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Tag archives for CDC
Newborn screening: One of public health’s greatest achievements celebrates 50 years and thousands of lives saved
Posted by The Pump Handle on May 3, 2013 On Feb. 13, 2012, Honey Stecken gave birth to her daughter Maren. Everything appeared perfectly fine — she ate and slept and did all the things a baby does. Even after a couple weeks at home in South Fork. Colo., with her newborn little girl, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Cats, cheezburgers and zombies: The new (and awesome) public health
Posted by The Pump Handle on September 14, 2012 Funny cats and disaster preparedness. It’s a marriage made in Internet heaven.
This is public health. This is public health on sequestration.
Posted by The Pump Handle on August 3, 2012 To the long list of hard-to-pronounce bacteria and viruses that threaten people’s health can now be added one more threat: sequestration. Except sequestration isn’t a disease — well, unless you’d call Congress’ chronic inability to deal with the national debt in a fair and balanced way a disease.
Money can’t buy love, but it can buy better health and a longer life
Posted by The Pump Handle on June 4, 2012 A recent report again confirms what comes as no surprise to public health practitioners: that income and education are inextricably tied to the opportunities for better health and longevity.
When I grow up, I wanna be a public health worker
Posted by The Pump Handle on February 20, 2012 by Kim Krisberg Amanda DeSimpelare was always interested in science, but she was wary of what a career in the field would be like. She pictured herself being tucked away in a laboratory all day. It wasn’t too appealing. Then, in the summer of 2010, she discovered public health. “When I pictured science before, I…
Lessons from Contagion
Posted by The Pump Handle on November 7, 2011 By Mark Pendergrast As I watched the blockbuster bio-thriller Contagion, I was struck by how realistic it was in many ways. That isn’t surprising, since many epidemiologists, including those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, served as advisors. The film was based on a simple premise. What if a new,…
Culprits in Germany’s Foodborne Illness Outbreak
Posted by Liz Borkowski on June 10, 2011 After blaming cucumbers, backpedaling on the cucumbers and blaming bean sprouts, then backpedaling on the sprouts, German authorities have now concluded that bean sprouts are, in fact, to blame for the spread of E. coli O104:H4, which has sickened more than 3,000 people and killed 31. Patients with the most severe cases have suffered kidney…
June 5, 1981: CDC reports “the possibility of a cellular-immune dysfunction related to a common exposure”
Posted by Liz Borkowski on June 5, 2011 Thirty years ago today, the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published a report of five young men with Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia who were treated at three different hospitals in Los Angeles, California. The authors observed that all five patients had no known common contacts, but had in common the fact that they “reported having…
Public Health Achievements in the 21st Century
Posted by Liz Borkowski on May 24, 2011 I’ve written before about “Ten Great Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century,” which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in 1999. Now, CDC has put together a list of ten great public health achievements from 2001 to 2010, based on nominations from the agency’s public health scientists. Here are the ten achievements…
National Public Health Week: Injury Prevention
Posted by Liz Borkowski on April 6, 2011 It’s National Public Health Week, and this year’s theme is “Safety is No Accident: Live Injury Free.” The American Public Health Association notes that in the US each year, nearly 150,000 people die from injuries, and almost 30 million people visit emergency rooms for injuries. They offer safety tips for home, work, play, transportation, and…