Poisonings After a Hurricane: Lessons From the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (NJPIES) During and Following Hurricane Sandy.

OBJECTIVE: Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey on October 29, 2012, resulting in widespread power outages and gasoline shortages. These events led to potentially toxic exposures and the need for information related to poisons/toxins in the environment. This report characterizes the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System (NJPIES) call patterns in the days immediately preceding, during, and after Hurricane Sandy to identify areas in need of public health education and prevention. METHODS: We examined NJPIES case data from October through December 2012. Most Sandy-related calls had been coded as such by NJPIES staff. Additional Sandy-related cases were identified by performing a case narrative review. Descriptive analyses were performed for timing, case frequencies, exposure substances, gender, caller site, type of information requests, and other data. RESULTS: The most frequent Sandy-related exposures were gasoline and carbon monoxide (CO). Gasoline exposure cases were predominantly males and CO exposure cases, females (P < 0.0001). Other leading reasons for Sandy-related calls were poison information, food poisoning/spoilage information, and water contamination. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis identified the need for enhanced public health education and intervention to improve the handling of gasoline and encourage the proper use of gasoline-powered generators and cleaning and cooking equipment, thus reducing toxic exposures.

HIV virologic response better with single-tablet once daily regimens compared to multiple-tablet daily regimens.

BACKGROUND: Single-tablet regimens are preferred prescription choices for HIV treatment, but there are limited outcomes data comparing single-tablet regimens to multiple-tablet regimens. METHODS: We retrospectively assessed treatment-naïve patients at a single urban HIV clinic in the United States for viral load suppression at 6 and 12 months after initiating either single-tablet or multiple-tablet regimens. Multivariate regression was performed to obtain relative risks and adjust for potential confounders. RESULTS: Of 218 patients, 47% were on single-tablet regimens and 53% on multiple-tablet regimens; 77% of single-tablet regimen patients had undetectable viral load at 6 months compared to 61% of multiple-tablet regimen patients (p = 0.012). At 12 months, 82% on single-tablet regimens and 66% on multiple-tablet regimens (p = 0.019) had undetectable viral load. Relative risk of any detectable viral load was 1.6 (95% confidence interval: 1.1-2.5) for patients on multiple-tablet regimens compared to single-tablet regimens at 6 months, and 2.2 (95% confidence interval: 1.2-4.0) at 12 months. CONCLUSION: Single-tablet regimens may provide better virologic control than multiple-tablet regimens in urban HIV-infected persons.