AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

EDITOR’S CHOICE Integrating Knowledge for Public Health Action In this issue, the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) will begin periodically republishing MMWR in Brief (MIB) articles online and listing them in the Table of Contents. MIBs are a new publication feature of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the oldest scientific publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (MMWR 2011;60 (no. suppl 3): 7---13. Available at: http:// www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ su6004a3.htm?s_cid=su6004a3_w1). The overarching objective of MIBs is to “integrate knowledge for public health action.” As such, this unique editorial collaboration reflects each journal’s commitment to publish scientific findings that guide the practice community and address health inequities. Designed for public health practitioners, MIBs are synopses of previously published lengthy MMWR serial reports (e.g., Recommendations and Reports, Surveillance Summaries and Supplements). The concise format of MIBs facilitates rapid understanding of an issue and the most appropriate actions steps for prevention and control. Specifically, the text organization and graphics selection are designed to communicate the science for enhanced understanding so that the reader can apply the findings and recommendations (e.g., prioritize public health issues, select the best intervention, or monitor outcomes). While MIBs contain key points of the original report, authors can infuse additional commentary, data, or references enhancing its use in the field. The first MIB republished in AJPH summarizes “Outbreaks of Acute Gastroenteritis Transmitted by Person-to-Person Contact— United States, 2009---2010” (MMWR 2012;61(no. SS-9); available at http://www. cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6109.pdf). It describes, for the first time, the available national surveillance data regarding the etiology, seasonality and settings for acute gastroenteritis outbreaks transmitted by person-to-person contact derived from the

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National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS). The most common etiology for these outbreaks was norovirus, which occurred more frequently in the winter months. Outbreaks associated with Shigella or another etiology most often occurred during the spring or summer months. Outbreaks transmitted by person-to-person contact most often occurred in nursing homes and other long-term---care facilities. NORS surveillance data can help identify the etiologic agents, settings, and populations most often involved in acute gastroenteritis outbreaks resulting primarily from person-to-person transmission and guide development of targeted interventions to avert these outbreaks or mitigate the spread of infection. The editorial leadership at both journals believe that as stewards of public health, we have a responsibility to disseminate information in a way that is useful to stakeholders. Forthcoming MIBS published in AJPH will describe surveillance data related to timely public health issues, recommendations for best practices, or special topics. Collectively, we hope that our respective readers will find this joint effort helpful to their daily work. j Christine G. Casey, MD Editor, MMWR Serials doi:10.2105/AJPH.2014.302321

Acknowledgments A collaboration of this magnitude is only possible with the efforts of many people. I would like to thank MMWR authors Mary Wikswo, Janet Blair, and Aron Hall for their pioneering spirit; the MMWR team David Johnson, Martha Boyd, Doug Weatherwax, Teresa Rutledge, Charlotte Kent, John Moran, Denise Williams, Jeffrey Sokolow, Cathy Lansdowne, Quang Doan, Phyllis King, and Jamey Giddens for their creative implementation of a new feature; and our AJPH colleagues Mary Northridge and Brian Selzer for executing a shared editorial vision. Note. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTANT EDITOR DEPUTY EDITOR FEATURE EDITOR IMAGE EDITOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Mary E. Northridge, PhD, MPH Ariel R. Port, DMD, MPH Farzana Kapadia, PhD Gabriel N. Stover, MPA Aleisha Kropf Hortensia Amaro, PhD Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH Michael R. Greenberg, PhD Sofia Gruskin, JD, MIA Said Ibrahim, MD, MPH Robert J. Kim-Farley, MD, MPH Stewart J. Landers, JD, MCP Stella M. Yu, ScD, MPH ASSOCIATE EDITOR FOR STATISTICS AND EVALUATION Roger Vaughan, DrPH, MS INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATE EDITORS Kenneth Rochel de Camargo Jr, MD, PhD (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Daniel Tarantola, MD (Ferney-Voltaire, France) DEPARTMENT EDITORS Roy Grant, MA Government, Law, and Public Health Practice Public Health Policy Briefs Elizabeth Fee, PhD, and Theodore M. Brown, PhD Images of Health Public Health Then and Now Voices From the Past Mark A. Rothstein, JD Public Health Ethics Kenneth R. McLeroy, PhD, and Deborah Holtzman, PhD, MSW Framing Health Matters EDITORIAL BOARD Jeffrey R. Wilson, PhD, MS (2015), Chair Chinua Akukwe, MD, MPH (2015) Caroline Bergeron, MSc (2016) Eric R. Buhi, PhD (2016) Keith Elder, PhD, MPH (2016) Thomas Greenfield, PhD (2015) Jeffrey Hallam, PhD (2014) Dio Kavalieratos, PhD (2016) Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH (2015) Justin B. Moore, PhD (2016) Samuel L. Posner, PhD (2015) Joan Reede, MD, MPH (2014) Helena Temkin-Greener, PhD, MPH (2014) David H. Wegman, MD, MSc (2014) Ruth Zambrana, PhD (2016) STAFF Georges C. Benjamin, MD Executive Director/Publisher Ashell Alston, Interim Publications Director Brian Selzer, Interim Deputy Publications Director Morgan Richardson, Production Coordinator Michael Henry, Associate Production Editor (Sr) Aisha Jamil, Associate Production Editor (Jr) Mazin Abdelgader, Graphic Designer Vivian Tinsley, Subscriptions Manager FREELANCE STAFF Kelly Burch, Greg Edmondson, John Lane, Gary Norton, Michelle Quirk, Alisa Riccardi, Trish Weisman, Eileen Wolfberg, Copyeditors Nestor Ashbery, Sarah Cook, Marci McGrath, Chris Smith, Proofreaders Vanessa Sifford, Graphic Designer

American Journal of Public Health | November 2014, Vol 104, No. 11

Integrating knowledge for public health action.

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