Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report – Articles of Interest

• False-Positive Oral Fluid Rapid HIV Tests, New York City, 2005 – 2008
• Recommendations from an Ad Hoc Meeting of the WHO Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (LabNet) on Use of Alternative Diagnostic Samples for Measles and Rubella Surveillance
• Hospital Acquired Pertussis Among Newborns, Texas, 2004
• Public Health Consequences of a False Positive Laboratory Test Result for Brucella, Florida, Georgia, and Michigan, 2005
• Escherichia coli 0157:H7 Infections in Children Associated with Raw Milk and Raw Colostrum From Cows, California, 2006
• Cutaneous Anthrax Associated with Drum Making Using Goat Hides from West Africa, Connecticut, 2007

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report, Healthcare Associated Infections in Hospitals (Report GAO-08-673T), which recommends that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) identify priorities among the recommended practices in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and establish greater consistency and compatibility of the data collected across HHS on Hospital Acquired Infections. The report examines 1) CDC’s guidelines to reduce or prevent hospital acquired infections (HAIs) and how HHS promotes guideline implementation; 2) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other accrediting organizations’ required standards for hospitals to reduce or prevent HAIs, and 3) HHS programs that collect data related to HAIs and integration of the HAIs across HHS.