Lonely office links

It's 2 days before Christmas. All the CSTE-ers are off celebrating, leaving the lonely Jewish girl here. To work? Nah, to blog! So here are some links for you to peruse while you're getting away from your visiting families:

1. A New York dog is confirmed to have H1N1. The American Veterinary Medicine Association (and surely the National Association for State Public Health Veterinarians as well) wants to ensure the public that while the virus can be passed from human to animal, there is no evidence the virus can be passed from animal to human. No need to stop petting Fido.
2. Associated Content's health news section has come out with the Top 10 health stories of the decade. H1N1 is #1, while health care reform comes in at #9. Hm. Other stories that made the cut include food safety, screening tests, and the HPV vaccine (all stories I've blogged about here!).
3. The Washington Post reports that fewer people are getting tested for H1N1, which "proves" that the second peak has subsided. Has it? Could this just mean that fewer people are being tested because physicians are assuming flu-like symptoms to be H1N1? Fewer tested could just mean that.... fewer are tested, not that the incidence of H1N1 is declining.
4. This op-ed piece discusses One Health, the initiative/idea that animal and human health intersect in increasingly important ways. It is, indeed, a concept that is gaining ground, and so I encourage you to take a look.
5. This editorial in the NY Times discusses the end to abstinence-only funding for sex education programs. It includes an important quote:
   

   Ideology, censorship and bad science have no place in public health policy.