Who Is at Risk?
Every child is at risk, especially in New Jersey with its old housing stock and industrial heritage. Therefore, New Jersey law mandates that every child be blood lead tested before age 6. Children under six years old are at greatest risk of suffering the harmful health effects of lead poisoning: • Their brains and nervous systems are still forming. • They frequently crawl on floors or furniture contaminated with lead dust and put their hands or other objects in their mouths. • More of the lead that gets into their mouth is taken up into their bodies. • Lead remains in their bodies for a long time. • Much of the lead is stored in their bones. Pregnant women exposed to lead should ask their doctor about a blood test. An infant born to a mother with an elevated level of lead in her blood would be at risk for lead poisoning.
a. Every child is at risk, especially in New Jersey with its old housing stock and industrial heritage. Therefore, New Jersey law mandates that every child be blood lead tested before age 6. b. Children, especially under the age of 6 years, because they are growing so rapidly and because they tend to put their hands or other objects into their mouths.
Although meningococcal disease rates are highest in infants, rates begin to rise again in early adolescence and peak between the ages of 15 and 24. During the 1990s, one study reported substantially increased incidence among 15- to 24-year-olds. In addition to the increased incidence, the fatality rate was over 22 percent in this age group, over five times that seen in younger persons. Up to 83 percent of the cases reported in this study were caused by the potentially vaccine-preventable serogroups that are included in Menactra vaccine.
Q. Who is at risk for malaria? A. Anyone can get malaria. Most cases occur in residents of countries with malaria transmission and travelers to those countries. In non-endemic countries, cases can occur in non-travelers as congenital malaria, introduced malaria, or transfusion malaria (see above). Q. Who are the people most at risk of severe and fatal malaria? A. Plasmodium falciparum causes severe and life-threatening malaria; this parasite is very common in many countries in Africa south of the Sahara. People who are heavily exposed to the bites of mosquitoes infected with P. falciparum are most at risk of dying from malaria. People who have little or no immunity to malaria, such as young children and pregnant women; or travelers coming from areas with no malaria, are more likely to become severely ill and die. Poor people living in rural areas who lack knowledge, money, or access to health care are more vulnerable to the disease. As a result of all these factors, an estimated 90% of
