Categories: Disease Investigation, Disease Outbreak, Response
November 14th, 2012 2:05 pm ET -
Blog Administrator
By Jeff Eggert
It is another beautiful Denver morning. The sun is shining, and Canadian geese are honking in 40 degree weather. A large crowd has begun to gather in the center of a park, huddled around hot coffee and warm bagels while yellow-vested volunteers quickly triage individuals in the crowd towards the appropriate registration line. The Incident Commander holds a last minute briefing with Denver Police Department, Denver Health Paramedic Division and Denver Parks and Recreation covering everything from “securing the perimeter” to “ensuring client and volunteer safety.”
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Categories: Disease Investigation, Disease Outbreak, General, Response
October 23rd, 2012 2:03 pm ET -
Blog Administrator
One Case Sparks National Action
Imagine… A patient goes to the doctor for a routine steroid injection. A couple weeks later, the patient feels sick – headache, fever and suddenly uncomfortable in bright light. Within days, the patient is admitted to the local hospital’s intensive care unit. Doctors discover that the patient has a life-threatening disease they’ve never treated before.
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Categories: Anthrax, Disease Investigation, Disease Outbreak, Preparedness, Response
September 26th, 2012 10:14 am ET -
Ali S. Khan
You can’t respond to threats if you don’t know what they are, which is one reason that laboratories play such an important role in public health. Public health laboratories have helped detect all kinds of threats to the public’s health; including anthrax, monkey pox, novel flu viruses, and foodborne disease outbreaks caused by germs like listeria.
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Categories: Disease Outbreak, General, Vectorborne
August 16th, 2012 10:37 am ET -
Blog Administrator
West Nile virus season is off to an early start this year, which doesn’t bode well for what’s to come. Most West Nile virus exposures in the United States occur from July through October, with a peak during the first two weeks of August. Peak season in Texas is under way, and there are already 336 cases of West Nile illnesses, including 14 deaths reported as of August 13, making this the largest outbreak of West Nile virus in Texas since 2003. The virus has been appearing in many parts of the country, but almost half of the cases are in Texas and the numbers are rising.
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Categories: Disease Outbreak, General, Prevention/Vaccination
June 11th, 2012 2:11 pm ET -
Blog Administrator
By Kara Stephens
Current Status: Public Health Nemesis
If you’ve been reading the news the past few weeks, you may have heard about the recent outbreak of pertussis that has reached epidemic levels in Washington. There have been 2,092 cases reported statewide through June 5, 2012, compared to 164 reported cases in 2011 during the same time period. Other states are also reporting increased levels or outbreaks of pertussis. Outbreaks reported in schools and communities as well as the beginning of summer camp season highlight the importance of public awareness. View the Pertussis Disease Villain’s rap sheet below to find out more about this public health nemesis.
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Categories: Disease Outbreak, General
May 22nd, 2012 11:14 am ET -
Blog Administrator
By Kara Stephens
Memorial Day weekend last year, I was changing my daughter, Kinsey, when I noticed a blister on her finger and a few red marks near her diaper line and on her knees. I really didn’t worry too much about it at first, thinking it may have been some sort of mild allergic reaction or bug bites from playing outside all day. Later that afternoon, she took a drink from her sippy cup and began to cry as she shoved her hands into her mouth, desperately trying to figure out what was causing the pain. Thinking it was just the budding of new baby teeth I went and got some Orajel from the medicine cabinet. Only when I went to apply it I noticed the pain wasn’t caused by her teeth, but several blisters that had formed on the back of her throat and tongue. At this moment I knew something was wrong and all of my epidemiology and infectious disease coursework came flooding back to me.
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