MMWR News Synopsis

Articles

Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2020

CDC Media Relations
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Current tobacco product use declined among U.S. middle and high school students from 2019 to 2020 — driven by decreases in e-cigarette, cigar, and smokeless tobacco use. Yet about 1 in 6 (nearly 4.5 million) students were current users of some type of tobacco product in 2020. CDC, in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), analyzed data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey. During 2019–2020, decreases occurred in current use of any tobacco product, any combustible tobacco product, multiple tobacco products, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco among both high and middle school students. These declines resulted in an estimated 1.73 million fewer current youth tobacco product users in 2020 (4.47 million) compared to 2019 (6.20 million). During 2019–2020, no change occurred in the use of cigarettes, heated tobacco products, hookah, or pipe tobacco. The comprehensive and sustained implementation of evidence-based tobacco control strategies, combined with regulation by FDA, is warranted for continuing progress toward reducing and preventing tobacco product use among U.S. youths.

Surveillance for Harmful Algal Bloom Events and Associated Human and Animal Illnesses — One Health Harmful Algal Bloom System, United States, 2016–2018

CDC Media Relations
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Current tobacco product use declined among U.S. middle and high school students from 2019 to 2020 — driven by decreases in e-cigarette, cigar, and smokeless tobacco use. Yet about 1 in 6 (nearly 4.5 million) students were current users of some type of tobacco product in 2020. CDC, in collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), analyzed data from the 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey. During 2019–2020, decreases occurred in current use of any tobacco product, any combustible tobacco product, multiple tobacco products, e-cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco among both high and middle school students. These declines resulted in an estimated 1.73 million fewer current youth tobacco product users in 2020 (4.47 million) compared to 2019 (6.20 million). During 2019–2020, no change occurred in the use of cigarettes, heated tobacco products, hookah, or pipe tobacco. The comprehensive and sustained implementation of evidence-based tobacco control strategies, combined with regulation by FDA, is warranted for continuing progress toward reducing and preventing tobacco product use among U.S. youths.

Health Center Testing for SARS-CoV-2 During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, June 5–October 2, 2020

CDC Media Relations
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded health centers have provided racial and ethnic minority populations access to testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Improving health centers’ ability to reach groups at increased risk for COVID-19 might reduce transmission by identifying cases, supporting contact tracing activities, and assisting with isolation of individuals who test positive for COVID-19. Long-standing social inequities and health disparities have resulted in increased risk for infection, severe COVID-19 illness, and death among racial and ethnic minority populations. Health centers across the United States have provided and continue to provide testing and follow-up care to medically underserved populations. During the COVID-19 public health emergency, health centers have played an important role in providing access to testing in communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19. To assess health centers’ capacity to reach racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk for COVID-19 and provide access to testing, CDC and HRSA analyzed survey data for the weeks of June 5-October 2, 2020. Among people with known race/ethnicity who received testing, 36% were Hispanic, 38% were white, and 20% were Black; among those with positive test results, 56% were Hispanic, 24% were white, and 15% were Black. Coordination of COVID-19 response-related activities between state and local public health departments and HRSA-funded health centers can increase access to testing and follow-up care for populations at increased risk for COVID-19.

Telehealth Practice Among Health Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, July 11–17, 2020

CDC Media Relations
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Findings from a CDC and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) analysis of telehealth use among HRSA-funded health centers show that telehealth is a promising approach to promoting and expanding access to care during COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a considerable increase and expansion of telehealth services in the United States, especially in underserved areas. Since the pandemic began, telehealth (proving medical care by phone or other electronic means) has been used to provide care to  patients and reduce the impact of patient surge on facilities, address decreased access to health, conserve personal protective equipment (PPE), and reduce the spread of COVID-19. The CDC and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) analyzed data from the weekly Health Center COVID-19 Survey completed by more than 1,000 HRSA-funded health centers for the week of July 11-17, 2020, to describe telehealth service use in the United States. Among these respondents, more than 95% reported providing telehealth services. Health centers in urban areas were more likely to provide more than a third of visits virtually than were those in rural areas. Health centers can play a major role in expanding telehealth and access to care in underserved populations. There are barriers to expanding telehealth in rural areas, particularly in the South, related to the logistics of implementing it, lack of partners or providers, and limited broadband access for both providers and patients. Communities can improve access to care by removing barriers and increasing broadband access and support.

