pool inspection data should be used more effectively for public health decision-making.
| PRESS CONTACT: Michael Beach, PhD CDC, National Center for Infectious Diseases (770) 488-7763 |
Swimming, one of the most popular activities in the country and is a healthy way to spend leisure time. However, over the past decade there has been an increase in the reported number of swimming-related illness outbreaks. Health departments protect the public鈥檚 health through pool inspections but resources generally allow only a few annual inspections of each pool. We documented water quality, filtration system, and operations violations incurred during 22,131 inspections from multiple sites during the summer of 2002. Only 45.9% of inspections were violation-free indicating that, although some pools are well maintained, such an infrequent inspection process cannot ensure compliance with pool regulations. These findings underscore the need for increasing the level of training and vigilance by pool operators to ensure high-quality swimming pool water and use of pool inspection data for public-health decision-making.
For more information visit, http://www.cy118119.com/healthyswimming/.
Overall, the 2002-03 U.S. influenza season was mild, though various regions of the country experienced different types of influenza virus circulation.
| PRESS CONTACT: Scott Harper, MD, MPH, MsC CDC, National Center for Infectious Diseases (404) 639-3747 |
Influenza A (H1N1), A (H1N2), A (H3N2), and B viruses co-circulated worldwide during the 2002-03 influenza season in the Northern Hemisphere. Human infections with avian influenza A (H5N1) and A (H7N7) viruses were reported in Hong Kong and the Netherlands, respectively. In the United States, the 2002-03 influenza season was mild; influenza A (H1) and B viruses circulated widely but the predominant virus varied by region and time of season. The Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) recommended A/New Caledonia/20/99-like (H1N1), A/Moscow/10/99-like (H3N2), and B/Beijing/330/01-like viruses for the 2003-04 trivalent influenza vaccine for the United States. This recommendation was based on antigenic analyses of recently isolated influenza viruses, epidemiologic data, and post-vaccination serologic studies in humans.
Although wild poliovirus circulation appears to have been interrupted in the Southern part of Africa polio eradication activities should be sustained until global eradication is certified.
| PRESS CONTACT: Kathryn Kohler, PhD CDC, National Immunization Program (404) 639-8170 |
The estimated global occurrence of poliomyelitis has decreased more than 99% since 1988, when the World Health Assembly resolved to eradicate polio worldwide. The last cases of poliomyelitis in the Southern African Block were observed in Zambia in February 2002. While it is possible that polio transmission has been interrupted, the quality of surveillance in several important countries does not yet allow to reliably exclude the ongoing transmission of polio. External surveillance reviews are planned for 2003 in Madagascar, Mozambique and South Africa and a Technical Advisory Group for Angola will convene for the first time in June. Additional funding will be required to sustain polio eradication activities in those countries and prevent importation and circulation of polioviruses until global polio eradication is certified.
| PRESS CONTACT: Division of Media Relations CDC, Office of Communication (404) 639鈥?286 |
No summary available.
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