Public Health Matters Blog Posts

Rural America in Crisis: The Changing Opioid Overdose Epidemic

An aerial view of Poconos, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, USA.

In America, 15 out of 100 people live in a rural area.  I loved growing up in a rural community, where there were actually no stop lights, everyone knew their neighbors, and doors were always open. But, my years of working in public health has taught me rural areas are not that different from urban Read More >

Posted on by Rita Noonan, PhD8 CommentsTags , , , , , , , , ,

ABCs of Viral Hepatitis

Children playing chess with grandparents

Viral hepatitis is the term that describes inflammation of the liver that is caused by a virus. There are actually five types of hepatitis viruses; each one is named after a letter in the alphabet: A, B, C, D and E. The most common types of viral hepatitis are A, B and C. These three Read More >

Posted on by Blog Administrator2 CommentsTags , , , , , ,

Preparing to quit: 10 tips to help you quit smoking

Each year, on the third Thursday of November, the American Cancer Society encourages smokers to quit during the Great American Smokeout. Most people who smoke want to quit, but they also know quitting is hard…it can take several attempts to succeed. Here are some tips to help you quit for good:  Find Your Reason to Read More >

Posted on by Crystal Bruce, MPH10 CommentsTags , , , , , ,

Everyone can be a flu vaccine advocate!

Little girl getting a bandaid.

With the holidays quickly approaching, there will be more opportunities to spend time with family and friends.  Now is the time to ensure that you and those around you are protected from flu. Now is the time to get your seasonal flu vaccine if you haven’t already gotten it. It takes about two weeks after Read More >

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Loving Someone With Epilepsy

MRI brain scan

When Zayan first told me that he has epilepsy, I didn’t believe him.  “You mean seizures, right?”  I was embarrassed at how much I didn’t know. Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain that triggers recurrent seizures. It can be caused by different conditions that affect a person’s brain. A person is diagnosed with epilepsy Read More >

Posted on by Eshita Sharmin, MPH33 CommentsTags , , , , ,

Partner, Train, Respond: Increasing Global Emergency Management Capacity

People walking a busy street in Zanzibar.

Countries in Africa are no strangers to major disease outbreaks that can result in illness and death of millions of people.  In the past two years alone the continent has experienced infectious disease outbreaks of cholera, meningitis, Ebola Virus Disease, Lassa fever, and Yellow fever, and other public health emergencies such as drought and famine. Read More >

Posted on by Loretta Jackson Brown, PhD, RN, Health Communication Specialist and Meredith Pinto, MPH, Health Scientist1 CommentTags , , , , , , , , , , ,