Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 78 / Monday, April 23, 2012 / Notices 24209 

Dated: April 17, 2012. 

Ron A. Otten, 

Director, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office 

of the Associate Director for Science (OADS), 

Office of the Director, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9721 Filed 4–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–12–12II] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

In compliance with the requirement 

of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed data collection projects, the 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed projects. To 

request more information on the 

proposed projects or to obtain a copy of 

the data collection plans and 

instruments, call 404–639–7570 and 

send comments to Ron Otten, at CDC 

1600 Clifton Road, MS–D74, Atlanta, 

GA 30333 or send an email to 

omb@cdc.gov. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

Risk Factors for Invasive Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus 

(MRSA) among Patients Recently 

Discharged from Acute Care Hospitals 

through the Active Bacterial Core 

Surveillance for Invasive MRSA 

infections (ABCs MRSA)—NEW— 

National Center for Emerging and 

Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

Preventing healthcare-associated 

invasive MRSA infections is one of 

CDC’s priorities. The goal of this project 

is to assess risk factors for invasive 

healthcare-associated MRSA infections, 

which will inform the development of 

targeted prevention measures. This 

activity supports the HHS Action Plan 

for elimination of healthcare-associated 

infections. 

Essential steps in reducing the 

occurrence of healthcare-associated 

invasive MRSA infections are to 

quantify the burden and to identify 

modifiable risk factors associated with 

invasive MRSA disease. CDC’s current 

ABCs MRSA surveillance has been 

essential to quantify the burden of 

invasive MRSA in the United States. 

Through this surveillance, CDC was able 

to estimate that 94,360 invasive MRSA 

infections associated with 18,650 deaths 

occurred in the United States in 2005. 

The majority of these invasive infections 

(58%) had onset in the community or 

within three days of hospital admission 

and occurred among individuals with 

recent healthcare exposures (healthcareassociated community-onset [HACO]). 

More recent data from the CDC’s ABCs 

MRSA system have shown that twothirds of invasive HACO MRSA 

infections occur among persons who are 

discharged from an acute care hospital 

in the prior three months. Risk factors 

for invasive MRSA infections postdischarge have not been well evaluated, 

and effective prevention measures in 

this population remain uncertain. 

For this project, an estimated total of 

450 patients (150 patients with HACO 

MRSA infection post-acute care 

discharge and 300 patients without 

HACO MRSA infection) will be 

contacted for the MRSA interview 

annually. This estimate is based on the 

numbers of MRSA cases reported by the 

ABCs MRSA sites annually (http:// 

www.cdc.gov/abcs/reports-findings/ 

survreports/mrsa08.html) who are 18 

years of age or older, had onset of the 

MRSA infection in the community or 

within three days of hospital admission, 

and history of hospitalization in the 

prior three months. ABCs MRSA 

surveillance case report forms will be 

used to identify HACO MRSA cases to 

be contacted for a telephone interview. 

For each HACO MRSA case identified; 

two patients without HACO MRSA 

infection (control-patients) matched on 

age with MRSA case will be contacted 

for a health interview. All 450 patients 

(both cases and controls) will be 

screened for eligibility and those 

considered to be eligible will complete 

the telephone interview. We anticipate 

that 350 of the 450 patients screened 

will complete the telephone interview 

across all six participating ABCs MRSA 

sites per year. We anticipate the 

screening questions to take about 5 

minutes and the telephone interview 20 

minutes per respondent. 

There are no costs to respondents. 

The total response burden for the study 

is estimated as follows: 

Type of respondents Form name Number of 

respondents 

Number of 

responses per 

respondent 

Average 

burden per 

response 

(in hours) 

Total burden 

(in hours) 

Hospital Patients ............................... Screening Form ................................ 450 1 5/60 38 

Telephone interview ......................... 350 1 20/60 117 

Total ........................................... ........................................................... ........................ ........................ ........................ 155 


rmajette on DSK2TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
24210 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 78 / Monday, April 23, 2012 / Notices 

Dated: April 17, 2012. 

Ron A. Otten, 

Director, Office of Scientific Integrity, Office 

of the Associate Director for Science (OADS), 

Office of the Director, Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention. 

[FR Doc. 2012–9720 Filed 4–20–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4163–18–P 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention 

[60Day–12–0821] 

Proposed Data Collections Submitted 

for Public Comment and 

Recommendations 

In compliance with the requirement 

of Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 for 

opportunity for public comment on 

proposed data collection projects, the 

Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC) will publish periodic 

summaries of proposed projects. To 

request more information on the 

proposed projects or to obtain a copy of 

the data collection plans and 

instruments, call 404–639–7570 and 

send comments to Ron Otten, at CDC, 

1600 Clifton Road, MS–D74, Atlanta, 

GA 30333 or send an email to 

omb@cdc.gov. 

Comments are invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the proper performance 

of the functions of the agency, including 

whether the information shall have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including through the 

use of automated collection techniques 

or other forms of information 

technology. Written comments should 

be received within 60 days of this 

notice. 

