A syphilis birth registry match was completed for the first time in Louisiana to identify infants perinatally exposed to syphilis that were missed by routine surveillance activities. The match used a locally-developed, deterministic match and identified 18 potential cases of congenital syphilis. These cases could significantly increase Louisiana congenital syphilis case rate which was the highest in the nation in 2012. The match also identified the need of guidelines for the initiation of congenital syphilis investigations. Other states may wish to conduct a similar birth registry match to ensure complete surveillance for cases of congenital syphilis.
This study quantified the opportunities for reducing perinatal HIV transmission if pregnancy status was available on laboratory reports. For mothers whose HIV status was known before pregnancy and who had an HIV test during pregnancy, the highest transmission rate occurred in those without a viral load test (7.0%). This analysis suggests pregnancy status on laboratory reports would be useful for targeting women who have an HIV test during pregnancy but no viral load test. Health Departments should continue to work on the identification of pregnancy status on HIV laboratory reports and should require this information in their laboratory reporting guidelines.
PurposeSmallWorld strengthens communities by facilitating high-quality connections among community members.1 When communities form, community members tend to connect most easily with those with whom they share similarities such as interest, race, and gender.In sociology, this is called homophily and leads to silos and unhealthy communities. Use of SmallWorld is currently free of charge, but this is expected to change as user numbers increase.
Company PurposeCommunities often feel divided and disconnected because individual members have a natural tendency to connect more easily with other members like
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.