CDC says Government Ready for Swine Flu

U.S. health officials say they won't need to change their response now that swine flu has been declared a pandemic. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that the government has already been treating the outbreak like a pandemic. Flu medicine has been sent out to states and money has been poured into a possible vaccination program. Since the first cases of swine flu were reported in April, scientists have found the virus is not much worse than the seasonal flu. The CDC's new chief, Dr. Thomas Frieden, says that should help keep people from overreacting to the pandemic declaration. More than 13,000 Americans have gotten swine flu. So far, there have been at least 27 deaths.

(Associated Press)

No New Swine Flu Cases in Georgia

As of 11 a.m., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says there are no new cases of swine flu in Georgia. Yesterday, the CDC confirmed one victim of the swine flu outbreak in the state. That case originated from a Kentucky woman who was in town for a wedding. She has been hospitalized in LaGrange, Ga. The CDC says it considers her case to be from Kentucky and not Georgia.

More flu vaccines next season

Flu vaccine companies expect to make a record number of doses for next flu season. Today's announcement by Atlanta based Centers for Disease Control comes amid concerns that demand may drop because this year's vaccine was largely ineffective. The CDC says five companies plan to make at least 143 million doses for the 2008-2009 season.

U.S. sees measles resurgence

More than 70 people in the U.S. have contracted measles this year. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta say that's the worst in six years. The victims are mainly children who were not vaccinated for religious or other reasons.

Breastfeeding surges in U.S.

Breastfeeding has reached one of its highest marks in 20 years according to the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency says 77 percent of mother are breastfeeding their infants. Experts attributed the rise to education campaigns that emphasize that breast milk is better than formula at protecting babies against disease and childhood obesity.

HIV rates higher than previously reported

Federal health officials are revising their estimate of how many people are infected by HIV each year, and advocacy groups say the new numbers could be higher. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been estimating about 40,000 new HIV cases occur in the nation each year. At a national HIV prevention conference in Atlanta this week, however, advocates claim the new estimate is 55,000 or higher. The CDC says new numbers will be official early next year.

Tuberculosis did not spread on flights

No one who shared a plane with an Atlanta tuberculosis patient earlier this year got sick. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it tested 250 passengers who shared a May Air France flight with Andrew Speaker. Canadian health officials also say no one got sick on a flight with Speaker from the Czech Republic. Andrew Speaker tood the two international flights in May despite being told he had a deadly form of TB.

Low lead-levels in blood may still endanger children

A new report is out about children and lead. A government panel is saying that children with blood lead-levels lower than the U.S. standard may still suffer low IQs or other problems.
The report from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, urges doctors to be more alert to the signs of lead poisoning. The report comes amid growing parent concerns over imported toys with lead.

Autism 'epidemic' largely fueled by special ed funding

(Courtesy CDC)

A few decades ago, people probably would have said kids like Ryan Massey and Eddie Scheuplein were just odd. Or difficult.

Both boys are bright. But Ryan, 11, is hyper and prone to angry outbursts, sometimes trying to strangle another kid in his class who annoys him. Eddie, 7, has a strange habit of sticking his shirt in his mouth and sucking on it.

Both were diagnosed with a form of autism. And it's partly because of children like them that autism appears to be skyrocketing: In the latest estimate, as many as one in 150 children have some form of this disorder. Groups advocating more research money call autism "the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States."

Indeed, doctors are concerned there are even more cases out there, unrecognized: The American Academy of Pediatrics last week stressed the importance of screening every kid - twice - for autism by age 2.

But many experts believe these unsociable behaviors were just about as common 30 or 40 years ago. The recent explosion of cases appears to be mostly caused by a surge in special education services for autistic children, and by a corresponding shift in what doctors call autism.

Blake Dees, a 19-year-old from Suwanee, Ga., falls into that group. For the past eight years, he has been in a day program with intense services, but he still doesn't talk, he's not toilet-trained, and he has a history of trying to eat anything - even broken glass.

But he's not a typical case.

In the 1990s, the autism umbrella expanded, and autism is now shorthand for a group of milder, related conditions, known as "autism spectrum disorders."

The spectrum includes Asperger's syndrome and something called PDD-NOS (for Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified).

Eddie, of Buford, Ga., was initially diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other conditions. But the services he got in school were not very helpful.

His mother, Michelle, said a diagnosis of autism brought occupational therapy and other, better services.

"The truth is there's a powerful incentive for physicians and schools to classify children in a way that gets services," said Dr. Edwin Trevathan of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

At a recent gathering of families with Asperger's children in the Atlanta area, parents told almost comical stories about kids who frequently pick their noses, douse food in ketchup or wear the same shirt day after day.

Even in the early 1980s, some parents were more comfortable with a diagnosis of mental retardation than autism, said Trevathan, director of the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

CDC scientists believe education numbers are misleading, because they reflect only how kids are categorized for services. They say there's no clear evidence doctors are substituting one diagnosis for the other.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention autism information:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/
American Academy of Pediatrics autism reports:
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/oct07autism.htm

Click here for more GPB News coverage of medical issues.

(The Associated Press)

CDC head defends Senate testimony

The Director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is downplaying reports her Senate testimony on the impact of climate change on health was significantly edited by the White House. Julie Gerberding spoke yesterday before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Today she told the Atlanta Press Club that it's what she said during the hearing that counts. The White House took out a paragraph that said quote “CDC considers climate change a serious public health concern."

Many arthritis sufferers have trouble working

The government says a third of U.S. adults with arthritis say the chronic condition has limited their ability to work. The numbers are part of a survey released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. It found that 33 percent of U.S. workers with arthritis suffered work limitations in 2003, the latest data available. Arthritis affects an estimated 46 million U.S. adults.

$22 M missing from CDC

Twenty-two million dollars of equipment is missing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Now, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is investigating. Lawmakers have pointed to evidence of insider burglary of $500,000 worth of computers. CDC officials say they have accounted for about nine-million dollars of the 22-million in missing goods.

CDC searching for potential TB patients

With a tuberculosis patient under federal quarantine in Atlanta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s working to find passengers who may have been exposed to a rare and dangerous strain. The Georgia man reportedly made two trans-Atlantic flights while being infected with the disease. The Italian Health Ministry is tracing his movements as well. This is the first U.S. government-ordered quarantine since 1963.