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Notes 1, 2005 > Introduction
TB Notes 1, 2005
No. 1, 2005
Dear Colleague:
The National TB Controllers Association is pleased to announce
that it has a new Executive Director, Carol Pozsik, RN, MPH, former
TB Controller for South Carolina. More information on Carol can
be found in the Personnel Notes section of this issue.
In international news, on February 1, 2005, Dr. Martien Borgdorff
was appointed the new director of the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation.
He succeeds Dr. Jaap Broekmans, who served as the director of the
organization for over 17 years. Dr. Borgdorff is an internationally
recognized TB expert and epidemiologist who is well known to many
in DTBE through our international work. Dr. Borgdorff visited DTBE
in Atlanta in 2003 and provided in-depth technical consultation
for various genotyping analyses.
The Advisory Council for the Elimination of Tuberculosis (ACET)
met on February 16 and 17 in Atlanta. We started off with Center
and Division updates and reports, which included staffing and budget
updates from Dr. Janet Collins, acting Director for the National
Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP). Dr. Collins reported
that Congress had provided additional funding for U.S. TB control,
which allowed restoration of support to programs that had been cut.
She also reminded us that the BOTUSA Project in Botswana has just
celebrated its tenth anniversary. On March 1, BOTUSA staff held
an anniversary conference in Botswana to commemorate this special
event. After these updates, ACET members heard a number of presentations
on global TB. Among these were Dr. Ann Ginsberg’s encouraging report
on the work of the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development; she
described several studies of moxifloxacin, which may shorten treatment
by 2 months. Dr. Dolly Katz of DTBE gave an update on the TB Epidemiologic
Studies Consortium (TBESC) pilot study on TB in foreign-born persons.
She concluded from the pilot study results that foreign-born persons
will participate in the study, will answer sensitive questions,
and can provide programmatically relevant information.
The next day, we heard updates on infection control issues. Dr.
Lisa Panlilio described the respiratory protection stakeholders’
meeting held in Atlanta on November 30 and December 1, 2004. The
meeting was intended as an information-gathering foundation for
future activities. Several ACET members expressed concern that the
meeting’s productivity had been lessened by the divergent positions
of two groups, the representatives of respirator manufacturers and
the hospital infection control professionals. Dr. Michael Iademarco
followed with a status report on the revised infection control guidelines.
He and Lauren Lambert and Dr. Paul Jensen are reviewing over 2,000
comments received in response to the Federal Register announcement.
Based on substantial external input, CDC is near consensus on fit
testing and frequency of respirator use for health care workers.
We observed World TB Day with a number of activities. On March
24, DTBE joined the Metropolitan Chicago Tuberculosis Coalition
in a World TB Day observance. The theme of the event was “TB: Educate
to Eliminate.” Representing DTBE on the program was Dr. Wanda Walton,
Chief, Communications, Education, and Behavioral Studies Branch.
In connection with World TB Day, the March 18 issue of CDC’s Morbidity
and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) contains three pieces on
tuberculosis. These include a front-page box entitled “World TB
Day, March 24, 2005” as well as two reports, “Congenital Pulmonary
Tuberculosis Associated with Maternal Cerebral Tuberculosis — Florida,
2002, “ and “Trends in Tuberculosis — United States, 2004.” The
trends report presents provisional TB case and rate data reported
for 2004 and discusses CDC’s efforts in addressing the high TB rates
among foreign-born persons and blacks in the United States. As it
has for the last 2 years, DTBE’s surveillance team has published
these provisional data and trends less than 3 months after the end
of the reporting period. Other World TB Day activities included
producing and distributing updated materials for use in local efforts,
including a variety of World TB Day posters, a brochure, and several
fact sheets. DTBE has added a 2005
World TB Day section to its website. In addition, the CDC website
home page and the CDC en Espanol home page are featuring a World
TB Day "Spotlight" during the weeks of March 14 and 21.
Finally, DTBE and the National Prevention Information Network (NPIN)
created a 2005
World TB Day section on the NPIN webpage containing information
about World TB Day and various TB-related materials.
If you have not already done so, please mark your calendars for
this year’s National TB Controllers Workshop. It is being held in
Atlanta on June 28-30, 2005, at the J.W. Marriott Lenox Hotel. The
Workshop will be preceded by related sessions on Sunday and Monday,
June 26 and 27. The theme is “Can You Hear Me Now? Let’s Talk
TB,” and will focus on communication, education, training, and
media relations. I hope to see you there!
Kenneth G. Castro, MD
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