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The Virus Detectives: Sifting Through Genes in Search of Answers on Ebola

…And it is here that Broad scientists studying Ebola and a similar deadly disease, Lassa, send their samples, taking advantage of what the center’s manager, Andrew J. Hollinger, referred to as superfast track sequencing in their urgent work on these diseases ravaging West Africa. Those scientists receive their sequence data in about 40 hours, compared with days for the usual work.

The Ebola and Lassa group, led by Pardis Sabeti, wants to know what the viruses look like. Do they mutate while they are infecting people, possibly evading the immune system? Are some strains more deadly than others? And what about the genetics of the people who are infected? Are some people more resistant, perhaps even immune, to these viruses because of tweaks in their own genes?

The research is emblematic of a new direction in public health, which uses powerful genetic methods and applies them to entire populations.

The aim is to get a detailed picture of disease epidemiology, as the disease is happening. Armed with such data, doctors should be better able to stop epidemics and researchers can get clues to treating and preventing infections.

harmreduction

Cost to of overdose antidote to double, hitting community groups hardest.

When 'I' is replaced by 'We'... even 'Illness' become 'Wellness'

http://motivationalworld.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/wellness/

#publichealth

What Has Project Lazarus in Harnett County Taught Me?

As the semester wraps up I have had time to think about what my first practicum experience has taught me. I have learned that working in collaboration yields the most benefit. Team Lazarus has worked together throughout the entire project, handling both the successes and limitations we have faced. Since our luncheon with community stakeholders in September, Team Lazarus has been keeping up to date on the current issues of prescription drug abuse in the United States and specifically in North Carolina. Throughout the country, states are dealing with the prescription drug epidemic differently, but Team Lazarus has tried to compile our outside research and the statistics from Harnett County to propose solutions to the growing problem.

Meeting with local Harnett County police and EMS officials has been beneficial to us as well. We have been able to hear in action stories about the risks of prescription drug abuse and the threat it poses in Harnett County specifically. The increased number of overdose cases in Harnett County in teens has become an interest of health officials. Police officials told Team Lazarus that they have seen prescription drug abuse starting as young as 5th grade. Education for these students would be best to focus on the parents! Parents need to be aware that this is a growing problem in young children and about how to talk to them regarding the risks of prescriptions drugs. As the ages increase education needs to be to the students. The common thought that prescribed medication is safer than other drugs is not true! If students understood the dangers, they may not start to abuse.

Also, my research has led me to see how the state of North Carolina is handling this epidemic. My research led me to a statewide public service announcement (PSA) competition among students to portray the risks of prescription drug abuse. The winning PSA was sent to the Health Department to be added to our website for the community. Team Lazarus compiled all of our research and created a webpage for the community to gain knowledge on prescription drug abuse. In the future, there in hopes to provide two links for students and parents to address the issues in ways that relate to both parties. In my opinion, this will be successful! As the project continues this webpage should be a main source of all the information needed for students, parents, and other community members on the risks of prescriptions drugs.

Locally, the number of medication drop box locations and events to take back prescription medication has been a success in Harnett County. Our church bulletins have been sent out to churches and each has been receptive to spread our message. I was glad that each church thought that addressing the issue of prescription drug abuse was important within the county. When creating these flyers we had to remain culturally sensitive based on the church denomination we distributed to and remember to deliver just the facts! By getting these flyers out to the community we hope that our word will spread. The rural area of Harnett County restricts our opportunities to educate, however, reaching out to the religious communities will better spread our word. This is an important part of rural public health. The social determinants of health have shaped these individuals and it is up to us to meet the community’s needs in order to get the facts out!

The environment in a rural area plays a large role in the success of many projects. Isolation and closer family ties increase the chances for teens to experiment with abusing prescription drugs. The availability of prescription medication is large because rural families reside closer in proximity than urban families. These issues need to be addressed! I have learned to be patient and quick on my feet while working with Project Lazarus in Harnett County. To be educated is important, but to use my background knowledge to handle real problems that change daily has been beneficial for me. I have learned that plans do not always run smoothly. Success comes from how well you account for the main problem and others that may arise from implementing the solution. Team Lazarus planned to work on a grant proposal this semester, however, this plan fell through. This was the major setback for us as a team this semester. We looked forward to learning how to write a proposal. However, we understand that under time constraints it was not possible. Harnett County has applied for a grant in the Health Department and as this semester finishes and the next begins I am interested to see how the money will be spent and its impact on the community.

As the project grows I hope to see a drastic reduction in the number of overdose cases in Harnett County because of the work Team Lazarus has done in collaboration with the Health Department. This opportunity has been a great way for me to start public health school and I look forward to being able to work with Harnett County community members in the future! Let’s make a difference!

“The greatest medicine of all is to teach the people how not to need it” – anonymous

#project lazarus #campbelluniversity #publichealth

Be Respectful

Yesterday Team Lazarus visited the churches we wanted to distribute our flyers to. We had a great turnout. The church was receptive to our request and hopefully many of the church members will see our flyers in the bulletin and on the boards. However, we learned that not all churches are open on Monday! Patience is key and we will try again today.

