Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better: a community-based health awareness program for African-American women.

Statistics indicate that African-American women have the highest rate of obesity among all racial groups. In response, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) developed "Sisters Together: Move More, Eat Better," a national program that encourages African-American women to maintain a healthy weight by becoming more physically active and by eating healthier foods. "Sisters Together" programs are run locally by individuals or community groups in locations such as churches and health departments. The NIDDK offers culturally relevant materials and technical assistance to program leaders, including a recently updated program guide. The guide walks leaders through program planning, promotion, implementation, and evaluation. It is based on obesity, nutrition, and physical activity research; evidence-based programs for African-American women; and proven health communication strategies. The guide is consumer friendly, using clear language and real-life examples. "Sisters Together" programs encourage African-American women and their families to improve their eating habits and their physical activity habits.

Demonstrable parasitemia among Connecticut blood donors with antibodies to Babesia microti.

BACKGROUND: Reports of transfusion-transmitted Babesia microti have risen steadily during the past several years, reflecting a concurrent increase in US cases of human babesiosis. Although several studies have measured B. microti antibodies in blood donors, little is known about associated parasitemia and the inherent risk of transmitting the parasite by transfusion. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Donations from blood donors located in Babesia-endemic and nonendemic areas of Connecticut were tested for B. microti antibodies from July through September. Subsequently, an additional blood sample was collected from selected seropositive donors and tested by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for B. microti nucleic acids. RESULTS: A total of 3490 donations, 1745 each from endemic and nonendemic areas, were tested for B. microti antibodies; 30 (0.9%) were confirmed as positive and seroprevalence rates peaked in July. Significantly more seropositive donations were from endemic areas (24, 1.4%) than nonendemic areas (6, 0.3%). Ten (53%) of 19 seropositive donors subsequently tested by PCR were positive. CONCLUSION: B. microti seroprevalence was highest in those areas of Connecticut where the parasite is endemic. More than half of seropositive donors tested had demonstrable parasitemia, indicating that many are at risk for transmitting B. microti by blood transfusion. Three donors were identified as parasitemic in October, suggesting that donors may be at risk for transmitting the parasite outside of the peak period of community-acquired infection.

Transfusion-transmitted tick-borne infections: a cornucopia of threats.

Over the past several decades, the frequency of contact between humans and ticks has increased dramatically. Concomitantly, several newly recognized tick-borne pathogens have emerged joining those already known to be transmitted by ticks. Together these factors have led to an enhanced public health awareness of ticks, tick-borne agents, and their associated diseases. Reports that several of these agents are transmitted by blood transfusion have raised concerns about blood safety. The primary agents of interest are members of the genus Babesia, but Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia rickettsii, Colorado tick fever virus, and tick-borne encephalitis virus also have been transmitted by transfusion. In many cases, these agents and their diseases share common features including vectors, symptoms, and diagnosis. Unfortunately, they also share the common problem of insufficient epidemiologic and transmissibility data necessary for making informed decisions regarding potential blood safety interventions. Although further surveillance and epidemiologic studies of tick-borne agents are clearly needed, at present only the Babesia warrant consideration for active intervention; because donor management strategies based on risk-factor questions are inadequate, leukoreduction not effective for agents found in red cells and pathogen inactivation remains problematic for red cell products. Despite the present unavailability of screening assays, some form of serologic and nucleic acid testing may be justified for the Babesia. Given that interactions between humans and ticks are likely to increase in the future, vigilance is required as new and extant tick-borne agents pose potential threats to transfusion safety.