Public Health Matters Blog Posts
Dengue: The Key West Tour
I often get asked about mosquito-borne dengue fever in the context of climate change. One of the first things I tell people is that it’s actually quite common outside the United States. Between 50 and 100 million cases occur each year, including about 500,000 of the really severe hemorrhagic fever type, and the numbers continue Read More >
Posted on by 11 CommentsBringing Vaccines to a Location Near You
Vaccines are in the news, on the minds of parents, in commercials, and on Oprah’s couch. Childhood vaccination has been bolstered by recommendations developed by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with the participation and consensus of the nation’s medical professional organizations. It has been institutionalized as a part of pediatric practice. Read More >
Posted on by 4 CommentsFood-borne Outbreaks Caused By Ingredients: Would You Like Some Pepper With That?
I often discuss the globalization and complexity of our food supply to highlight both the wonderful diversity of our yummy foodstuffs but also the challenges from contamination. Recently, architectural students in California provided a vivid example when they deconstructed a taco from a street-vendor to see the origin of each of the ingredients (see Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentRolling Up Our Sleeves to Fight Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
See: Tips for health care providers about RMSF. I am a pediatrician by training, and people are often amused by that fact when I tell them what my job responsibilities sometimes include. Going door-to-door putting tick collars on dogs and treating yards with pesticide are not activities people typically associate with their children’s doctor. However, Read More >
Posted on by 75 CommentsGlobe Hopping, Rabies Stopping: Outreach to DRC
We often talk about what we’ve done to help others stay free of infectious diseases. But something that often goes unstated is the training we provide that gives other health and medical professionals the tools to keep people healthy. Although a lot of this work happens here in the United States, the assistance we provide Read More >
Posted on by 5 CommentsHemorrhagic Fever in Saudi Arabia: Following the Ticks
As scientists with CDC’s Special Pathogens Branch, Pierre Rollin, Bobbie Rae Erickson, and I recently boarded a flight from Atlanta to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, so that we could provide health officials with our expertise on Alkhurma virus. This virus causes Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever, a tick-borne disease that can be serious, even fatal, in humans. Ticks Read More >
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