Just two years ago, an influenza pandemic swept the globe, causing hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths in the United States alone, including the deaths of an estimated 1,280 children.

Original title: “Are We Ready for America's Next Flu Challenge?”

Public Health Preparedness: 2011 State-by-State Update on Laboratory Capabilities and Response Readiness Planning

Original title: “CDC report highlights progress in nation's public health preparedness”

The rates of new lung cancer cases in the United States dropped among men in 35 states and among women in 6 states between 1999 and 2008, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Original title: “Lung cancer rates decline nationwide”

Although children and teenagers rarely die from flu-related causes, many of the deaths could have been prevented if the children had been vaccinated against the flu, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Original title: “CDC report details influenza prevention and treatment for children and teens”

Fewer American adults are smoking cigarettes, according to a new Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also, daily smokers are smoking fewer cigarettes each day, it says.

Original title: “Smokers are smoking less”

Immunization rates for children 19-35 months of age for most vaccine-preventable diseases are increasing or being sustained at high levels, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Original title: “CDC national survey finds early childhood immunization rates increasing”

The report, Mental Illness Surveillance Among Adults in the United States, appears as a supplement in today's issue of the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Original title: “Report identifies need for increased monitoring of adult mental illness”

The 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks is the focus of a special issue of the British medical journal Lancet. The issue features an article by Ali S. Khan, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.

Original title: “CDC Lancet article discusses public health preparedness progress and challenges”

CDC will host a telephone-only media availability to discuss the new Vital Signs report on cigarette smoking among adults.

Original title: “Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults Aged 18 Years United States, 2005 through 2010”

CDC report finds people live longer if they practice one or more healthy lifestyle behaviors

Original title: “CDC report finds people live longer if they practice one or more healthy lifestyle behaviors”

CDC will host a telebriefing regarding this season's influenza vaccination recommendations and influenza vaccination coverage among health-care personnel and pregnant women.

Original title: “CDC Telebriefing on Influenza Vaccination”

Breastfeeding protects against childhood obesity, yet less than 4 percent of U.S. hospitals provide the full range of support mothers need to be able to breastfeed, according to the most recent Vital Signs report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Improving rates of breastfeeding by providing better hospital support to mothers and babies is an important strategy to improve children's health, including a reduced risk of childhood obesity.

Original title: “Majority of U.S. hospitals do not fully support breastfeeding”

On this first World Health Organization (WHO)-sponsored World Hepatitis Day, July 28, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) joins the world in reflecting on the remarkable successes and enormous challenges in the global effort to prevent and control viral hepatitis.

Original title: “CDC Statement on World Hepatitis Day 2011”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials are warning people to stay cool, hydrated and informed to prevent illnesses and injuries as cities across the Midwest, South and East Coast continue to issue heat warnings and watches. Extreme heat can lead to very high body temperatures, brain and organ damage, and even death.

Original title: “CDC Urges: Stay Cool to Stay Healthy As Temperatures Soar”

Obesity has become a problem in every state, according to data analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No state reported that less than 20 percent of adults were obese in 2010, which means that no state met the national Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15 percent within the past decade, CDC researchers say.

Original title: “Latest State Data Show Rates of Obesity Remain High”

Today's World Health Organization (WHO) Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2011 documents that in the past two years, more than 1 billion people around the world have been newly protected by tobacco control interventions, including mass media campaigns, graphic health warnings, and smoke-free policies. In addition, there has been significant progress toward protecting children and adults from tobacco in countries throughout the world.

Original title: “Statement by Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Regarding WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2011”

The No. 2 cancer killer in the United States, colorectal cancer, could get bumped down from its ranking if more people get screened. The rate of adults developing and dying from colorectal cancer has decreased, according to a new Vital Signs report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Original title: “Colorectal Cancer: Second Most Deadly Cancer Can Be Stopped Before It Starts”

CDC will host a telephone-only media briefing to discuss the new Vital Signs report on colorectal screening, incidence and mortality.

Original title: “CDC Press Briefing on Vital Signs Report: Colorectal Cancer Screening, Incidence, and Mortality United States, 2002 through 2010”

Global public health advances during the first 10 years of the 21st century resulted in longer lives worldwide, increasing the average life expectancy at birth in low-income countries from 55 to 57 years, and in high-income countries from 78 to 80 years, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Original title: “CDC Identifies Top Global Public Health Achievements in First Decade of 21st Century”

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) begins this week a health survey regarding diseases that may be associated with chemical exposures related to water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

Original title: “ATSDR Launches Health Survey of Marine Corps Personnel and Civilians”