Circulating strains are well matched to influenza strains recommended for the 1998-99 flu vaccine. Therefore, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends that health-care workers and others working in LTCFs receive a flu shot each year. The reasons for this rapid improvement are not fully understood and further investigations are under way. Preterm birth rates among singleton infants are increasing among white and decreasing among blacks. Preterm birth, a major cause of morbidity and mortality among infants, has been increasing in the United States over the last decade.
Black infants are nearly twice as likely to be preterm as white infants.
Recent increases in the rate of multiple births are believed to contribute to increasing rates of preterm birth. When singleton births were examined using U.S. certificates of live birth, rates overall were stable between 1989 and 1996. These findings are independent of changes in maternal demographics, time of entry into prenatal care, and induction practices. The risk of singleton preterm birth among black women is still almost twice that of white women. During 1998, the overall incidence of foodborne illnesses, under surveillance, declined.