Public Health

Last week came news of an FDA panel recommending the use of the drug Truvada to prevent HIV infection in high-risk individuals.

But that development, as welcome as it is, should not distract us from the need for an HIV vaccine, says Dr. Mark J. Mulligan, a professor of medicine at Emory University, in a new GHN Commentary.

“Every year for 15 years, approximately 56,000 Americans have become newly HIV-infected,’’ writes Mulligan. “This number has not fallen despite behavioral education efforts.’’

Friday is HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, and this weekend, Action Cycling Atlanta puts on the AIDS Vaccine 200 Bike Ride.

Here’s a link to Mulligan’s Commentary.

Georgia Health News welcomes Commentary submissions. If you would like to propose a Commentary piece for Georgia Health News, please email Andy Miller, editor of GHN, at amiller@georgiahealthnews.com

Many American baby boomers perceive tuberculosis to be a relic of the past, like polio.

In past centuries, the disease killed millions of Americans, including historical figures such as President James Monroe and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Then, in the 1940s and ’50s, effective drug therapies were developed, and experts predicted the eventual elimination of TB.

Yet TB remains a massive killer worldwide, accounting for 2 million deaths annually. And it’s the leading cause of death for people infected with HIV, including in the United States.

The U.S. rate of TB has been declining. Last year, a total of 10,521 new tuberculosis cases were reported in the U.S., an incidence of 3.4 cases per 100,000 people. That’s the lowest rate recorded since national reporting began in 1953, the CDC says.

But Georgia’s tuberculosis rate, though dropping, is still higher than the national average. Georgia reported 347 TB cases (3.5 cases per 100,000 population) in 2011, a 16 percent decrease from 2010.

The disease in the state is largely centered in three counties in metro Atlanta — DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett.

The state Department of Public Health reports that in 2010, the most recent year with available data for population estimates by race and ethnicity, the highest TB case rate was in Asians (24.1 per 100,000), followed by Hispanics (8.2 per 100,000), and non-Hispanic blacks (7.1 per 100,000).

The cost of containing a live outbreak can be ‘‘phenomenal,’’ says state Sen. Renee Unterman, who represents a Gwinnett district. Unterman’s advocacy helped inject an extra $350,000 in the state budget for treating TB in those three counties.

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Boredom and hormones are a dangerous mix in teenagers, who are all too likely to experiment with alcohol, drugs and sex.

It’s a problem everywhere, including Georgia. Even in rural areas, such problems can often be acute.

Take thinly populated Madison County, in northeast Georgia. “We have a lot of kids who go to parties and drink excessively and then they make wrong choices. A lot of times they’ll get drunk and have sex and not even remember it,” said Wanda Strickland, a nurse practitioner at the Teen Matters clinic and the Madison County Health Department.

Some are exposed to sexually transmitted diseases; others seek the “morning after” pill to prevent pregnancy.

In the county’s most recent Behavior and Risk for Teens (BART) survey in 2003, 45 percent of the 17- and 18-year-old high school students surveyed said that they had consumed alcohol, and more than half had engaged in sexual intercourse.

Unfortunately, some parents not only fail to protect their children from the risks that drinking brings, but may actually make it easier for teenagers to get drunk. The drinking then opens the door to other public health problems, like teen pregnancy and STDs.

A 15-year-old Clarke County ninth-grader recalls that when living in Madison County, many teens were provided alcohol at regular parties at a local adult resident’s home. ‘’Sometimes I’d just sleep in the hammock on the porch,’’ the ninth-grader says. full story

For a person accustomed to grim health data, one prediction still tends to be jarring:

The current generation of American children may be the first not to live as long as their parents.

Much of this projection is linked to the increase in health conditions such as obesity.

These medical deficits in the U.S. health system were highlighted Thursday at an Atlanta conference and in national media reports.

Tyler Norris, a senior adviser on Total Health at Kaiser Permanente, cited the life expectancy warning as he spoke to an Atlanta audience about the burden of obesity and diabetes.

Kaiser is one of the sponsors of the upcoming HBO documentary “The Weight of the Nation,’’ in which experts such as the CDC director, Dr. Thomas Frieden, talk about the urgency of addressing the obesity problem. (Here’s a link to the trailer.) full story

Atlanta and Columbus are doing better on air quality, but both have a long way to go.

The two Georgia cities are rated among the worst metro areas for air pollution in the United States, according to the American Lung Association’s annual report on air quality, State of the Air 2012.

The report, released last week, found Atlanta/Sandy Springs/Gainesville 25th-worst on ozone, and in a tie for 24th-worst on soot. Columbus/Auburn, Ala./Opelika, Ala. tied for 17th-worst on soot.

Still, June Deen, the state director of the American Lung Association, says that in Atlanta, “we’ve had fewer and fewer bad air days’’ in terms of ozone and particulate pollution. Columbus has also improved, she says.

“We still get F’s in a number of categories,’’ Deen says. “We’re not out of the woods by any stretch.’’

Two Georgia coastal cities — Savannah/Hinesville/Fort Stewart and Brunswick — were among the cleanest U.S. cities for ozone, probably due mostly to their location near the Atlantic Ocean.

Ozone and particle pollution, or soot, are the most widespread air pollutants — and among the most dangerous. Ground-level ozone, a main ingredient of smog, has harmful effects, especially on children, older adults and people with respiratory illnesses.

Air pollution, including particulate matter, is linked to respiratory and heart diseases, cancer, premature death, and reduced lung function in children.

Tuesday, May 1, is World Asthma Day, and it also launches the start of smog season. The Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness is holding an asthma awareness event Tuesday, bringing together community leaders, medical experts and clean air advocates. full story