National Public Health Week!

It's been awhile since I did a posting of interesting links. Enjoy!

1. National Public Health Week is this week! Go public health!
   
   
   
2. Norovirus: Tara Parker-Pope has an article in the NYT about noro and how difficult it is to get rid of it. Take a look, and see CDC's page about noro for more information.
3. Superbugs: This has been awhile, but it's an interesting Nick Kristof piece about antibiotics and the rise of superbugs and the implications of those superbugs.
4. HIV prevalence in DC: Some promising news about the HIV epidemic in Washington, D.C. is explained in this article.
5. Travel's impact on pandemics: An interesting Canadian study will analyze the impact of travel and travel restrictions on the H1N1 pandemic.

Some links for you

1. Massachusetts public health officials explain the dissemination of their H1N1 vaccine allotment. Patience, all you patients out there!
2. The WHO has discovered new data that show that 1.2 million people over the age of 5 die of foodborne illness each year in Southeast Asia and Africa. That number is significantly higher than previously estimated, providing new reason to address this issue in the developing world.
3. In case you're one who needs everything, check out these iPhone apps about H1N1.
4. There is a new tool to show where AIDS treatment and care in San Francisco is lacking. Click here for the map itself.
5. Obesity is an alarming public health issue, and this latest article has alarming numbers. If trends stay as they are now, 43% of adults will be obese in 2018. Wow.
6. This article highlights that many public health professionals around the country are being reassigned from their normal job duties to work on H1N1 assignments. This is disrupting usual public health activities that address ongoing problems that are not going away simply because this pesky flu virus has shown up. It's a problem, but it doesn't appear it will be solved.
7. Representative David Camp says in this article about the breast cancer screening recommendations: "I mean, let the rationing begin. This is what happens when bureaucrats make your health care decisions." Right, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is bureaucrats. They're not experienced physicians and trained professionals. Sure.
8. Lots of money is being poured into fighting healthcare-associated infections. This article details the stimulus funding being given to the issue.
   

Links for the week

The Kaiser Family Foundation reports results from a survey that show Americans find the HIV epidemic less urgent, even after the latest incidence estimate showed that more people than previously thought are contracting the virus each year. Interesting results - one would think public pressure to do something about the HIV epidemic would be even higher, but it's not.

Generally, public health is important! If you're reading this, the concept is nothing new - I'm preaching to the proverbial choir. This article brings home the point once again. Epidemiology and surveillance, clean water, disease treatment and prevention, food safety, and more. The author, Valerie Bassett, puts this very eloquently: "Who needs public health? We all do. Every resident of the Commonwealth - whether aware of it or not - relies on a strong, functioning public health system - a system that is greatly endangered. Without public health, there is no way for the Commonwealth to succeed in education, economic growth, environmental innovation, or civic engagement."

Take a look at this article about doctor shortages. While not directly public health, it certainly has an impact on public health.

In case you haven't heard, red meat isn't good for you.

See my next post for updates on swine flu!

Links for the day

Here are some articles you might be interested in:

State, local changes seen as key to U.S. food safety - This is based on a report released today regarding food safety. So true! The system needs to be integrated, and hopefully the various proposals out there to reform the food safety system will be implemented to help strengthen the system.

This article by Paula Crossfield at the Huffington Post critiques an article in the NY Times recently that warns consumers about the dangers of trichinosis in free-range pork. There were a few problems with the analysis, which Paula smartly points out.

A policy cocktail for fighting HIV - Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, discusses three "bold new" policy moves to combat HIV in the U.S. First is PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis, would provide antiretrovirals to those at high risk of infection. Second is "universally available, voluntary, annual testing for HIV infection" followed by immediate treatment of those found HIV-positive. The third policy addresses the long-term treatment of HIV-positive people. (Frankly, the third policy isn't spelled out very succinctly.)

New York considers making HIV testing routine - This is a pretty controversial idea to make HIV testing routine during physician visits, but studies have found that asking patients to opt into testing is a barrier. So there are pros and cons to this approach. We'll see where the NY legislature takes this.

Access to outpatient mental health services - Primary care physicians are finding difficulty getting mental health services for their patients. This study in Health Affairs (great journal) says that it is up to twice as difficult to get mental health services than other medical services.