CONNECTIONS
A Bimonthly e-Newsletter from NCHHSTP
Mobile Version

Director's Update

September - October 2014

About a year ago I began my tenure as the director of NCHHSTP. During this time I have seen great progress in our work to prevent and control HIV, hepatitis, STDs, and TB. Each milestone brings us closer to reaching our goals to reduce incidence, morbidity, mortality, and health inequities. Examples include the new clinical practice guidelines for PrEP that show when taken daily as directed, PrEP can reduce the risk of HIV infection by more than 90 percent; the new Laboratory Testing for the Diagnosis of HIV Infection recommendations that identify HIV infection sooner; and new treatments for MDR TB and gonorrhea that provide better protection against the emerging threat of drug resistance. In addition, new YRBS data allow us to identify and monitor critical health events, youth behaviors and related school policies and programs, and we continue to bring hepatitis out of the shadows and educate many about the importance of screening for hepatitis C. These and many other accomplishments show our commitment to protecting the public's health. I look forward to continuing our work together.

State Health Profiles Available

The latest editions of the NCHHSTP State Health Profiles are now available. The profiles include state epidemiologic data for each of our focus diseases, including HIV diagnoses by race/ethnicity and risk behavior; chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis rates; and, where available, data on new cases of hepatitis A, B, and C, as well as youth risk behaviors. The profiles also include an overview of program initiatives supported by NCHHSTP, and the amount of funding allocated to each state. These publications were developed to address the needs of policy makers and program planners, and they describe in detail how health departments, community-based organizations, education agencies, training centers, and other entities we fund use our support to further the mission of NCHHSTP in states across the country.

Cutting-edge Laboratory Science Improves Public Health

Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) is rapidly changing the practice of laboratory science. AMD technologies deliver a greater level of detailed information on infectious disease pathogens while reducing reliance on time-consuming and often inefficient traditional methods. What does that mean to public health? AMD tools can give scientists more precise and accurate ways of detecting and responding to outbreaks; understanding and controlling antibiotic resistance; diagnosing known and emerging infections; and developing and targeting prevention measures. NCHHSTP has used AMD to identify a multistate outbreak of hepatitis A, respond to the antimicrobial-resistant gonorrhea threat, discover hepatitis C outbreaks, accurately detect TB outbreaks, and integrate data into network investigations of NCHHSTP focus diseases. Additionally, AMD is improving public health systems, like TB surveillance. To learn about CDC's 5-year AMD initiative and how the agency is using AMD to improve health and save lives, go to www.cdc.gov/amd.