The Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) maintains a collection of the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which collects and analyzes data from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on epidemiology and public health. Each issue of the MMWR is packed with raw and analyzed public health data and scientific studies from some of the top minds in the United States. Below we highlight some of the most current and informative studies included in their weekly reports. 

Here are some important articles you may have missed from Volume 73, Issues 11-14 of the Centers for Disease Control’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Series. 

April 11, 2024 / No. 14

Featured Article:

“Assessment of Risk for Sudden Cardiac Death Among Adolescents and Young Adults After Receipt of COVID-19 Vaccine — Oregon, June 2021–December 2022”

An in-depth study conducted in Oregon concluded that while COVID-19 vaccines could not be entirely ruled out as an association of sudden cardiac death amongst adolescents and young adults, the data did not support this link.

April 4, 2024 / No. 13

Featured Article:

“Surveillance To Track Progress Toward Polio Eradication — Worldwide, 2022–2023”

While wild poliovirus (WPV) serotypes 2 and 3 have been deemed to be eradicated, serotype 1 continues to circulate, and transmission remains endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This report suggests that surveillance and reporting lags persist and more efforts are needed in order to fully eradicate polio worldwide.

March 28, 2024 / No. 12

Featured Article:

“Birth Prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease and County-Level Social Vulnerability — Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, 11 States, 2016–2020”

Updated research shows that one in every 350 non-Hispanic Black newborns in 11 states from 2016-2020 were born with Sickle Cell Disease. This report discusses the implications of this finding and what can be done to provide more equitable health access amongst vulnerable populations.

March 21, 2024 / No. 11

Featured Article:

“Surveillance for Coccidioidomycosis, Histoplasmosis, and Blastomycosis During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, 2019–2021”

Coccidioidomycosis, histoplasmosis, and blastomycosis are fungal diseases that can cause severe respiratory illness and death. A spike in fatality cases led to this investigative study. Diagnosis is complicated by the occurrence of other respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms.

For more information on COVID, visit HSDL’s COVID-19 Resource Archive. You can also find pandemic-related resources in HSDL’s Focus on Pandemics and Epidemics, and search our statistical resources related to public health.