CDC in the News

December 2002
(12/10/02) CDC Depoloys Disease SurveIlance System -- The CDC has begun deployment of its National Electronic Disease Surveillance System, an agency official announced yesterday. The initial version of the system will link public health departments in 20 states with CDC headquarters in Atlanta. Click here for more information (IHealthBeat).

August 2002
CDC: EDs See Millions of Sports-Related Injuries; Prevention Needed-- U.S. emergency departments treat an estimated 4.3 million sports- and recreation-related injuries each year, accounting for more ED visits annually than injuries involving motor vehicle occupants, says a report today in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report says the percentage of unintentional injury-related ED visits that were sports- and recreation-related were highest for 10-14 year olds, lowest for persons over 45, and higher for males than for females. Common activities related to injuries included playgrounds, bicycles, football, basketball, and exercise such as jogging and weight lifting. Overall, 2.3% of persons with sports- and recreation-related injuries were hospitalized. The report states that effective prevention efforts are needed to reduce injury risk, including activity-specific interventions such as wearing helmets while bicycling and using breakaway bases in baseball and softball. Click here for more information.

June 2002
(06/18/02) CDC Forum to Examine Health Law, Bioterror -- In the event of an act of bioterrorism, health officials and law enforcement would need the power to take immediate action, but only nine states have laws granting emergency health powers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sponsoring a two-day meeting in Atlanta to discuss necessary steps in preparing the nation?s legal and healthcare systems for such an event. Click here for full-text of press release.

(06/07/02) Texas will receive $14.1 million from the federal government to improve its preparedmess for bioterrorism attacks the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. The money came after the federal government approved the majority of Texas' bioterrorism prevention plan. The state has already received $18.6 million from Washington to counter bioterrorism.

May 2002
CDC: More than 264,000 Treated in ED's for Self-Inflicted Injuries -- An estimated 264,108 people were treated in hospital emergency departments for self-inflicted injuries during 2000, according to findings published today in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The CDC, in collaboration with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, found that 65% of injuries resulted from poisonings, 25% were attributed to injuries with a sharp instrument, and 1% involved a firearm. The rate of self-inflicted injuries for females was higher than for males. Roughly 129,830 people were treated and released from EDs, 85,287 required hospitalization, and 41,784 were transferred to another institution for care. Researchers said the data could help public health professionals better understand the magnitude and characteristics of self-inflicted injuries, and serve as a basis for monitoring trends, facilitating research on the costs and consequences of injuries, and evaluating suicide prevention efforts. Click here for full-text of press release.

April 2002
(4/22/02) Visits to the Emergency Department Increase Nationwide -- The latest national data on the use of hospital emergency departments show that there were 108 million visits in 2000, up 14 percent from 95 million visits in 1997. Because the number of hospitals providing emergency care decreased from 4,005 to 3,934 between 1997 and 2000, the number of annual visits per emergency department has increased about 16 percent since 1997 from 24,000 to 27,000 and waiting time for non-urgent visits has increased 33 percent, according to a new report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Click here for related CDC press release.

March 2002
(3/29/02) Secretary Thompson Names CDC Management Team -- HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced an interim management team to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) until a new agency director is named. The management team will be made up of Dr. David Fleming, who will serve as acting director; Dr. James Hughes and Dr. Julie Gerberding, who will lead the agency's bioterrorism efforts; and Dr. Michael Osterholm, who will serve as Secretary Thompson's representative at CDC during the transition. Click here for full-text of press release.

January 2002
(1/25/02) Largest-Ever Deployment of CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers -- Elite corps of 'disease detectives' deployed in record numbers since Sept. 11. One hundred thirty six CDC EIS officers, or 93 percent of the total number of disease detectives at CDC, were deployed at least once to assist state and local public health agencies since September 11, 2001. The deployment of 34 officers to New York City on September 14 was the largest single deployment of EIS officers to one location in its 51-year history. Many others were assigned to monitor for signs of bioterrorism-related illnesses in New York, Florida, New Jersey, Washington, D.C. and Connecticut. Click here for full-text of press release.

(1/18/02) --The CDC unveiled today a redesigned Web site offering both new and updated bioterrorism resources for health professionals and the public. The site at www.bt.cdc.gov addresses the need for up-to-date and accurate information on health threats arising from exposure to biological, chemical, or radiological agents. The redesigned site, which focuses on Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response, is the official federal site for medical, laboratory, and public health professionals to reference when providing information to the public and for updates on protocols related to health threats such as anthrax. Click here for full-text of press release.

(1/11/01) The rapid assessment of injuries among WTC attack survivors reinforces the need to strengthen capacity for postdisaster surveillance before disasters occur. Click here for a related Fact Sheet. Click here for a report in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly.

