MMWR

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Asbestosis-Related Years of Potential Life Lost Before Age 65 Years a€“ United States, 1968-2005

PRESS CONTACT: Fred Blosser
NIOSH Public Affairs
(404) 202-0645

The continuing occurrence of cases of asbestos in younger individuals underscores the need for persistent asbestosis prevention and elimination efforts. Exposure to asbestos fibers can cause asbestosis and other diseases after a long latency of 10 to 40 years from initial exposure to onset of illness. A study by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found that a key measure of the severity and prevalence of the occupational lung disease asbestosis a€” a worker′s years of potential life before age 65 that are lost (YPLL) as a result of death from asbestosis a€” increased from 1968 to 2005, meaning that despite the decline in asbestos use and reduced exposures, the asbestosis-attributable YPLL continue to occur. The NIOSH study recommends that efforts to prevent, track, and eliminate asbestosis need to be maintained. CDC continues to conduct surveillance for asbestosis and other asbestos related deaths to follow future trends and to identify problems.

Potential Effect of Electronic Laboratory Reporting on Improving Timeliness of Infectious Disease Notification a€“ Florida, 2002-2006

PRESS CONTACT: CDC
Division of Media Relations
(404) 639-3286

Improvements in reporting times using Electronic Lab Reporting (ELR) are likely to be disease specific; workload and workflow patterns will need to be studied as ELR is incrementally introduced to assure improved quality of infectious disease surveillance in Florida. ELR has the potential to improve the timeliness of notifiable disease case reporting and resulting disease control activities. Based on this analysis ELR would reduce the time from symptom onset to county health department notification by almost half for salmonellosis and shigellosis. No change is expected for meningococcal disease and only minimal improvements are expected for hepatitis A, because these diseases are already rapidly reported. These results indicate that, in Florida, the benefits of ELR for reporting timeliness will likely vary by disease. In addition, introduction of ELR will likely change workflow patterns for infectious disease epidemiologists; assessment of the nature and magnitude of these changes will be important to monitor to assure success of the surveillance system.

Update: Influenza Activity a€“ United States, 2008

PRESS CONTACT: CDC
Division of Media Relations
(404) 639-3286

No summary available

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES