MMWR – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Click here for the full MMWR articles.

1. Comorbidity in Adults with Epilepsy — United States, 2010

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

If more physicians became aware of and understood how often adults with epilepsy reported other medical conditions, these physicians could then screen, diagnose, and treat these conditions to prevent complications in patients with epilepsy. Epilepsy is a group of disorders all involving recurring seizures but of different types, causes, and severity.    Epilepsy affects about 2.3 million U.S. adults. Adults with epilepsy more often report other conditions affecting the heart, lungs, skin, joints, and stomach, as well as pain complications  compared to people without epilepsy.  If more physicians became aware of and understood how often adults with epilepsy reported these medical conditions, physicians could then screen, diagnose, and treat these conditions to prevent complications in patients with epilepsy.  Physicians can also work with other healthcare providers, public health agencies, the Epilepsy Foundation, and other groups to ensure that adults with epilepsy can manage their epilepsy.

2. Influenza Vaccination Among Pregnant Women — Massachusetts, 2009–2010

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

Targeted efforts by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health might have contributed to higher influenza coverage in 2009-2010, however further steps are still needed to reach universal coverage. Data from the Massachusetts Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System survey showed that during the 2009-2010 influenza season 67.5 percent of women who gave birth received the seasonal vaccine and 57.6 percent received the pH1N1 vaccine, representing some of the highest rates of vaccination coverage among the 29 PRAMS states that collected this information. Targeted education and equity campaigns from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health might have contributed to comparatively higher vaccination coverage rates and fewer disparities in pH1N1 coverage compared with the seasonal vaccine coverage. Efforts to increase influenza vaccination rates among pregnant women could be improved by promoting the importance and availability of vaccine, encouraging providers to recommend and address safety concerns, and by engaging community partners.

3. Global Routine Vaccination Coverage — 2012

CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286

Although progress has been made, many children, especially those in less developed countries, remain at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases. Strategies to improve vaccination coverage might differ for those children who have never been vaccinated, compared with those who have started but not completed the immunization series. Global coverage with third dose of diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis vaccine (DTP), a key indicator of immunization program performance, substantially improved from less than 5 percent in 1974 to 83 percent in 2012.   However, in 2012, approximately 22.6 million children still did not receive some or all routinely recommended childhood vaccines, leaving them susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases and death. Over half of these children are in three countries (India, Nigeria, and Indonesia) and 56 percent never received the first dose of DTP vaccine. Strengthening routine immunization systems, especially in countries with the greatest number of undervaccinated children, should be a global priority to reduce morbidity and mortality from vaccine-preventable diseases.

4. Notes from the Field:

• Multistate Outbreaks of Cyclosporiasis — United States, June–August 2013
• Salmonella Typhimurium Infections Associated with a Community College Microbiology Laboratory — Maine, 201

###

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES