An Examination of Secondhand Smoke in a Sample of Atlanta Hospitality Venues and Their Compliance with the Georgia Smokefree Air Act

Introduction: Despite the known consequences of cigarette smoking, almost 20% of adults in the United States smoke. Smoking has been shown to harm nearly every organ of the body. Its detrimental effects have been seen not only in smokers themselves but also in those exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) at work and in other public places. Methodology: The purpose of this thesis was to examine compliance with the signage requirement of the Georgia Smokefree Air Act (GSAA) of 2005 among 99 hospitality venues located in Atlanta. Photographs of bars and restaurant entrances were taken and raters then classified each venue as compliant or non-compliant with smoking status signage requirements of the GSAA. Additionally, air samples were collected using Sidepak equipment from 59 venues in order to estimate the PM2.5 levels, which is a recognized measure of air quality. With Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient (r), analyses were run to determine correlations between signage compliance, number of cigarettes being smoked, and smoking permitted with air quality (PM2.5). Analyses were conducted using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19. Results: Of the 99 venues assessed, only 21 (21.2 %) complied with the signage requirements of the GSAA. Venues that do adhere to signage requirements and indicate no smoking on their signs and at the same time via telephone stated that smoking is prohibited had the lowest PM2.5 levels =15.03. On the contrary, those venues that display signs permitting smoking and via telephone indicated smoking is allowed had the highest PM2.5 levels =230.31. It was determined that there is a strong positive correlation between PM2.5 and “number of cigarettes” (r=.611, n=59, p\u3c.001) as well as moderate correlation between PM2.5 and “smoking permitted” as indicated from phone calls (r=.464, n=59, p\u3c.001). However, analysis showed a weak correlation between PM2.5 and “signage compliance” in accordance with GSAA (r=.107, n=59, p\u3e.001). Conclusions: Enforcement of GSAA must be enhanced in order to better protect workers and patrons of Atlanta’s bars and restaurants from harmful exposure to SHS. Findings from this study support that prohibiting smoking in bars and restaurants and having signs stating that smoking is prohibited would improve air quality and protect workers by eliminating their exposure to SHS while working

Prevalence of Active and Latent Yaws in the Solomon Islands 18 Months after Azithromycin Mass Drug Administration for Trachoma.

INTRODUCTION: Both yaws and trachoma are endemic in the Pacific. Mass treatment with azithromycin is the mainstay of the WHO strategy for both the eradication of yaws and the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem, but the dose recommended for trachoma is lower than that for yaws. In countries where both diseases are endemic, there is a potential for synergy between yaws and trachoma control programs if mass treatment with the lower dose of azithromycin was shown to be effective for the treatment of yaws. In an earlier study, we demonstrated a profound reduction in the clinical and serological prevalence of yaws following a single round of mass treatment with azithromycin 20 mg/kg undertaken for the purposes of trachoma elimination. METHODS: This survey was conducted 18 months following a single round of azithromycin mass treatment in the same communities in which we had conducted our previous six-month follow-up survey. We examined children aged 1-14 years and took blood and lesion samples for yaws diagnosis using the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TPPA) and the non-treponemal Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test. RESULTS: A total of 1,284 children were enrolled in the study. Amongst children aged 5-14 years, 223 had a positive TPPA (27.5%, 95% CI 13.6-47.7%). The TPPA seroprevalence amongst this age group did not differ significantly from either our pre-mass treatment survey or our initial follow-up survey. Thirty-five children had positive TPPA and positive RPR (4.3%, 95% CI 2.1-8.7%), and this did not differ significantly from our initial post-mass drug administration (MDA) follow-up survey (4.3% versus 3.5%, p = 0.43) but remained significantly lower than our initial pre-MDA survey (4.3% vs 21.7%, p <0.0001). Village-level MDA coverage was strongly associated with dual-seropositivity (p = 0.005). Amongst children aged 1-4 years, 16 had a positive TPPA (3.5%, 95% CI 1.6-7.1%). This did not differ significantly from the seroprevalence in this age group that had been predicted based on our previous surveys (3.5% vs 5%, p = 0.11). Fourteen children (1.1%) were considered to have a skin lesion clinically consistent with yaws, but none of these individuals was seropositive for yaws. Of nine cases where a swab could be collected for PCR, all were negative for Treponema pallidum subsp. pertenue DNA. DISCUSSION: In this study we have shown that the benefit of a single round of mass treatment with azithromycin 20mg/kg appears to extend to 18 months without any further intervention. The lack of a significant change in seroprevalence from 6 to 18 months after mass treatment might suggest that interventions could be spaced at yearly intervals without a significant loss of impact, and that this might facilitate integration of yaws eradication with other neglected tropical disease (NTD) control programmes. MDA coverage above 90% was associated with significantly better outcomes than coverages lower than this threshold, and strategies to improve coverage at all stages of yaws eradication efforts should be investigated

Risk factors for Dual-Seropositivity amongst children aged 5–14 years.

<p>Risk factors for Dual-Seropositivity amongst children aged 5–14 years.</p

Risk factors for TPPA Positivity amongst children aged 5–14 years.

<p>Risk factors for TPPA Positivity amongst children aged 5–14 years.</p

Risk factors for TPPA Positivity amongst children aged 1–4.

<p>Risk factors for TPPA Positivity amongst children aged 1–4.</p

Demographics of study subjects.

<p>Demographics of study subjects.</p

Prevalence of Active and Latent Yaws in the Solomon Islands 18 Months after Azithromycin Mass Drug Administration for Trachoma

<div><p>Introduction</p><p>Both yaws and trachoma are endemic in the Pacific. Mass treatment with azithromycin is the mainstay of the WHO strategy for both the eradication of yaws and the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem, but the dose recommended for trachoma is lower than that for yaws. In countries where both diseases are endemic, there is a potential for synergy between yaws and trachoma control programs if mass treatment with the lower dose of azithromycin was shown to be effective for the treatment of yaws. In an earlier study, we demonstrated a profound reduction in the clinical and serological prevalence of yaws following a single round of mass treatment with azithromycin 20 mg/kg undertaken for the purposes of trachoma elimination.</p><p>Methods</p><p>This survey was conducted 18 months following a single round of azithromycin mass treatment in the same communities in which we had conducted our previous six-month follow-up survey. We examined children aged 1–14 years and took blood and lesion samples for yaws diagnosis using the <i>Treponema pallidum</i> particle agglutination assay (TPPA) and the non-treponemal Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test.</p><p>Results</p><p>A total of 1,284 children were enrolled in the study. Amongst children aged 5–14 years, 223 had a positive TPPA (27.5%, 95% CI 13.6–47.7%). The TPPA seroprevalence amongst this age group did not differ significantly from either our pre-mass treatment survey or our initial follow-up survey. Thirty-five children had positive TPPA and positive RPR (4.3%, 95% CI 2.1–8.7%), and this did not differ significantly from our initial post-mass drug administration (MDA) follow-up survey (4.3% versus 3.5%, <i>p</i> = 0.43) but remained significantly lower than our initial pre-MDA survey (4.3% vs 21.7%, <i>p</i> <0.0001). Village-level MDA coverage was strongly associated with dual-seropositivity (<i>p</i> = 0.005). Amongst children aged 1–4 years, 16 had a positive TPPA (3.5%, 95% CI 1.6–7.1%). This did not differ significantly from the seroprevalence in this age group that had been predicted based on our previous surveys (3.5% vs 5%, <i>p</i> = 0.11). Fourteen children (1.1%) were considered to have a skin lesion clinically consistent with yaws, but none of these individuals was seropositive for yaws. Of nine cases where a swab could be collected for PCR, all were negative for <i>Treponema pallidum</i> subsp. <i>pertenue</i> DNA.</p><p>Discussion</p><p>In this study we have shown that the benefit of a single round of mass treatment with azithromycin 20mg/kg appears to extend to 18 months without any further intervention. The lack of a significant change in seroprevalence from 6 to 18 months after mass treatment might suggest that interventions could be spaced at yearly intervals without a significant loss of impact, and that this might facilitate integration of yaws eradication with other neglected tropical disease (NTD) control programmes. MDA coverage above 90% was associated with significantly better outcomes than coverages lower than this threshold, and strategies to improve coverage at all stages of yaws eradication efforts should be investigated.</p></div

Molecular strain typing of the yaws pathogen, Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue.

Yaws is a neglected tropical disease caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue. The disease primarily affects children under 15 years of age living in low socioeconomic conditions in tropical areas. As a result of a renewed focus on the disease owing to a recent eradication effort initiated by the World Health Organization, we have evaluated a typing method, adapted from and based on the enhanced Centers for Disease Control and Prevention typing method for T. pallidum subsp. pallidum, for possible use in epidemiological studies. Thirty DNA samples from yaws cases in Vanuatu and Ghana, 11 DNA samples extracted from laboratory strains, and 3 published genomic sequences were fully typed by PCR/RFLP analysis of the tpr E, G, and J genes and by determining the number of 60-bp repeats within the arp gene. Subtyping was performed by sequencing a homonucleotide "G" tandem repeat immediately upstream of the rpsA gene and an 84-bp region of tp0548. A total of 22 complete strain types were identified; two strain types in clinical samples from Vanuatu (5q11/ak and 5q12/ak), nine strain types in clinical samples from Ghana (3q12/ah, 4r12/ah, 4q10/j, 4q11/ah, 4q12/ah, 4q12/v, 4q13/ah, 6q10/aj, and 9q10/ai), and twelve strain types in laboratory strains and published genomes (2q11/ae, 3r12/ad, 4q11/ad, 4q12/ad, 4q12/ag, 4q12/v, 5r12/ad, 6r12/x, 6q11/af, 10q9/r, 10q12/r, and 12r12/w). The tpr RFLP patterns and arp repeat sizes were subsequently verified by sequencing analysis of the respective PCR amplicons. This study demonstrates that the typing method for subsp. pallidum can be applied to subsp. pertenue strains and should prove useful for molecular epidemiological studies on yaws