Mr. T - and more!

Who can resist all of the H1N1 public service announcements going around? First was the video featuring Elmo, then the Atlanta Falcons, and now... you guessed it... Mr. T. He was quoted as saying “I’m the baddest in the world, and the flu gonna be all washed up when I’m through with it,” Mr. T said. “No, I don’t hate the virus. I pity the flu.” Perhaps not hard-hitting news, but still newsworthy, I'd argue!
(And by the way, this is from The Rebel Yell. Not a real news story!)


CDC has published new guidelines about infection control for H1N1 in hospitals. Because of the shortage of recommended N95 respirators, other measures must be taken to reduce risk of infection. Click here to view the guidance and here to read the RWJF Public Health Digest article about this issue.

This article also discusses infection control, in a larger sense. It mentions 10 ways hospitals can reduce infections, from hand washing to reporting laws to computer surveillance.

By now, of course, you've heard about Obama declaring H1N1 a national emergency. If not, read it here! This doesn't have anything to do with prevalence or severity. Rather, it opens up resources and allows hospitals and health departments to do more to cope with the pandemic.

This article has nothing to do with anything, but I didn't know the field of psychiatric epidemiology existed. So that was interesting to learn.

According to a recently published study, Holocaust survivors are more likely to get cancer later in life, perhaps due to the extraordinary physical and mental stress they underwent in the 1930s and 40s. This AJC article explains more.

Finally, CBS News reported that H1N1 is not as prevalent as thought, according to a 'study' they conducted. Effect Measure, a great epidemiology/public health blog (besides this one of course), examined this article and took issue with it.