Disease Control

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton will soon propose a $25 million initiative to combat the spread of infectious diseases, including virulent new strains of microbes that resist treatment by antibiotics and other drugs, administration officials said yesterday.Public health officials have become alarmed about the emergence of such "superbugs" and more generally about the increasing incidence of infectious diseases once thought to be under control.The extra money will be included in the budget request that Clinton sends to Congress early next year, administration officials said.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland will receive more than $1 million this year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the study of Pfiesteria, the microscopic organism that was blamed last summer for the deaths of tens of thousands of fish and for hundreds of ailments among people who work along the state's waterways.The money is part of an overall $7 million CDC package earmarked for Pfiesteria in a House appropriations bill in September by Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, a Democrat from Southern Maryland.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun concerning the number of abortions performed in the United States incorrectly stated that 9 percent of the women who had abortions were white. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the correct figure is 59 percent.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 12/05/98

The most intriguing magazine you've never heard of is printed in black and white, lacks photographs, measures a scant 6 1/2 -by-8 inches and contains about as many numbers as words.Even its title -- Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report -- promises less than it delivers.Almost proudly lacking in flair, the magazine published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is a ticket to the mystery and drama of epidemiology -- the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, spread and taming of illness.

Peter H. Duesberg is an accomplished Berkeley virologist who has challenged the concept that HIV causes AIDS. He is a respected scientist, but now seems willing to sacrifice his integrity among peers to become the darling of an anti-cult determined to dispute a substantive scientific fact.He has been doing this since 1987 and has achieved substantial media hype as well as a small gathering of followers including an occasional Nobel laureate. Among scientists and physicians in the field of HIV, his views were at one time considered provocative, but now are generally viewed as antiquated at best, and dangerously irresponsible at worst.

WASHINGTON -- The government's top epidemic-control expert warned yesterday that the nation must remain on guard )) against new threats to the safety of the blood supply."

Kinshasa, Zaire. -- It's another hot Saturday afternoon in Kinshasa as Stephanie, Mireille and Rosy shuffle their tired teen-age bodies into the Domino bar on the Boulevard 30 Juin for a beer.Stephanie is wearing the same backless red flowered dress she danced in at the Spikizy (pronounced speak-easy) the night before, and Mireille has been whistling the tune to the song, "Let's talk about sex, baby.""I'm better off than before," says Stephanie, 18. "There was no work, the family didn't have anything, and I was obliged to do it," she says of the decision she made the day her mother died to leave school and become a prostitute.

Washington. -- "Certain infections that are essentially untreatable have begun to occur as epidemics both in the developing world and in institutional settings in the United States.''That disturbing report is from a recent article in the distinguished journal Science by a researcher from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Mitchell L. Cohen.Reflecting a widely held view in the health community, he calls for a decisive response in prevention, treatment and development of new drugs.Another warning of wholesale doom unless government acts at once?

Q.: What happens when you cut the supports from a program to quell a deadly epidemic? A.: You get the problem back, in spades. That is what happened with tuberculosis, a plague that once sent health agencies into overdrive all over the world. It could have been prevented.Physicians in New York were some of the first to see it coming. At Harlem Hospital, in one of the nation's poorest communities, health workers saw TB rates jump 50 percent from 1979 to 1980. They called for new funding, saying the situation could easily get out of control.

Washington. -- Should all health-care workers be tested for the AIDS virus? Should tests be limited to those who do invasive work, like surgeons? Should tests be voluntary, or required by the state?Such questions did not arise in earlier epidemics of serious communicable disease; even the worst of them was not as deadly as AIDS. Fear of it has embroiled doctors, hospitals, patients and now the government in a debate that weighs physicians' right to privacy against patients' asserted right to life.

More than 2,200 cases of Lyme disease were reported in Maryland last year, almost double the number in 2006 and a record for the state. Although the case reports won't be verified and totaled before April, "the raw numbers are up substantially in 2007. ... The doubling is probably going to be confirmed," said John P. Krick, director of the Office of Epidemiology and Disease Control Programs at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Reports of the tick-borne disease have been climbing for years in Maryland and across the United States.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush was treated for Lyme disease a year ago after developing a circular rash characteristic of the ailment, the White House announced yesterday. Spread through the bite of infected ticks, the disease, if unchecked, can lead to arthritis, numbness, paralysis, fatigue and memory problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But when the problem is detected early, patients usually make a full recovery after a course of antibiotics, health professionals say. "What we know about this disease is that early intervention is so much more effective than later intervention," said John P. Krick, head of epidemiology and disease control programs for the Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene.

Did you know?--More than 200 viruses are known to cause symptoms of the common cold. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

After a six-year search that involved four doctors and dozens of medical tests, Abby Bernstein learned what had been ailing her. It turned out the Rockville woman had autoimmune hepatitis, finally revealed by a test that showed scarring of her liver. All that time, she suffered discomfort ranging from flu-like symptoms to swollen hands. "I didn't get the attention and focus ... that I really needed," said Bernstein, 47. Certain ailments, including many autoimmune diseases, remain hard to diagnose because of the lack of reliable tests for them and because of symptoms that can vary widely.

Did you know?-- Extreme heat caused 3,442 deaths -- 66 percent men -- between 1999 and 2003. -- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Did you know?-- Heat stroke occurs when the body's temperature rises rapidly and the body is unable to cool down. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Did you know?--In 2004, Americans made about 500 million visits to dentists, and spent an estimated $78 billion. -- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Elizabeth Conrey and Yutan Getzler were married at The Country Place Resort in White Haven, PA by Rabbi Sheila Weinberg. The bride is the daughter of John and Jo-anna Conrey of Sykesville. She earned a Ph D from Cornell University and is an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The bridegroom is the son of Yoram Getzler of Jerusalem, Israel and Sandra Laemmle of Lyons, CO. He earned his Ph D from Cornell University and is an assistant professor of chemistry at Kenyon College.

Did you know?-- Twenty-two million school days are lost annually in the U.S. because of the common cold, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The painful infection known as swimmer's ear can occur when contaminated water gets into the ear. Drying the ears after swimming and avoiding swimming in polluted areas can help prevent it. -- Centers for Disease Control