CDC
15 Jan More Women Of Reproductive Age Need Folic Acid To Prevent Birth Defects
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jennifer Williams MSN, MPH, FNP-BC
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
CDC, Atlanta, Georgia
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Neural tube defects are serious birth defects of the brain and spine that can cause significant disability and death. Studies have shown that taking 400 mcg of folic acid daily before and during pregnancy can reduce the prevalence of neural tube defects. Therefore, in 1992, the US Public Health Service (USPHS) recommended that all women of childbearing age in the United States who are capable of becoming pregnant consume 400mcg of folic acid per day to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. To help women meet this requirement, in 1998 the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated that folic acid be added to enriched grain products for the prevention of neural tube defects.
This study looks at how many neural tube defects have been prevented annually since folic acid fortification. Using data from birth defects tracking systems, researchers found that since folic acid fortification, the birth prevalence of neural tube defects has decreased by 35% in the United States, which translates to about 1,300 babies that are born each year without a neural tube defect who might otherwise have been affected. This study also reports that the number of babies born with a neural tube defect annually differs by the mother’s race/ethnicity. Hispanic mothers continue to be at the highest risk for having a baby with a neural tube defect.
09 Jan HIV Remains Threat To Urban Heterosexuals
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Catlainn Sionean Epidemiologist, CDC’s Division of HIV/AID Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Sionean: Previous research has shown that heterosexuals in low socio-economic communities are disproportionately affected by HIV, so we analyzed data on low-SES heterosexuals in 21 metropolitan areas with a high AIDS burden from CDC’s National HIV Behavioral Surveillance system to better understand individual risk and HIV testing behaviors within this population. Medical Research: What are the main findings? Dr. Sionean: This analysis makes it clear that we must do a better job reaching heterosexuals in urban areas with prevention services. CDC recommends that everyone be tested at least once for HIV. However, we found that overall, 1 in 4 (25%) participants had never been tested for HIV. HIV testing rates were notably low among Latinos, who, with African Americans, share a disproportionate burden of HIV in the U.S. Additionally, 1 in 3 participants (34%) received free condoms in the last year and only 11 percent of participants participated in a prevention intervention.07 Jan Combination Services Have Higher Smoking Cessation Rates
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Mary Puckett, PhD
CDC
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control.
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Puckett: Smoking causes 480,000 deaths per year in the United States. Quitline services are offered by all 50 states. In addition to telephone quitlines, 96% of states also offer some form of web-based cessation service. Seven months after enrollment in the study, participants from four state quitlines were asked if they had smoked in the past 30 days as a measure of their smoking cessation success. Participants who used quitlines and web-based services in combination had higher rates of smoking cessation than participants who used only one of these services.
22 Dec No Adverse Effects From Inadvertent HPV Vaccine During Pregancy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pedro Moro MD MPH Immunization Safety Office, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Moro: Gardasil® is a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine recommended for all girls and boys at age 11 or 12, and teens and young adults who did not get the vaccine when they were younger. Because there is limited safety data available on use of the vaccine during pregnancy, it is not currently recommended for pregnant women. However, some pregnant women will inadvertently receive Gardasil® because they do not yet know that they are pregnant at the time of vaccination. The study reviewed non-manufacturer reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) about pregnant women who received Gardasil®. VAERS is a national vaccine safety surveillance program co-administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). VAERS accepts reports of health problems that occur after any US-licensed vaccine (these are called adverse events). VAERS may also accept reports not describing any health problem but vaccination errors (for example, administration of a vaccine not recommended to a particular group of people like pregnant women). VAERS is an early-warning system and cannot generally assess if a vaccine caused an adverse event. After reviewing all non-manufacturer reports of Gardasil vaccination during pregnancy, this study found no unexpected patterns of safety issues for pregnant woman who received Gardasil®, or for their babies. This finding is reassuring and reconfirms the safety of this vaccine for pregnant women, as was previously reported by the pregnancy registry maintained by Gardasil®’s manufacturer.17 Dec CDC ‘Tips From Former Smokers Campaign’ Proves Cost Effective
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Xin Xu, Ph.D. Senior Economist Office on Smoking and Health and Darryl Konter Health Communications Specialist McNeal Professional Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Office on Smoking and Health Atlanta, GA 30341 Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Tips From Former Smokers (Tips), the first federally funded national mass media antismoking campaign, launched by the CDC, provides a unique opportunity to assess the cost effectiveness of a nationwide public health intervention that meets the ad exposure recommendation in CDC’s 2014 Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs. The 2012 campaign spent $393 per year of life saved—far less than the $50,000 per year of life saved figure used as a common threshold for cost-effectiveness. The campaign added about 179,000 healthy life years, at $268 per healthy year gained. The campaign spent about $480 per smoker who quit. The campaign averted more than 17,000 premature deaths, at a cost of about $2,200 per premature death averted.16 Dec Emergency Room Visits Related to Indoor Tanning
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Gery P. Guy Jr., PhD, MPH
Health economist
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control’s Epidemiology and Applied Research Branch CDC
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Guy: Indoor tanning exposes users to intense UV radiation and is associated with an increased risk of skin cancer. However, little is known about the more immediate adverse outcomes of indoor tanning. This study provides the first national estimates of visits to emergency departments related to indoor tanning. We examined cases from the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), a national probability sample of hospitals in the U.S. and its territories. Patient information is collected from each NEISS hospital for every emergency visit involving an injury associated with consumer products. From this sample, the total number of product-related injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms nationwide can be estimated.
