Summer's here!

Wow has it been a long time since I've posted. Sorry about that! It's been busy here at CSTE, and we've been working quite hard on everything from international influenza consultations to CDC/CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship interviews to Annual Conference planning.

Now it's April 5, and in Atlanta that means summer is here! Some summer public health tips:

• Food safety
  Summer means picnics, baseball games, hikes, and lots of outdoor eating. Keep yourself salmonellosis free this summer, and follow tips from organizations like this one. The basics are clean, separate, cook, and chill. And if you do have a foodborne illness, notify your local health department!
  
• Tick/bug bites
  Summer means bug bites, that's a fact, and there are a few things to do to keep yourself healthy and hopefully bite-free. This article gives some tips: stay on well-traveled paths, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants in the woods, wear DEET-containing bug repellants, and check yourself, children, and pets carefully after walking in the woods. Here is some info from CDC about vectorborne and rickettsial diseases. Finally, some "Fight the Bite!" info about West Nile Virus.
  
• Fun in the sun
  Use sunscreen - cover that delicate skin! Use safe sun practices to avoid the dreaded sunburn.
• Be safe
  And, last but not least, be safe. Injury accounts for a huge number of deaths during the summertime, so keep an eye out for yourself and your loved ones. Fireworks, boating and swimming, and general injury prevention - all important.
  

Mandatory bicycle helmet laws

Commentary on bicycle helmet blog post:
So this is a public health blog. So naturally we're going to be in favor of measures that improve the public's health. Take laws that mandate children and/or adults wearing bicycle helmets. It seems pretty intuitive, right? Wear helmet = less impact if you fall = fewer traumatic brain injuries = improved health population-wide. All for the low cost of a simple bike helmet. This man's blog post doesn't agree. Take a look.

This fact sheet from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows facts to the contrary; bike helmets reduce head injuries and bike helmet laws increase bike helmet use. This CDC MMWR article recommends bike helmet use. Here are some statistics and a summary of state laws from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute.

Now, I know that these statistics by themselves aren't a cohesive argument for mandating helmet use, but why the heck not? We mandate seatbelt use, we mandate lots of things that improve your health every day. You don't wake up in the morning without public health touching your life. Why not save especially a child's life by mandating that he or she wear a bicycle helmet while joyfully riding through the neighborhood?

Can foreclosures cause public health problems?

What a cool article!
The gist of it: foreclosures = abandoned homes = neglected swimming pools = standing water = mosquitoes = increased incidence of West Nile Virus. What a connection to make.

Other possible public health problems that might result from foreclosures:
- Environmental toxin exposures as homes sit and are neglected.
- Mental health concerns stemming from homeowner stress. (A fact sheet about mental health & public health, another fact sheet, and an article.)
- Injuries from neighborhood kids playing around the foreclosed house.

Any other ideas?