Abstract.This report summarizes the status of the global Dracunculiasis Eradication Program as of the end of 2017. Dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease) has been eliminated from 19 of 21 countries where it was endemic in 1986, when an estimated 3.5 million cases occurred worldwide. Only Chad and Ethiopia reported cases in humans, 15 each, in 2017. Infections of animals, mostly domestic dogs, with Dracunculus medinensis were reported in those two countries and also in Mali. Insecurity and infections in animals are the two main obstacles remaining to interrupting dracunculiasis transmission completely.

This chapter was originally intended to cover both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis, but we will concentrate on ALS. There are nonetheless several reports from the literature that ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists have beneficial effects in animal models of multiple sclerosis (1,7,14,58,71,109) and this could develop into a very promising therapeutic area in the future. The interested reader is referred to the following review (59). However, the evidence for involvement of disturbances in the glutamatergic system in ALS is already convincing and has led to the use of the glutamate release inhibitor riluzole in the treatment of this disease. As such, we felt that a book on the therapeutic potential of ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists and modulators would be incomplete without a chapter on this disease. RATIONALEALS, commonly called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a devastating neurological disorder characterized by selective upper and lower somatic, but not autonomic, motor neurone degeneration leading to paralysis and eventually death. The diagnosis of ALS requires the presence of both upper and lower motor neurone degeneration and progressive motor dysfunction. ALS occurs in 1 to 2.5 cases per 100,000 population, affects more men than women, and is most commonly diagnosed in middle age. Other functions such as intellectual abilities and sensory perception are preserved. At advanced stages patients become completely disabled, often requiring ventilatory support and feeding by gas-

Factors contributing to students' compliance with mass vaccination programs during meningococcal outbreaks have not been well described. A 1997 mass vaccination campaign at Michigan State University provided an opportunity to study such factors. Of 34,024 students in the target population, 17,538 (51.5%) were vaccinated in 5 days. Vaccination rates were higher for women (47.9%) than for men (43.1%) and higher for on-campus residents (65.3%) than for off-campus residents (35.6%). For each year of students' age beyond 19, the adjusted odds of vaccination were reduced by 0.82. Adjusted odds ratios for vaccination, with White students as the reference group at 1.0, were 1.33 for Asian American students, 0.97 (not significant) for Hispanic students, 0.82 for African American students, and 0.80 for Native American students. Students from the Colleges of Business, Engineering, Communication, and Natural Science had the highest vaccination rates; those from the College of Arts and Letters had the lowest rates.

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Background. Mammography is widely known to reduce morbidity and mortality from breast cancer, but a population‐based assessment of mammography use and follow‐up of mammography findings has not been reported previously. Methods. An observational, population‐based, follow‐up study was conducted of all women having mammograms in the Greater Lansing, Michigan, metropolitan area, between June 1987 and June 1988. A total of 17,811 Greater Lansing women participated. The adherence of women to mammography screening guidelines was estimated, and mammography's utility to detect breast cancer was assessed through follow‐up review of breast biopsy results. Results. Thirty‐seven percent of the expected number of women 35 years of age and older had mammograms. Adherence to screening guidelines declined with age, and less than 5% (302 of 6700) of women 55 years of age and older reporting having annual mammograms. Seventy‐six percent of women reported that their physicians prompted the examination. The predictive value of a positive mammogram was 21.9% for women without symptoms and 32.4% for women with symptoms. Mammography's sensitivity and specificity for breast cancer detection were 71% and 98%, respectively. Conclusions. The study highlights the need to target mammography to women 50 years of age and older, underscores the importance of physicians in promoting mammography, and demonstrates the analytic value and limitation of mammography in clinical decision‐making.