07 Dec Few Diabetics Participate in Diabetes Self-management Education and Training
MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr. Rui Li, PhD Division of Diabetes Translation National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion CDC Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Li: Diabetes is a serious disease associated with severe complications and premature death. Diabetes Self-management Education and Training (DSMT) helps patients improve blood sugar control, which could reduce the risk for diabetes complications, hospitalizations, and health care costs. However, data showed that fewer than 7% of persons with private health insurance received DSMT within 1 year after diagnosis with diabetes. Furthermore, across different population subgroups, DSMT participation rates were less than 15%.30 Nov 42 Million US Adults Still Smoke
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Darryl Konter Health Communications Specialist, Office on Smoking and Health at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, resulting in more than 480,000 premature deaths and $289 billion in direct health care expenditures and productivity losses each year. Despite progress over the past several decades, millions of adults still smoke cigarettes, the most commonly used tobacco product in the United States. Cigarette smoking among U.S. adults declined from 20.9% in 2005 to 17.8% in 2013. Among cigarette smokers who smoke daily, the average number of cigarettes smoked per day declined from 16.7 in 2005 to 14.2 in 2013, and the proportions of daily smokers who smoked 20–29 or ≥30 cigarettes per day also declined. However, an estimated 42.1 million adults still smoked cigarettes in 2013. Moreover, cigarette smoking remains particularly high among certain groups, including adults who are male, younger, multiracial or American Indian/Alaska Native, have less education, live below the federal poverty level, live in the South or Midwest, have a disability/limitation, or who are lesbian, gay, or bisexual.26 Nov Most US Patients With HIV Do Not Have Virus Under Control
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Heather Bradley, PhD Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, CDC Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Bradley: The key to controlling the HIV epidemic is controlling the virus. When used consistently, antiretroviral medication can keep HIV controlled at very low levels in the body (known as viral suppression), allowing people with HIV to live longer, healthier lives and reducing the likelihood they will transmit HIV to others. Yet, only one-third of the 1.2 million people with HIV in the U.S. have the virus under control. Among those who did not have the virus under control, approximately two-thirds had been diagnosed but were not in medical care. Young people were least likely to have the virus under control. Only 13 percent of 18 – 24 year olds were virally suppressed, primarily because half don’t know they are infected. To close this gap among young people, increased HIV testing is critical. The study did not find statistically significant differences in viral suppression by race or ethnicity, sex, or risk group.25 Nov Three Cases of Cancer Misdiagnosed as Chronic Lyme Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christina Nelson, MD, MPH, FAAP Medical Epidemiologist Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Vector-Borne Diseases | Bacterial Diseases Branch Fort Collins, CO Medical Research: What is the background for this study? Dr. Nelson: Evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease have been provided by the Infectious Diseases Society of America for many years. These comprehensive guidelines have been vetted by external review panels as the best option for patient care. In endemic areas, patients with the typical rash (erythema migrans) can be diagnosed with Lyme disease clinically. Otherwise, the guidelines recommend that diagnosis be based on a history of possible exposure, compatible clinical features, and positive two-tier serologic testing. Some patients who have been treated for Lyme disease may develop post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) – fatigue, arthralgias, or other symptoms that persist after completing antibiotic treatment. Although the exact cause of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome is unknown, it is thought to be due to an altered immune response or residual damage to tissues during the acute infection. A diagnosis of exclusion, PTLDS should only be diagnosed after the patient has been thoroughly evaluated and other potential causes of symptoms ruled out. On the other hand, “chronic Lyme disease” is a loosely defined diagnosis that has been used to describe a variety of ailments. A small cadre of providers use unconventional methods to diagnose patients with chronic Lyme disease, and sometimes there is no objective evidence that the patient ever had Lyme disease. Multiple factors contribute to this phenomenon, including misconceptions about serologic testing, use of unvalidated diagnostic tests, and clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease based on nonspecific symptoms alone. We know that patients have been – and continue to be – harmed by treatments for chronic Lyme disease. Patients have suffered from emboli, severe allergic reactions to antibiotics, neutropenia, and infections such as Clostridium difficile. This is terrible and should never happen. However, there is another important danger related to these alternative practices. Some patients who have been diagnosed and treated for chronic Lyme disease later discover that another condition is the root of their physical problem. We wanted to highlight some of these cases in order to help educate providers and patients about this issue.21 Nov Smoking Cessation Key To Improving Quality of Life in Asthmatic Adolescents