Factors That Might Affect SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Among Foreign-Born and U.S.-Born Poultry Facility Workers — Maryland, May 2020

CDC Media Relations
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Compared with poultry workers born in the United States, poultry workers born outside the United States were more likely to work on the production floor and live with other poultry workers. Poultry workers born outside the United States also were less likely to participate in social gatherings and visit businesses the week before participating in a survey conducted by the Maryland Department of Health and CDC. Though many prevention measures will benefit all workers, employers and health departments might consider placing special emphasis on the risk factors facing groups at increased risk, including workers born outside the U.S. Meat and poultry processing facility workers are at increased risk for COVID-19 given their physical proximity to other workers and shared equipment in these settings. The disproportionate number of meat and poultry processing workers born outside the United States reflects structural social and economic inequities that likely contribute to increased rates of COVID-19 in this population. In May 2020, the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and CDC investigated factors that might affect spread of COVID-19 among workers at two poultry processing facilities. Among 2,345 total workers in facilities A and B, 359 were interviewed, including 154 from facility A and 205 from facility B. Overall, 135 interviewed workers were born outside the United States. Compared with U.S.-born workers, workers born outside the United States were more likely to work in fixed locations on the production floor, and more likely to carpool to work and live with other poultry workers. They were less likely to visit family and friends, and they visited fewer businesses in the week before the survey than did their U.S.-born coworkers. Engineering and administrative controls, such as modified alignment of workstations along processing lines, adequate ventilation, installation of physical barriers, handwashing stations, and staggered arrival and break times might reduce risk for COVID-19 for all workers on the production floor, many of whom were born outside the United States. Employers and health departments can also partner with local organizations to deliver culturally and linguistically tailored messages on how to reduce the risk for infection, including messaging related to carpooling and living in close quarters.

Update to CDC’s Treatment Guidelines for Gonococcal Infection, 2020

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CDC has updated its gonorrhea treatment guidelines to guard against drug resistance and to ensure that patients receive the most effective treatment. Gonorrhea should now be treated with a single, higher dosage injection of ceftriaxone. CDC has updated its gonorrhea treatment guidelines. A two-drug approach is no longer recommended. CDC previously recommended a two-drug regimen of the injectable ceftriaxone and oral azithromycin for uncomplicated gonorrhea. However, CDC recently reevaluated this recommendation due to increasing concern for antimicrobial stewardship, the continued low rates of ceftriaxone resistance in gonorrhea isolates, and the increased incidence of azithromycin resistance in the United States. Gonorrhea is still treatable in the United States, but drug-resistant gonorrhea remains an urgent public health threat. Half of all gonorrhea infections reported each year demonstrate resistance or developing resistance to at least one antibiotic, and ceftriaxone is in the last recommended effective class of antibiotics used to treat this common infection.

Estimated Resource Costs for Implementation of CDC’s Recommended COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies in Pre-Kindergarten Through Grade 12 Public Schools — United States, 2020–21 School Year (Early Release December 11, 2020)

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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ Interim Recommendation for Use of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, December 2020 (Early Release December 13, 2020)

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Factors Associated with Positive SARS-CoV-2 Test Results in Outpatient Health Facilities and Emergency Departments Among Children and Adolescents Aged <18 Years — Mississippi, September–November 2020 (Early Release December 15, 2020)

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• Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance — United States, 2017

Although the majority of infants conceived through assisted reproductive technology (ART) in the United States were born in single births, about a quarter of infants conceived from ART were born in multiple births (such as twins or triplets). Due to higher rates of preterm birth among multiple births, a disproportionate rate of poor birth outcomes occur among ART births. Findings from CDC’s National Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance System provide information on ART procedures performed by all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico in 2017. ART includes fertility treatments in which eggs or embryos are handled in the laboratory (i.e., in vitro fertilization). The report compares outcomes for infants conceived using ART with outcomes for all infants born in the United States. In 2017, about 2% of infants born in the United States were conceived with ART. Approximately 26% percent of infants conceived through ART were born in multiple births compared with 3% of all infants. The rate of low birth weight in ART-conceived infants is almost two times higher compared to the general birth population, and the rate of preterm infants is almost three times higher.

• Rate of Emergency Department (ED) Visits, by Homeless Status and Geographic Region — National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, United States, 2015–2018

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CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.