In Case You Missed It: Top 10 Posts From 2017

 

In honor of the New Year, we are rounding up the blogs that were most viewed by you, our readers, in 2017.

  1. America’s Hidden Health Crisis: Hope for Those Who Suffer from ME/CFS
    Public Health Matters recognized the 25th anniversary of International Awareness Day for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia. Between 825,000 and 2.5 million Americans are estimated to have ME/CFS, yet this debilitating illness remains largely invisible to most Americans.


  2. John Snow: A Legacy of Disease Detectives
    In 1854, John Snow was the first to use maps and records to track the spread of a disease back to its source. Today, his ideas provide the foundation for how we find and stop disease all over the world. Public Health Matters highlighted the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service in honor of the birthday of the father of epidemiology and the first true disease detective.


  3. Tips to Protect Yourself from Norovirus
    Every year, 19 to 21 million people get sick with diarrhea and vomiting caused by norovirus. Public Health Matters shared five steps you could take to help protect yourself and others from this virus that can lead to dehydration or more serious illness, especially in young children and older adults.


  4. Why Diarrhea & Swimming Don’t Mix
    While sunburn and drowning might be the health risks that first come to mind when you think about swimming, diarrhea is another culprit. Outbreaks of diarrheal illness linked to swimming are on the rise. Public Health Matters shared five important facts about diarrhea-causing germs at aquatic venues and how to protect yourself and loved ones during Healthy and Safe Swimming Week 2017.


  5. Keep your pets safe in an emergency: 5 things to know
    Many pet owners are unsure of what to do with their pets if they are faced with extreme weather or a natural disaster. June was National Pet Preparedness Month and Public Health Matters highlighted five things you can do to keep your pets safe during and after an emergency.


  6. Get a Flu Shot to Protect Your Heart and Your Health
    People with certain long-term medical conditions, such as heart disease, are at high risk of developing serious complications from flu. Public Health Matters discussed the complications of flu and the important steps you can take to protect yourself and those around you including getting a flu vaccine.


  7. Predicting Community Resilience and Recovery After a Disaster
    After a disaster, the number of people with psychological trauma exceeds the number of people with physical injury by as much as 40 to 1, but there is much more research and emergency response focus on the physical effects of a disaster rather than the psychosocial effects. Public Health Matters interviewed a professor from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health about their innovative model and index to measure resilience in the United States.


  8. Safety Tips Every Contact Lens Wearer Should Know
    Forty-five million people in the United States who wear contact lenses to correct your vision. Eye infections related to improper contact lens wear and care are serious and can lead to long-lasting damage, but they are often preventable. Public Health Matters discussed the science behind some of the important contact lens wear and care recommendations in observance of Contact Lens Health Week.


  9. Preparing for College Life: A Healthy Guide
    Public Health Matters invited our David J. Sencer CDC Museum Intern from the Walker School to guest write a post with tips for fellow graduating high school seniors to prepare to head off to college.


  10. Rural America in Crisis: The Changing Opioid Overdose Epidemic
    In America, 15 out of 100 people live in a rural area. The rate of drug overdose deaths in rural areas has surpassed rates in urban areas, and it is a huge public health concern. Public Health Matters explored how rural areas are different when it comes to drug use and drug overdose deaths, including opioids and CDC’s response to this epidemic.

 

We want to hear from you!

The New Year is not just about reflecting on the past, and as we look ahead to 2018 we want to know what topics you would like to see on Public Health Matters. Please feel free to leave a comment below or send us an email so we can make sure that we are sharing content that is useful and interesting to you.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter, follow @CDCemergency, or visit us on Facebook so you are the first to hear about new blogs.

John Snow: A Legacy of Disease Detectives

Snow cholera map
Map of cholera cases in Soho, London, 1854. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

John Snow, known as the father of epidemiology, was born on March 15, 1813. This week, we honor the birthday of the first true disease detective.

The Story of the Broad Street Pump

London, 1854: A cramped Soho neighborhood teems with people and animals living in cramped and dirty quarters. A deadly outbreak of cholera is spreading. Doctors and scientists believe it’s caused by “miasma,” or bad air. They theorize that particles from rotting matter and waste are getting into the air and making people sick.

Enter John Snow. An accomplished physician, he becomes convinced that something other than the air might be responsible for the illness. Through carefully mapping the outbreak, he finds that everyone affected has a single connection in common: they have all retrieved water from the local Broad Street pump.

On September 8, 1854, Snow tests his theory by removing the pump’s handle, effectively stopping the outbreak, proving his theory, and opening the door to modern epidemiology.

Valuable Lessons for a Modern Age

In 1854, John Snow was the first to use maps and records to track the spread of a disease back to its source. Today, his ideas provide the foundation for how we find and stop disease all over the world.

We have better, more modern tools now for identifying and tracking illness, like access to state-of-the-art labs and computer systems. We have in-depth knowledge of germs and how they spread. But when we train today’s disease detectives, we still return to the basics. CDC disease detectives are trained to look for clues by asking:

  • WHO is sick?
  • WHAT are their symptoms?
  • WHEN did they get sick?
  • WHERE could they have been exposed to the cause of the illness?

We live in a world where disease can travel across the globe in a matter of hours. This means we must not only apply these basic lessons of epidemiology, but we must constantly be looking for ways to find better answers, faster.

Disease Detectives Make a DifferenceEpidemic Intelligence Service

When outbreaks or other threats emerge, CDC’s disease detectives, some of whom are trained through our Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), are on the scene. These boots-on-the ground staff, called EIS officers, support over 100 public health investigations (Epi-Aids) each year in the U.S. and worldwide.

CDC’s disease detectives have been instrumental in tracking down threats like:

Anthrax: During the 2001 anthrax outbreak among U.S. postal workers, disease detectives investigated the route of contaminated envelopes and how workers became infected.

E. coli: For the first time, disease detectives conclusively showed that flour was the source of a 2016 E. coli outbreak. Millions of pounds of flour were taken off the shelves, including flour-containing products like bread, cake, and muffin mixes.

Seoul virus: Disease detectives have been working to track and stop an outbreak of Seoul virus, an emerging rodent-borne hantavirus, involving home-based rat breeders this year. The outbreak was first identified after two Wisconsin rat breeders became ill in December and, as of March 13, the investigation has so far included rat-breeding facilities in 15 states, with 17 people infected in seven states.

Like Snow’s map that revealed cases of cholera congregated around the Broad Street pump, we must keep tabs on where and how disease is spreading. Once the source of disease is identified, it is crucial to develop and implement interventions to help prevent people from getting sick. We must remain innovative and creative, like Snow when he removed the handle of the Broad Street pump to stop disease at the source.

References