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Wanjun Cui, MS PhD Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Authors’ response: Asthma is a leading chronic disease among adolescents that adversely affects their health. However, it is unclear how asthma influences their perceived health or health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Because their perceptions of their health may differ from those of their caregivers (such as parents or health professionals), knowing how adolescents with asthma would rate their own health is very important. Our study compares the responses of adolescents with and without asthma about different aspects of HRQOL including their overall health, their recent physical health, their recent mental health, and their recent activity limitations due to health. Unlike previous U.S. studies based on small clinical samples, our study used a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents that can be generalized to the whole U.S. adolescent population. We found that asthma is adversely associated with almost all these aspects of HRQOL but only among those with asthma and current symptoms such as wheezing and dry cough. Adolescents with asthma without current symptoms did not report significantly worse HRQOL than those without asthma. For example, compared with those who never had asthma, adolescents with asthma and symptoms of dry cough or wheezing reported significantly more fair or poor self-rated health (14% vs. 8%), 34% more recent physically unhealthy days , and 26% more recent mentally unhealthy days. More importantly, adolescents with asthma who currently smoked cigarettes or reported limited physical functioning reported even worse physical and mental HRQOL.19 Nov Cardiovascular Disease Risk Varies By Demographics and Geography
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Quanhe Yang PhD CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Yang: Our study reveals that an individual’s predicted risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD), coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke over the next decade varies significantly from state-to-state, as well as by demographic factors including age, gender, race-ethnicity and household income. Among the key findings: the 10-year risk is higher in the Southeast and lower in northwestern states – and higher among men than women. For men, the 10-year risk of developing CVD was 14.6 percent for the nation as a whole, ranging from a low of 13.2 percent in Utah to a high of 16.2 percent in Louisiana. CHD risk among men ranged from 9.5 percent in Utah to 11.7 percent in Louisiana, while stroke risk was 2.1 percent in Utah and 2.6 percent in Louisiana. Among women, CVD risk was 7.5 percent, ranging from 6.3 percent in Minnesota to as high as 8.7 percent in Mississippi. CHD risk for women ranged from 3.8 percent in Minnesota to 5.3 percent in Mississippi, while stroke risk was as low as 1.5 percent in Minnesota and as high as 2.1 percent in Mississippi. Nationally, we found the risk increased significantly with age and was highest among non-Hispanic blacks, those with less than a high school education and those with household incomes below $35,000 . As part of this study, CDC researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2010, as well as the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the world’s largest ongoing telephone health surveillance system. The state-based, random-digit-dialed phone survey included information from almost 300,000 U.S. residents between the ages of 30 and 74.19 Nov Use of Tobacco Products Remains High Among US Youth
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brian King, Ph.D. Senior Scientific Advisor with the CDC Office on Smoking and Health. MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. King: This study presents data from the 2013 National Youth Tobacco Survey, an annual school-based survey of U.S. middle and high school students in grades 6 through 12. The data show that more than 1 in 5 high school students and more than 1 in 20 middle school students have used a tobacco product in the past 30 days; and nearly half of high school students and almost 1 in 5 middle school students have used a tobacco product at least once in their life. Nine of ten high school tobacco users used a combustible tobacco product such as a cigarette, cigar, hookah, pipe, bidi, or kretek; there was lower use of only noncombustible tobacco products or only electronic cigarettes among both current and ever tobacco users.07 Nov Childhood Pneumococcal Vaccine Linked To Sharp Decline In Hospitalizations
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Marie R Griffin MD MPH
Director, Vanderbilt MPH Program
Department of Health Policy Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville TN 37212
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Griffin: In Tennessee, the introduction in 2010 of a new pneumococcal vaccine for infants and young children was associated with a 27 percent decline in pneumonia hospital admissions across the state among children under age 2. The recent decline in Tennessee comes on top of an earlier 43 percent decline across the United States associated with the introduction in 2000 of the first pneumococcal vaccine for children under 2 years of age.
