July 2013
Health Matters for Women
New from CDC
Breastfeeding and Early Care and Education
Breastfeeding Support: Close to Mothers is the theme for World Breastfeeding Week 2013. This theme focuses on the importance of all aspects of breastfeeding support.
National Girlfriends Day – Support One Another to Stay Safe and Healthy
Friends can help each other live safe and healthy…for life! Here are some resources and tips to help you and your best buddies look out for one another.
Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescent Girls, 2007–2012, and Postlicensure Vaccine Safety Monitoring, 2006–2013 - United States
In 2012, only 53.8% of girls had received ≥1 dose of HPV vaccine, and only 33.4% had received all 3 doses of the series. Missed vaccination opportunities remain high. Every health-care visit, whether for back-to-school evaluations or acute problems, should be used to assess teenagers' immunization status and provide recommended vaccines if indicated.
CDC Telebriefing on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Coverage and Vaccine Safety Monitoring
CDC hosted a telebriefing to discuss human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage among adolescent girls and postlicensure vaccine safety monitoring in the United States, 2007–2012.
Hepatitis B Vaccine Birthdose Practices in a Country Where Hepatitis B is Endemic - Laos, December 2011–February 2012
With an estimated infection prevalence of >8%, HBV is considered highly endemic in Laos and is most commonly transmitted from mother to child during birth and early childhood. Health facilities can help prevent mother-to-child HBV transmission in Laos by ensuring vaccine availability, vaccinating all infants born in the facility, and enhancing outreach services for home births.
CPONDER V2.0-CDC’s PRAMS Online Data for Epidemiologic Research
CPONDER V2.0 is a Web-based query system created to access data collected through Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) surveys. Users have the ability to design their own analysis by choosing from an indexed list of available categorical variables. New are the addition of flu indicators and the preconception health indicators where PRAMS is the primary data source.
How Did Cause of Death Contribute to Racial Differences in Life Expectancy in the United States in 2010?
Life expectancy for black females was 3.3 years lower than that of white females. This difference was due to higher death rates for black females for heart disease, cancer, diabetes, perinatal conditions, and stroke. Lower death rates for black females due to chronic lower respiratory diseases, unintentional injuries, suicide, Alzheimer's disease, and chronic liver disease accounted for 93% of the black female advantage.
Assessing the Quality of Medical and Health Data From the 2003 Birth Certificate Revision: Results From Two States
Exact agreement or sensitivity, was high for a number of items for both states (e.g., number of cesarean deliveries, cephalic presentation, cesarean delivery, and birthweight within 500 grams), but exact agreement or sensitivity was low or extremely low for both states for several items (e.g., total number of prenatal visits, previous preterm birth, meconium staining, and fetal intolerance of labor).
"I VetoViolence Because...": Teen Dating Violence Public Service Announcement Contest
Help prevent teen dating violence in your community by developing your own video public service announcement! Three category winners will receive $500. Deadline - August 15 at 11:00pm EDT.
Updated Recommendations for Use of VariZIG - United States, 2013
Patient groups recommended by CDC to receive VariZIG include newborn infants whose mothers have signs and symptoms of varicella around the time of delivery (i.e., 5 days before to 2 days after); hospitalized premature infants born at ≥28 weeks of gestation whose mothers do not have evidence of immunity to varicella; hospitalized premature infants born at <28 weeks of gestation or who weigh ≤1,000 g at birth, regardless of their mothers' evidence of immunity to varicella; pregnant women without evidence of immunity; and Immunocompromised patients without evidence of immunity.
State-Specific Healthy Life Expectancy at Age 65 Years - United States, 2007–2009
To determine state-level estimates, CDC used data from the National Vital Statistics Systems, U.S. Census Bureau, and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to calculate healthy life expectancy (HLEs) for persons aged 65 years, by sex and race, for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC). Those calculations indicate that, during 2007–2009, females had a greater HLE than males at age 65 years in every state and DC.
The Future of Cancer Screening: Public Health Approaches (video archive)
This session of Grand Rounds explored new ways that public health can increase the rate of evidence-based cancer screening, and decrease disparities in screening rates. Viewers learned about the effectiveness of screening, successful organized cancer screening programs in the United States and abroad, and opportunities with the Affordable Care Act. The session concluded with future directions for CDC and the nation’s public health system to improve cancer screening.
Medscape CME course on CFS - A Case-Based Approach to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
This engaging video roundtable features expert faculty and focuses on diagnosis and management of chronic fatigue syndrome by using three cases, 2 adult and 1 adolescent, to illustrate clinical management of CFS. The expert panel outlines the CFS symptom spectrum across these populations and discusses treatment plans that target symptoms and manage medications.
Saving Mothers, Giving Life Global Health Initiative
A five-part blog series about efforts to save the lives of mothers in Africa through an initiative called Saving Mothers, Giving Life, a U.S. Government initiative that addresses the needs of mothers in labor, delivery, and the first 24 hours postpartum – the time period in which an estimated 60 percent of maternal deaths and 50 percent of neonatal deaths occur.
Two New Promising Treatment Regimens for Gonorrhea
Two new antibiotic regimens using existing drugs – injectable gentamicin in combination with oral azithromycin and oral gemifloxacin in combination with oral azithromycin – successfully treated gonorrhea infections in a clinical trial conducted by CDC and NIH. The study was conducted to identify new treatment options in the face of growing antibiotic resistance, and findings will be considered for inclusion in future treatment guidelines.
New Materials from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS)
New materials include a brochure, 2010 Summary Findings, Findings by Sexual Orientation, and Customizable Template fact sheets, and are accessible on CDCV’s Violence Prevention webpage.
Vital Signs: Overdoses of Prescription Opioid Pain Relievers and Other Drugs Among Women - United States, 1999–2010
In 2010, a total of 15,323 deaths among women were attributed to drug overdose, a rate of 9.8 per 100,000 population. Deaths from opioid pain relievers (OPRs) increased fivefold between 1999 and 2010 for women. Health-care providers should follow guidelines for responsible prescribing, including screening and monitoring for substance abuse and mental health problems, when prescribing OPR.
Factsheet
STD Treatment App
CDC announces the launch of its STD Treatment (Tx) Guidelines mobile app, which helps health care providers easily access diagnostic information and the current STD Treatment Guidelines. Providers who use this app will have quick access to information about diagnosing and treating 21 STDs as well as the booklet “A Guide to Taking a Sexual History.”
Basic Information on PrEP
Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a prevention option for people who are at high risk of getting HIV. It’s meant to be used consistently, as a pill taken every day, and to be used with other prevention options such as condoms. Find out if PrEP is right for you.
Snapshots