November 2001
(11/26/01) CDC Update: CDC Releases Draft Smallpox Response Plan. CDC released "Interim Smallpox Response Plan and Guidelines," which outlines CDC's strategies for responding to a smallpox emergency. The plan, which is a working draft, has been sent to all state bioterrorism coordinators, state health officers, state epidemiologists, and state immunization program managers for review and comment. The plan identifies many of the federal, state, and local public health activities that would need to be undertaken in a smallpox emergency, including response plan implementation, notification procedures for suspected cases, CDC and state and local responsibilities and activities, and CDC vaccine and personnel mobilization. Click here for full-text of press release. Click here for access to plan summary.

(11/15/01) CDC Update: MMWR anthrax update, Transcript and audio clip, Telebriefing on November 16, and Case count. Click here for full-text of press release.

(11/4/01) CDC Update: Smallpox Outbreak Readiness, Current Case Count, and Telebriefings. Click here for full-text of press release.

Also, click here for CDC's "Health Related Hoaxes and Rumors" page. Click here for Public Health Emergency Response: The CDC Role. Click here for upcoming and past CDC broadcasts on smallpox, anthrax, and CDC response to bioterrorism. Click here for CDC Frequently Asked Questions About Anthrax in the Emergency Department Setting (on ACEP website).

October 2001
(10/27/01) CDC Update: Anthrax vaccine use, current case count, transcript online, Florida investigation, and Halloween safety. Click here for full-text of press release.

(10/23/01) CDC Update: CDC summary of confirmed cases of anthrax and background information. Click here for full-text of press release.

(10/18/01) Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, Director of CDC, answers important public health questions about anthrax. Click here for page with video and text links.

September 2001
(9/10/01) HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today released a new report that shows Americans who live in the suburbs fare significantly better in many key health measures than those who live in the most rural and most urban areas. The 25th annual statistical report on the nation’s health is the first to look at health status relative to communities’ level of urbanization. Click here for full-text of press release.

August 2001
(8/24/01) In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that medical errors, including those that occur in laboratories, may result in as many as 98,000 patient deaths annually in the U.S. at a cost of $17-29 billion. To address this issue, the CDC, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Food and Drug Administration are participating in the Patient Safety Task Force, a federal initiative to monitor and promote patient safety in the U.S. An important part of this initiative is to identify and eliminate laboratory errors. Click here for full-text of press release.

July 2001
(7/17/01) A survey on doctor visits reveals that while Americans overall visited the doctor at about the same rate from 1985 through 1999, Americans 65 years of age and over increased their rate of doctor visits by over 20 percent, to an average of about 6 times per year by 1999. "The aging of our population has had a major impact on ambulatory medical care in this country," said Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, CDC Director. "As the oldest patients make up a larger proportion of the patients seen in a doctor's office, the doctor must be prepared to meet their unique needs, including monitoring multiple prescriptions and providing the best advice to prevent disease and disability and to promote a healthy life," he said. Offsetting the rise in visits by seniors, the rate declined for teenagers and young adults (ages 15-24). Click here for full-text of press release.

May 2001
(5/18/01) The Task Force on Community Preventive Services, an independent panel of 15 community health experts, released its findings about effective ways of preventing motor vehicle injuries in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Recommendations and Reports (Vol. 50, RR-7, May 18, 2001). Motor vehicle-related injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans 1-34 years of age. Approximately 41,000 persons in the United States die in motor-vehicle crashes each year. Crash injuries result in approximately 500,000 hospitalizations and 4 million emergency room visits annually. Click here for full-text of press release.

April 2001
(4/24/01) The latest data on national trends in hospitalization show that the number of hospital discharges stabilized during the 1990s — after peaking in the early 1980s — but that the average length of a hospital stay continued to decline over the past decade. According to a report released today by the CDC, the average length of stay for hospital inpatients was 5.0 days in 1999, down from 7.3 days in 1980, as measured by the National Hospital Discharge Survey, conducted by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics. Click here for full-text of press release.

March 2001
(3/12/01) Hospitalizations that might have been avoided if patients had received timely and effective ambulatory care increased by two thirds from 1980-98 according to results from the CDC's National Health Care Survey, published in the March-April 2001 issue of Health Affairs. Click here for full-text of press release.

February 2001
(2/21/01) CDC recently released a study showing that decreased citywide use of automobiles in Atlanta during the 1996 Summer Olympics led to improved air quality and a large decrease in childhood emergency room visits and hospitalizations for asthma. Click here for full-text of press release.

About CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recognized as the lead federal agency for protecting the health and safety of people - at home and abroad, providing credible information to enhance health decisions, and promoting health through strong partnerships. CDC serves as the national focus for developing and applying disease prevention and control, environmental health, and health promotion and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States. CDC, located in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, is an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. For more information see: www.cdc.gov. Also, click here for CDC site in Spanish.