Proposed Project 

Quarantine Station Illness and Death 

Investigation Forms—Airline, Maritime, 

Land/Border Crossing Illness and Death 

Investigation Forms—Revision— 

National Center for Zoonotic and 

Emerging Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) 

(0920–0821, expires 9/30/2012), Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention 

(CDC). 

Background and Brief Description 

CDC is requesting a revision to an 

existing data collection of patient-level 

clinical, epidemiologic, and 

demographic data from ill travelers and 

their possible contacts in order to fulfill 

its regulatory responsibility to prevent 

the importation of communicable 

diseases from foreign countries (42 CFR 

part 71) and interstate control of 

communicable diseases in humans (42 

CFR part 70). 

Section 361 of the Public Health 

Service (PHS) Act (42 U.S.C. 264) 

authorizes the Secretary of Health and 

Human Services to make and enforce 

regulations necessary to prevent the 

introduction, transmission or spread of 

communicable diseases from foreign 

countries into the United States. The 

regulations that implement this law, 42 

CFR parts 70 and 71, authorize 

quarantine officers and other personnel 

to inspect and undertake necessary 

control measures with respect to 

conveyances (e.g., airplanes, cruise 

ships, trucks, etc.), persons, and 

shipments of animals and etiologic 

agents in order to protect the public’s 

health. The regulations also require 

conveyances to immediately report an 

‘‘ill person’’ or any death on board to 

the Quarantine Station prior to arrival in 

the United States. An ‘‘ill person’’ is 

defined in statute by: 

—Fever (≥100 °F or 38 °C) persisting ≥48 

hours 

—Fever (≥100 °F or 38 °C) AND rash, 

glandular swelling, or jaundice 

—Diarrhea (≥3 stools in 24 hours or 

greater than normal amount) 

The 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory 

Syndrome (SARS) situation and concern 

about pandemic influenza and other 

communicable diseases have prompted 

CDC Quarantine Stations to recommend 

that all illnesses be reported prior to 

arrival. 

CDC Quarantine Stations are currently 

located at 20 international U.S. Ports of 

Entry. When a suspected illness is 

reported to the Quarantine Station, 

officers promptly respond to this report 

by meeting the incoming conveyance in 

person (when possible), collecting 

information and evaluating the 

patient(s), and determining whether an 

ill person can safely be admitted into 

the U.S. If Quarantine Station staff is 

unable to meet the conveyance, the crew 

or medical staff of the conveyance is 

trained to complete the required 

documentation and forward it (using a 

secure system) to the Quarantine Station 

for review and follow-up. 

To perform these tasks in a 

streamlined manner and ensure that all 

relevant information is collected in the 

most efficient and timely manner 

possible, Quarantine Stations use a 

number of forms—the Air Travel Illness 

or Death Investigation Form, Maritime 

Conveyance Illness or Death 

Investigation Form, and the Land Travel 

Illness or Death Investigation Form—to 

collect data on passengers with 

suspected illness and other travelers/ 

crew who may have been exposed to an 

illness. These forms are also used to 

respond to a report of a death aboard a 

conveyance. 

The purpose of all three forms is the 

same: to collect information that helps 

quarantine officials detect and respond 

to potential public health 

communicable disease threats. All three 

forms collect the following categories of 

information: Demographics and mode of 

transportation, clinical and medical 

history, and any other relevant facts 

(e.g., travel history, traveling 

companions, etc.). As part of this 

documentation, quarantine public 

health officers look for specific signs 

and symptoms common to the nine 

quarantinable diseases (Pandemic 

influenza; SARS; Cholera; Plague; 

Diphtheria; Infectious Tuberculosis; 

Smallpox; Yellow fever; and Viral 

Hemorrhagic Fevers), as well as most 

communicable diseases in general. 

These signs and symptoms include 

fever, difficulty breathing, shortness of 

breath, cough, diarrhea, jaundice, or 

signs of a neurological infection. The 

forms also collect data specific to the 

traveler’s conveyance. 

These data are used by Quarantine 

Stations to make decisions about a 

passenger’s suspected illness as well as 

its communicability. This in turn 

enables Quarantine Station staff to assist 

conveyances in the public health 

management of passengers and crew. 

The estimated total burden on the 

public, included in the chart below, can 

vary a great deal depending on the 

severity of the illness being reported, 

the number of contacts, the number of 

follow-up inquiries required, and who is 

recording the information (e.g., 

Quarantine Station staff versus the 

conveyance medical authority). In all 

cases, Quarantine Stations have 

implemented practices and procedures 

that balance the health and safety of the 

American public against the public’s 

desire for minimal interference with 

their travel and trade. Whenever 

possible, Quarantine Station staff obtain 

information from other documentation 

(e.g., manifest order, other airline 

documents) to reduce the amount of the 

public burden. 

There are no costs to respondents 

other than their time. 


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