30 Oct Pregestational Diabetes Mellitus: Preconception Care May Improve Outcomes and Save Billions
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with:
Dr. Cora Peterson PhD
Health Economist at Centers for Disease Control
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Peterson: Women with pregestational diabetes mellitus (PGDM) have increased risk for adverse birth outcomes. Preconception care for women with pregestational diabetes mellitus reduces the frequency of such outcomes, most likely by improving glycemic control before and during the critical first weeks of pregnancy.
Preconception care for women with pregestational diabetes mellitus includes the following activities:
- medical or dietary blood sugar control, blood sugar monitoring, screening and treatment of complications due to diabetes,
- counseling and education about the risks of diabetes in pregnancy, and
- using effective birth control or contraceptives until appropriate levels of blood sugar are achieved.
15 Oct Smoking Continues To Be Major Source Of Preventable Disease In US
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Brian Rostron PhD, MPH
Center for Tobacco Products
US Food and Drug Administration
Silver Spring, Maryland
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Rostron: We estimated that Americans in 2009 had had 14 million major medical conditions such as heart attack, stroke, lung cancer, and COPD that were attributable to smoking. COPD was the leading cause of smoking-attributable morbidity, with over 7.5 million cases of COPD attributable to smoking.
24 Sep Millions of US Children Do Not Receive Key Health Care Preventive Services
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Lorraine Yeung
Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Yeung: In this report, we looked at the percentages of children who received various recommended clinical preventive services. We found that millions of infants, children, and adolescents in the U.S. did not receive key clinical preventive services.
This report provides a baseline snapshot of the use of 11 key clinical preventive services before or shortly after the Affordable Care Act went into effect. A focus of the Affordable Care Act is on improving prevention of illness and disability and it does so by requiring new health insurance plans to provide certain clinical preventive services at no additional cost — with no copays or deductibles. This is important because we know increasing the use of these services can improve children’s health and promote healthy lifestyles that will enable them to reach their full potential.
Some of the important findings in this report were:
In 2007, parents of almost eight in 10 (79 percent) children aged 10-47 months reported that they were not asked by healthcare providers to complete a formal screen for developmental delays in the past year.
In 2009, more than half (56 percent) of children and adolescents did not visit the dentist in the past year and nearly nine of 10 (86 percent) children and adolescents did not receive a dental sealant or a topical fluoride application in the past year.
Nearly half (47 percent) of females aged 13-17 years had not received their recommended first dose of HPV vaccine in 2011.
Approximately one in three (31 percent) outpatient clinic visits made by 11-21 year-olds during 2004–2010 had no documentation of tobacco use status; eight of 10 (80 percent) of those who screened positive for tobacco use did not receive any cessation assistance.
Approximately one in four (24 percent) outpatient clinic visits for preventive care made by 3-17 year olds during 2009-2010 had no documentation of blood pressure measurement.
16 Sep Abdominal Obesity Continues To Increase, Particularly in Women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Earl S. Ford, MD, MPH Medical officer, U.S Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, GA 30341 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ford: The main finding of the study is that mean waist circumference and the prevalence of abdominal obesity in US adults have increased since 1999-2000 and that these increases are being driven primarily by trends in women. Mean waist circumference and the percentage of abdominal obesity in men has been relatively stable since 2003-2004.16 Sep Pediatric Cancer More Common In White, Male Adolescents from Northeast
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Jun Li, MD, PhD, MPH
Epidemiology and Applied Research Branch
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Li: Using the 2001 to 2009 National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data, which represent 94.2% of the US population, we identified 120,137 pediatric cancer cases with an incidence rate of 171 cases per million children and adolescents.
