Discussing causes, origins, evolution, and implications of disease and other phenomena.
"...a veritable expert on tawdry cosmetic procedures gone horribly awry..."--Kevin Beck
Tara C. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology. Her research involves a number of pathogens at the animal-human nexus. Additionally, she is the founder of Iowa Citizens for Science and also writes for The Panda's Thumb and WIRED SCIENCE's Correlations. Please note the views expressed on this site are Dr. Smith's alone and may not be representative of the groups mentioned above.
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February 28, 2006
Category: Blog carnivals
This week's Grand Rounds is up over at A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure. Ones that caught my eye: Dr. Andy's discussion of mandatory vaccination; Flea on gambling with meningitis; Orac's tales of surgery (warning: not quite...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 10:40 AM • 0 Comments
February 27, 2006
Category: Antibiotic resistance • Infectious disease • Various bacteria
I'm swamped today, so alas, nothing new from me. However, since many of you are newer readers, I thought I'd totally cheat and dig up one from the archives on antimicrobial resistance. This one I cross-posted to Panda's Thumb where...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 1:50 PM • 9 Comments
February 26, 2006
Category: Infectious disease • Outbreak • Public health • Various bacteria
Necrotizing fasciitis (the so-called "flesh-eating disease") is a rare manifestation of infection with the group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes, though occasionally other bacteria cause it as well). Apparently, it's been a banner year for the infection in Boulder, Colorado. The...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 2:50 PM • 15 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
February 24, 2006
Category: Cancer epidemiology • Infectious causes of chronic disease • Infectious disease • Public health
This time for prostate cancer. In a surprising discovery, researchers say they have found a virus in some prostate cancer patients, a finding that opens new research avenues in the most common major cancer among men in the United States....
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 2:40 PM • 158 Comments
Category: Intelligent design/creationism • Public health • Science education • Skepticism
A lot on my plate this morning, but if you've not seen these already from yesterday, check out Respectful Insolence, where Orac has a post on using chemical castration as a treatment for autism. Just when you think things couldn't...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 12:24 PM • 5 Comments
February 23, 2006
Category: Policy • Politics • Public health
You don't need to worry about security. I don't know whether having a UAE company manage our ports would increase our vulnerability to terrorism or not, but I find it highly, highly ironic that an administration who's spent so much...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 2:50 PM • 14 Comments
Category: AIDS/HIV • Infectious disease • Public health • Skepticism
As promised, a discussion on the paper, Heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in northern California: results from a ten-year study. First, let's backtrack a bit and see what's already been said, lest I repeat myself. The little summary...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 11:55 AM • 365 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
Category: Blog carnivals • Infectious disease
Good morning! Welcome to your semimonthly dose of wholesome microbial goodness. Lots on your plate this morning. To whet your appetite, check out a study described over at Biology News examining the genomics of bacteria that cause ehrlichiosis. While you're...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 11:00 AM • 6 Comments • 2 TrackBacks
Category: Infectious disease
New York man falls ill with anthrax Musician reportedly had contact with natural anthrax sources A New York musician has tested positive for anthrax that authorities say came from unprocessed animal skins used to make traditional African instruments. "The...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 5:30 AM • 11 Comments
February 22, 2006
Category: Humor
One last picture and then that will probably be it for me today (too much to catch up on!) I mentioned here the ugliest childhood picture ever. Joseph over at Immunoblogging decided to call me out and double/triple/quadruple dare me...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 11:40 AM • 17 Comments
Category: Blog carnivals
Submit entries for Animalcules (due tonight at midnight CST) and Tangled Bank (in by next Monday night). Also, drop me a line if you'd like to host future versions of Animalcules--I've had a few offers, and I'll be setting up...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 11:05 AM • 1 Comments
Category: Misc.
Do you people not understand internet etiquette? Once a conversation is closed, it's closed--don't go spamming other threads with unrelated comments. I already told y'all I'd re-open the AIDS discussion in another thread--are you so impatient that you can't give...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 10:45 AM • 7 Comments
February 16, 2006
Category: Misc.
As I mentioned here, I'm heading to Ohio in the morning. I have two brand-new nephews to meet. My sister gave birth to her first child back on January 24th, and a sister-in-law just had her first on Valentine's Day....
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 10:40 PM • 73 Comments
Category: Intelligent design/creationism • Policy • Public health • Science education
Just wanted to point you to these posts over at Mike's blog, regarding Jimmy Stewart, a former physicist and candidate for State Representative in Ohio's 22nd District: Dublin and Clintonville. I don't know him from Adam and so this doesn't...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 9:20 PM • 1 Comments
Category: Blog carnivals
I know, I'm way late, but I still wanted to plug today's edition of The Skeptics' Circle over at Used and probably unusable....
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 6:09 PM • 1 Comments
February 15, 2006
Category: Infectious disease • Influenza • Public health
It's been about a week since my last "bird flu" post--and I know that many people, including myself, tend to get burned out on the same ol' thing, but there's some interesting news out that I wanted to share. First,...
Posted by Tara C. Smith at 2:40 PM • 23 Comments
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