Posts Tagged ‘CDC’

amartin
Ali
Martin

Week-Long Immunization Campaign Reaches Millions

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

FACT: An estimated 10 million cases and 164,000 deaths from measles occur each year.

FACT: Measles is a leading cause of vaccine-preventable deaths among young children.

FACT: For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die.

When I came across these chilling statics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), I was surprised by the incidence rate and the severity of a disease that we in the U.S. rarely see. In developing countries, measles is a killer, so I was interested to learn about a program underway in Zimbabwe.

Image Courtesy of WHO

Image Courtesy of WHO

Last week, Dr. Henry Madzorera, Zimbabwe's Honorable Minister of Health and Child Welfare, launched a week-long nationwide measles immunization campaign. The "Child Health Days" campaign targeted approximately 5 million children aged 6 months to 14 years with the measles vaccination, as well as vitamin A supplementation and all the other recommended antigens for children less than five years of age. This mass immunization campaign came in response to the current measles outbreak that has affected 55 out of 62 districts in Zimbabwe, killing approximately 384 children. (more...)

Posted in Immunization, Infectious Disease
By amartin | No Comments »

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mlustig
Megan
Lustig

Autism, Divorce, and the International Meeting for Autism Research

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

Chances are you've heard the numbers - according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 110 children in the U.S. have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). And if you've heard those numbers, you also may have heard the widely referenced statistic that 80 percent of parents of children with an ASD end up getting divorced. However, research presented by our client, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, at the recent 2010 International Meeting for Autism Research in Philadelphia debunked this statistic, finding that autism has no effect on family structure.

So why are these findings important to the autism community? I'll let you click here to listen to lead study author Dr. Brian Freedman discuss these findings, and provide his research team's first-hand perspective. So many people - from fellow researchers at the meeting, to outlets including WebMD, Newsweek's Human Condition Blog, HealthDay, NPR, and the LA Times Booster Shots Blog - expressed interest in this study, because it demonstrates that families don't have to receive a diagnosis of autism and divorce at the same time, and it underscores how families are resilient when faced with the challenges that raising a child with an ASD may bring. (more...)

Posted in Disease Awareness
By mlustig | No Comments »

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MaggieSchmerin
Maggie
Schmerin

Spectrum Infection: Lessons Learned - H1N1 A Year Later

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

nicGreetings from the 44th National Immunization Conference in Atlanta! With the one year anniversary of the H1N1 outbreak upon us this week, there is not a more fitting place for officials from NIH, HHS, CDC, FDA, state and local health agencies, vaccine advocacy organizations and vaccine manufacturers to gather.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius delivered the conference's keynote address, which focused on the response to the H1N1 flu pandemic, the lessons learned and efforts to strengthen America's health security in the future.

On April 21, 2009, the CDC was alerted to a new strain of influenza in California and Texas, similar to one that was presenting in Mexico. Kathleen Sebelius was still serving as governor of Kansas, but seven short days later would be sworn in as our country's 21st HHS Secretary and quickly whisked into the Situation Room at the White House where President Obama and other government leaders were beginning to mount an attack on what would become the world's first pandemic in 40 years.

Over the course of the past 12 months, the federal government worked alongside state and local health agencies to ensure that Americans were prepared for and protected against H1N1, and the H1N1 vaccine was the keystone of these efforts. As Secretary Sebelius stated, "The H1N1 vaccine was the most ambitious immunization campaign ever." (more...)

Posted in Infectious Disease
By Maggie Schmerin | No Comments »

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CMorrison
Catherine
Morrison

Evidence Based Menus

Friday, October 9th, 2009

"Is there a healthy future? Obesity and with it diabetes are getting worse. The human and financial costs are enormous. There is emerging evidence based on how to address obesity both from a public health standpoint and from a policy standpoint. I do not think that we can wait for perfect evidence and in fact I think the existence of evidence will be facilitated by action with programs which are implemented and then rigorously evaluated. The question I think before us and what we have to weigh as a group as we consider the weight of the nation is whether we as a society are willing to take the actions necessary to reverse the epidemic of obesity."

That was Dr. Thomas Frieden, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in July of this year at the first ever conference on obesity, The Weight of the Nation, in Washington, DC.  The statement struck me at the time, because the public health community - particularly the academic side - is very focused on the need for evidence.  However, sometimes, you just have to try something and see if it works. The current obesity epidemic couldn't provide better justification for trying new ideas.

(more...)

Posted in Public Affairs, Public Health
By CMorrison | No Comments »

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mcover
Michael
Cover

In a Pandemic, Early Intervention Can Save Lives

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

As we learn more about the evolving situation with regard the H1N1 strain of influenza circulating around the world, it is useful to look to our past experiences with pandemic influenza to learn and apply any lessons that can help mitigate sickness and death.

Let's call this a tale of two cities...in the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic, a minimum of 50 million people around the world died from the flu or from secondary infection. But not all localities experienced the same death rate, largely due to the public health guidance that was followed in that specific area. In the US, St. Louis and Philadelphia had vastly different outcomes, despite the fact that the same strain of influenza infected their communities.

In 1918, there were no influenza vaccines or antivirals and limited international travel. The public health responses were limited to isolating the ill, quarantining houses, closing schools, canceling worship services, restricting the size of funerals and weddings, closing saloons and theaters, restricting door-to-door sales, discouraging the use of public transportation, staggering the hours of business and factory operations, imposing curfews and, in some places, recommending the use of face masks in public.

(more...)

Posted in Disease Awareness, Public Health
By Michael Cover | No Comments »

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Spectrum

Something’s Gotta Give, But What Will It Take?

Monday, August 24th, 2009

At the end of July, the Spectrum team attended the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Weight of the Nation conference, which featured public health experts, medical personnel, and policymakers, coming together to discuss obesity in America. The conference - the CDC's first on the topic - was a direct response to the fast growing epidemic of obesity in America. For example:

  • More than 60 percent of American adults and 30 percent of American children are overweight and obese, which can lead to many chronic health risks, including diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, and
  • The United States ranks last among nations in reducing the number of preventable deaths resulting from obesity-related chronic illnesses (CDC).

(more...)

Posted in Congress, Disease Awareness, Health Policy, Public Affairs
By Spectrum | No Comments »

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