Category: infectious disease
A Steep Learning Curve, Then COVID-19 Hits Home
I’ve worked as a health communication specialist on the COVID-19 response for the past year. In Japan, I translated CDC guidance into plain language so Americans quarantined on a cruise ship would understand the information needed to board a U.S. flight home. In Atlanta, I managed the process to publish international guidance on the CDC Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsCDC Tanzania and partners: Ensure HIV services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a series of unique structural, logistical, and program challenges related to routine HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services in Tanzania. To better protect healthcare workers and people living with HIV (PLHIV), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Government of Tanzania (GoT), non-governmental partners, and healthcare facilities Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentVoices from the Field: An interview with Anita Beukes, Laboratory Advisor
How is COVID-19 testing conducted in Namibia? Namibia is using semi-automated and automated platforms to conduct viral tests for COVID-19 (molecular real time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]). Testing is conducted at the government laboratories (Namibia Institute of Pathology), as well as at the University of Namibia, and in the private sector (Pathcare and a Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentVoices from the Field: Q&A with CDC Namibia Country Director Dr. Eric Dziuban
What is your role in the COVID-19 response for Namibia? As CDC Namibia Country Director, my role is to lead how this office responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes how we support the Ministry of Health and Social Services, the U.S. Embassy in Namibia, and the public. I spend a lot of time working Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsI have seen Ebola. Now you have a vaccine.
Debut of preventive use of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) vaccine for health care and frontline workers in Uganda before an outbreak For the first time, an unlicensed Ebola vaccine tested in clinical trials during the West African outbreak was offered to health care workers (HCWs) and other front line workers (FLWs) working in facilities bordering Read More >
Posted on byCDC works with countries to identify children infected with hepatitis B virus and generate the evidence for hepatitis B vaccine birth dose introduction
Around the world, approximately 257 million people are infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV), and about 700,000 die every year as result of the long-term, chronic health threats from HBV, including liver disease and cancer. But, such suffering can be prevented with a vaccine! More tragic still, newborn babies infected at birth by their mothers, Read More >
Posted on byOvercoming obstacles to polio eradication in Pakistan
Originally published on October 5, 2017 on Rotary Voices “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” Henry Ford When I first joined Pakistan’s PolioPlus Committee (PNPPC) as a manager close to eight years ago, polio eradication seemed within our reach. I used the opportunity to study poliomyelitis beyond just Read More >
Posted on byLooking Ahead to a Measles and Rubella Free World
Vaccines fight diseases and save lives. Think of achievements like smallpox eradication, a polio-free world close at hand, and 2-3 million deaths prevented each year through routine immunizations. Yet despite a safe and effective vaccine against measles and rubella, these deadly viruses continue to steal the health and lives of children all over the world. Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentOptimistic in the Face of Ongoing Tragedy: Progress toward a World Free of Human Rabies
Rabies is a fatal disease that kills an estimated 59,000 people each year, almost half of whom are children. The majority of deaths occur in Africa and Asia. All of these deaths are vaccine-preventable with timely administration of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), the shots needed to prevent rabies from developing in bite victims. So why is Read More >
Posted on byAre Ebola response investments making an impact? CDC Epidemiologist reflects on West Africa then and now
The first time I deployed to West Africa was in September 2014, at the height of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. I have witnessed many disease outbreaks in my public health career, but this one was more devastating than I could ever have imagined. It eventually took more than 11,000 lives. What was happening Read More >
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