Department of Health and Human Services

By Castro, Kenneth G.

Book Id: WPLBN0000080391
Format Type: PDF eBook
File Size: 0.2 MB
Reproduction Date: 2005

Title:	Department of Health and Human Services
Author:	Castro, Kenneth G.
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Health., Medical research, Medical reports
Collections:	Medical Library Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Citation APA MLA Chicago Castro, K. G. (n.d.). Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://gutenberg.cc/

Excerpt
The Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET) met in Atlanta on February 6 and 7, 2002. Following are a few highlights: After the NCHSTP Director’s report, I provided updates on DTBE activities that would not be covered in the ACET agenda, such as the first meeting of the TB Epidemiologic Studies Consortium in December 2001, the TIMS summit with NTCA in November 2001, and progress in the areas of education and training, outbreak investigations, and international technical assistance. Drs. Masae Kawamura, TB Controller for San Francisco, and Mark Lobato of the Field Services Branch then discussed the report being prepared on detention of foreign-born TB patients by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS); ACET approved the report’s recommendations to improve treatment outcomes among INS detainees. The recommendations are as follows: “To reduce the risk of exporting or reimporting persons with active TB identified while in INS custody, ACET recommends to the Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice that they form an interagency policy group involving other key organizations and entities to work toward a consensus on the following measures: 1) Explore the feasibility of treating INS detainees in the United States until TB is cured in the least restrictive setting. Consideration should be given to changing or amending current policies or federal laws for detainees...2) Work with professional correctional associations to improve adherence to local public health laws and CDC guidelines...3) Enact policies requiring report of cases and suspects in INS custody prior to the transfer or deportation of an INS detainee with TB...4) Expand the medical hold authority of the Division of Immigration Health Services...” The report will be revised for submission to the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Dr. Elsa Villarino of the Research and Evaluation Branch reported that DTBE plans to summarize the initial recommendations for using the Quantiferon test, which was approved last November by the Food and Drug Administration as an aid in the diagnosis of latent TB infection. Dr. Renee Ridzon of the Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch (SEB) discussed the meeting that was held on January 23 and 24 in Atlanta to obtain comments from outside consultants on the proposed revisions to CDC’s “Guidelines for preventing the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in health-care facilities, 1994 (MMWR 1994;43[No. RR-13]). The meeting was productive; we currently have no firm publication date for the revised guidelines. Related to this, OSHA has reopened the docket for public comments on the section of their Standard which deals with TB infection control. In a session on TB elimination in the Southeastern states and on racial and ethnic disparities, Dr. George Counts of the CDC’s Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases reported on that division’s goal of eliminating racial health disparities as part of its Syphilis Elimination Plan. Mr. Lex Gibson discussed the Southeast TB Strategic Plan 2...

Table of Contents
In This Issue Highlights from State and Local Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Housing Homeless TB Patients in California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Application of Aggregate Reports to Program Management in Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 DTBE Staff Called to Respond to the Terrorist Attacks and Bioterrorism Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Updates from the Communications and Education Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 TB Education and Training Network: “Bringing Together TB Education and Training Professionals” 12 TB Information Guide CD-ROM, Version 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Updates on the Program Managers Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Report from the Computer and Statistics Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Summary of the NTCA and CDC TIMS Summit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 International Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 The Tuberculosis Coalition for Technical Assistance (TBCTA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 New U.S. Department of State Forms for Overseas Health Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Updates from the Research and Evaluation Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Evaluating Contact Investigation Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Updates from the Surveillance and Epidemiology Branch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The TB Epidemiologic Studies Consortium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 The Importance of DNA Fingerprinting in TB Control Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 News Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Training and Educational Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 New CDC Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Personnel Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Attachment: TB Education and Training Network (TB ETN) Membership Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36