We conducted prospective, active population-based surveillance for candidemia (defined as any Candida species isolated from blood) in Atlanta and San Francisco (total population, 5.34 million) during 1992-1993. The average annual incidence of candidemia at both sites was 8 per 100,000 population. The highest incidence (75 per 100,000) occurred among infants =1 year old. In 19% of patients, candidemia developed prior to or on the day of admission. Underlying medical conditions included cancer (26%), abdominal surgery (14%), diabetes mellitus (13%), and human immunodeficiency virus infection (10%). In 47% of cases, species of Candida other than Candida albicans were isolated, most commonly Candida parapsilosis, Candida glabrata, and Candida tropicalis. Antifungal susceptibility testing of 394 isolates revealed minimal levels of azole resistance among C. albicans, C. tropicalis, and C. parapsilosis. These data document the substantial burden of candidemia and its changing epidemiology. Continued surveillance will be important to monitor the epidemiology of candidemia and to detect emergence of resistance to azoles.
Young children, elderly persons, and black persons of all ages are disproportionately affected by invasive pneumococcal disease. Current ACIP recommendations do not address a subset of persons aged 18 to 64 years but do include those at highest risk for death from invasive pneumococcal disease.
To examine trends in the incidence and epidemiology of cryptococcosis, active, population-based surveillance was conducted during 1992-2000 in 2 areas of the United States (the Atlanta, Georgia, and Houston, Texas, metropolitan areas; combined population, 7.4 million). A total of 1491 incident cases were detected, of which 1322 (89%) occurred in HIV-infected persons. The annual incidence of cryptococcosis per 1000 persons with AIDS decreased significantly during the study period, from 66 in 1992 to 7 in 2000 in the Atlanta area, and from 24 in 1993 to 2 in 1994 in the Houston area. Poisson regression analysis revealed that African American persons with AIDS were more likely than white persons with AIDS to develop disease. Less than one-third of all HIV-infected persons with cryptococcosis were receiving antiretroviral therapy before diagnosis. Our findings suggest that HIV-infected persons who continue to develop cryptococcosis in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the United States are those with limited access to health care. More efforts are needed to expand the availability of HAART and routine HIV care services to these persons.
Drug-resistant strains of S. pneumoniae are common among both children and adults in Atlanta. Although blacks had a higher incidence of invasive pneumococcal infections than whites, whites were more likely to be infected with a drug-resistant isolate. Control of drug-resistant pneumococci will require more judicious use of antimicrobial agents and wider use of the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.
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