Overall cancer incidence rates were stable from 2001-2009. However, we found rates were increasing significantly at 1.3% per year in African American children and adolescents. This increase might be partially attributed to the rise among renal tumors and thyroid cancer. We also found rising incidence in thyroid cancer and renal carcinoma among children and adolescents.
As has been previously established, pediatric cancer is more common in males, in white, in adolescents, and in the Northeast. Leukemia is the most common pediatric cancer, followed by central nervous system (CNS) neoplasms, and then lymphomas.
07 Aug Addressing Racial Disparities in Childhood Asthma
Medical Research Interview with: Lara J. Akinbami, MD Infant, Child and Women's Health Statistics Branch National Center for Health Statistics Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Hyattsville, MD 20782. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Akinbami : We analyzed national data to assess recent trends in racial disparities on childhood asthma...
21 Jul CDC Recommends Routine Annual HIV Testing for Sexually Active MSM
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with
Dr. Sonia Singh
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Singh: While there is a great deal of information about the epidemiology of HIV among MSM (men who have sex with men), there is much less information about a subset of MSM who also have sex with women – MSMW. In this article, CDC researchers examined HIV diagnoses among MSMW and MSM only (MSMO) from 2008 to 2011 to obtain a better understanding of the characteristics of men diagnosed with HIV who have ever had sex with both men and women. Of all MSM diagnosed with HIV during 2011, 26% also had sex with women with women in the past. From 2008 to 2011, HIV diagnoses among MSMW were relatively stable while there was an increase among young MSMO aged 13 to 29 years.
21 Jul HIV Epidemic Still Surging Among Young Gay and Bisexual Men
MedicalResearch.com: Interview with:
Anna Satcher Johnson MPH
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Atlanta, Georgia
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Answer: The new analysis confirms historical trends suggesting that we’ve made significant progress in reducing HIV in the U.S. over time – overall and among several key populations, including injection drug users and heterosexuals. Overall, new HIV diagnoses from 2002 to 2011 declined 33 percent. However, these findings underscore continued concerns of a surging HIV epidemic among young gay and bisexual men. We found a significant increase in HIV diagnoses among young men who have sex with men between the ages of 13 and 24.
08 Apr Diabetes: Patients Still Face High Out of Pocket Expenses
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Rui Li Division of Diabetes Translation Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, GA MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The proportion of people with diabetes facing high out-of-pocket (OOP) burden declined between 2001 and 2011. Although insurance and income related disparities have declined, almost one-fourth of all people with diabetes still face a high out-of-pocket burden.26 Mar Hospital Acquired Infections: Still Room for Improvement
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Shelley S. Magill, M.D., Ph.D. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, Georgia MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Magill: The results of this survey show that healthcare-associated infections continue to be a threat to patient safety in U.S. acute care hospitals. Among the more than 11,000 patients included in the survey, approximately 4% (or 1 in 25) had at least one healthcare-associated infection at the time of the survey. We used these results to develop national estimates of healthcare-associated infections. We estimated that in 2011, there were approximately 721,800 healthcare-associated infections in U.S. acute care hospitals. The most common types of infections were surgical site infections (SSIs), pneumonias, and gastrointestinal infections.01 Aug CDC: Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Linked to Bagged Salad
CDC Highlights from 7/31/2013 From http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/investigation-2013.htmlEpidemiologic Investigation
- As of July 30, 2013 (5pm EDT), CDC has been notified of 378 cases of Cyclospora infection from the following 16 health departments: Iowa, Texas, Nebraska, Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York City, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Ohio.
- Most of the illness onset dates have ranged from mid-June through early July.
- At least 21 persons reportedly have been hospitalized in three states.
- Nebraska and Iowa have performed investigations within their states and have shared the results of those investigations with CDC. Based on their analysis, Cyclospora infections in their states are linked to a salad mix. CDC will continue to work with federal, state, and local partners in the investigation to determine whether this conclusion applies to the increase in cases of cyclosporiasis in other states.
- It is not yet clear whether the cases from all of the states are part of the same outbreak.