MMWR – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Click here for the full MMWR articles.

1. Adenovirus-Associated Epidemic Keratoconjunctivitis Outbreaks — Four States, 2008–2010

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

Outbreaks of human adenovirus (HAdV)-associated epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) can result in significant illness in healthcare and community settings. Healthcare providers should be aware of EKC, practice infection control measures, and promptly respond to and report clusters of cases. Six outbreaks of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), a highly contagious, severe form of conjunctivitis, were reported to the CDC from 2008 to 2010. The outbreaks were associated with human adenovirus (HAdV). Most of the outbreaks occurred in outpatient eye clinics. Infected healthcare providers were likely sources of transmission in four of them, along with breaches in infection control practices in all six. HAdVs are resistant to many disinfectants and can remain infectious for long periods on surfaces and medical instruments. This can make outbreaks difficult to control, leading to significant illness occurring in both healthcare and community settings. Healthcare providers should be aware of EKC, practice infection control measures, and promptly respond to and report clusters of cases.

2. Human Rabies — South Carolina, 2011

Jim Beasley
Public Information Director
beaslejc@dhec.sc.gov
803-898-7769

Human rabies is a rare disease in the United States, but can occur even in communities where there has not been a single human case in decades. In recent years, most U.S. human rabies infections have been acquired from bats. A rabies risk assessment is recommended for any person reporting potential exposure to a bat due to the possibility of an unrecognized bite. This report documents the first case of human rabies in South Carolina in more than 50 years.  Exposure to a rabid bat in the home was the likely source of infection in this case.  Over 90 percent of domestically-acquired human rabies cases reported in the United States in recent years have been linked to bats.  Cases where a definitive history of bat exposure is lacking that constitute a rising proportion of these bat-associated cases.  Therefore, a complete rabies exposure risk assessment is recommended for any person reporting potential exposure to a bat and possibly bitten unknowingly.  Education concerning bats and rabies should be provided to the public as well as to agencies that receive inquiries regarding legal, safe and humane methods of excluding bats from human dwellings.

3. Locations and Reasons for Testing Among Hepatitis C Patients — Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, United States, 2006–2010

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

CDC recommendations for hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing, which call for one-time testing of all adults born from 1945 through 1965 as well as testing for those with risk factors, can facilitate timely identification of HCV infections as well as reduce HCV-related morbidity and mortality.  To better understand where persons seek testing for HCV and reasons for testing, data were analyzed from the Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study, an ongoing study of patients with confirmed infection receiving care at four U.S. healthcare systems.  Of the 4,689 patients who responded to the survey, most (60.4 percent) reported initial HCV testing occurred in physicians’ offices. Nearly half of patients (45.2 percent) reported abnormal liver function tests or liver-related signs or symptoms (e.g., jaundice) as a reason for testing, suggesting many infections were identified only after infection had progressed and became symptomatic. While 22.3 percent of survey participants reported risk factors as their reason(s) for testing, 78.1 percent were born during 1945-1965, and 78.7 percent of those patients reported no such risk.  The authors note that implementation of CDC’s HCV testing recommendations, especially in physicians’ offices and among the baby boomer population, could help to identify those who are infected earlier in the course of infection in order to prevent liver cancer and other serious health consequences.

4. Notes from the Field

Repeat Syphilis Infection and HIV Coinfection Among Men Who Have Sex With Men — Baltimore, Maryland, 2010-2011

###

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES