Mobile Version - November - December 2019

From the Director Dr. Jonathan Mermin

Official tuberculosis (TB) case counts in the United States are now available in the CDC's 2018 TB surveillance report. The 2018 case count represents the lowest number of TB cases on record at 9,025 TB cases, and a rate of 2.8 cases per 100,000 is one of the lowest in the world. Although TB continues to decrease each year, the rate of decrease is slow. Eliminating TB in the United States will require increased efforts to test and treat latent TB infection as well as continued control efforts for active disease. The cycle of TB transmission can be ended by early diagnosis, treatment of patients with TB disease, and diagnosing and treating patients with latent TB infection.

2018 STD Surveillance Report

The 2018 STD Surveillance Report shows the number of primary and secondary syphilis cases increased 14 percent to more than 35,000 cases. Reported cases of gonorrhea increased 5 percent to more than 580,000 cases. Both of these case numbers are the highest reported since 1991. Reported cases of chlamydia increased 3 percent to more than 1.7 million cases, the most ever reported to CDC. Data on congenital syphilis shows a 40 percent increase in number of cases in one year, from 918 in 2017 to 1306 in 2018. Congenital syphilis-related deaths increased 22 percent, from 77 deaths in 2017 to 94 in 2018. In our work to reduce STDs, HHS, its agencies, and our other partners are developing a Sexually Transmitted Infections Federal Action Plan (STI Plan) that will be released in 2020.

Social Determinants of Health Among Adults with Diagnosed HIV Infection, 2017

CDC recently published the Social Determinants of Health Among Adults with Diagnosed HIV infection, 2017 surveillance report showing that in the United States and Puerto Rico, for adults diagnosed with HIV infection, overall, the highest HIV diagnosis rates were observed among those who lived in census tracts where most residents lived in poverty, had less than a high school diploma, and did not have health insurance coverage. It also showed associations between health insurance coverage, poverty, and viral suppression.

Meet the new Editor-in-Chief of Public Health Reports (PHR)

Please join me in congratulating Hazel D. Dean, ScD, DrPH (Hon), FACE, on her new position as the Editor-in-Chief of Public Health Reports (PHR), the official journal of the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service, published since 1878. Dr. Dean began her career with CDC 27 years ago. I appreciate the decades of work and her positive contributions to CDC. I look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Dean in her new role.