#project lazarus

pubhealth

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in New York and the leading cause of death before age 65. However, at least half of all cancers are preventable through healthy lifestyle behaviors. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends policy change as an effective strategy for encouraging population changes in health behaviors. The New York State Comprehensive Cancer Control (NYS CCC) Plan emphasizes policy, systems and environmental change strategies to support cancer prevention and control initiatives that: 1) increase access to nutritious foods, 2) encourage recommended cancer screenings and 3) discourage the use of indoor tanning in youth.

In November 2013, a random-digit dial telephone survey of adults in New York was completed to measure support for five policies in these three areas recommended in the NYS CCC Plan. This report summarizes data on public support for these policy initiatives. Key findings from the survey include:

• Rates of public support for the five NYS CCC policy initiatives were high; at least 70% of adults surveyed supported the five policies surveyed.

• A policy that would require employers to offer their employees paid sick leave to obtain health screenings such as screenings for cancer received the highest support (85.1% of adults in favor).

• Support for the policy initiatives varied significantly among New Yorkers in different demographic groups.

• In most cases more women than men expressed support for the NYS CCC policy initiatives.

• Residents of New York City (NYC) expressed stronger support for four of the five policies than those living outside NYC. The exception to this trend was the current state law restricting adolescents under 17 from accessing indoor tanning; 78.5% of NYC residents expressed support as compared to 82.7% of non-NYC residents.

• Public support also varied by income group. Adults with lower annual household incomes expressed more support for the NYS CCC policy initiatives.

Recommendations for action, including ongoing assessment of public support for the eight policies, are described within the report.

(From NYS Department of Health)

pubhealth

Indian State Recalls Pills Linked to Sterilization Deaths

NEW DELHI — The women who died after sterilization surgery in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh might have been given antibiotic pills contaminated with rat poison, a senior official said on Friday.

Sonmoni Borah, the divisional commissioner in the district of Bilaspur, in Chhattisgarh, said that tablets of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin that were seized in police raids of Mahawar Pharma, a small company supplying medicines to the state government, were found to contain the chemical zinc phosphide.

“If you do a quick Google search, you will find it is rat poison, and the women were displaying symptoms similar to poisoning,” Mr. Borah said in a telephone interview. State officials issued an urgent warning on Friday to practitioners across the state, telling them to stop distributing or using ciprofloxacin “with immediate effect,” he said.

Mr. Borah said supplies of zinc phosphide were found at a pharmaceutical plant, Mahawar Pharma, and that the chemical “was mixed during manufacturing.”

The police arrested the company’s managing director, Ramesh Mahawar, and his son, Sumit, on Friday, and said they were suspected of defrauding the government.

Mr. Mahawar told Reuters that he and his son were innocent. “The situation has been twisted in a wrong manner,” he told the news agency, speaking from police custody. “We are just being harassed.” He said the company had been manufacturing drugs for 35 years and had annual sales of about $130,000.

Twelve women died this week after undergoing tubal ligation procedures last Saturday at a government-run “sterilization camp” in the village of Pendari, in Bilaspur district. The surgery was done in a rushed assembly-line fashion in an abandoned clinic, and afterward the women were given ciprofloxacin pills made by Mahawar Pharma.

State officials initially said they believed the women had contracted infections because of poor sanitation at the clinic. But more patients began to fall seriously ill — first, women who received tubal ligations at a separate sterilization clinic on Monday, overseen by a different surgeon, and, then more recently, patients who were treated for flulike symptoms and had not had surgery.

(More from The New York Times)

pubhealth

Before and After: Ebola Isolation Ward Makes Improvements

Watch this Before and After Tour of Ebola Isolation Ward safety improvements to compound in Lagos, Nigeria.

(From CDC)

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The Dirty Side of Soap Triclosan, a common antimicrobial in personal hygiene products, causes liver fibrosis and cancer in mice

Triclosan is an antimicrobial commonly found in soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and many other household items. Despite its widespread use, researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report potentially serious consequences of long-term exposure to the chemical. The study, published Nov. 17 by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that triclosan causes liver fibrosis and cancer in laboratory mice through molecular mechanisms that are also relevant in humans.

“Triclosan’s increasing detection in environmental samples and its increasingly broad use in consumer products may overcome its moderate benefit and present a very real risk of liver toxicity for people, as it does in mice, particularly when combined with other compounds with similar action,” said Robert H. Tukey, PhD, professor in the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Pharmacology. Tukey led the study, together with Bruce D. Hammock, PhD, professor at University of California, Davis. Both Tukey and Hammock are directors of National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Programs at their respective campuses.

Tukey, Hammock and their teams, including Mei-Fei Yueh, PhD, found that triclosan disrupted liver integrity and compromised liver function in mouse models. Mice exposed to triclosan for six months (roughly equivalent to 18 human years) were more susceptible to chemical-induced liver tumors. Their tumors were also larger and more frequent than in mice not exposed to triclosan.

The study suggests triclosan may do its damage by interfering with the constitutive androstane receptor, a protein responsible for detoxifying (clearing away) foreign chemicals in the body. To compensate for this stress, liver cells proliferate and turn fibrotic over time. Repeated triclosan exposure and continued liver fibrosis eventually promote tumor formation.

Triclosan is perhaps the most ubiquitous consumer antibacterial. Studies have found traces in 97 percent of breast milk samples from lactating women and in the urine of nearly 75 percent of people tested. Triclosan is also common in the environment: It is one of the seven most frequently detected compounds in streams across the United States.

“We could reduce most human and environmental exposures by eliminating uses of triclosan that are high volume, but of low benefit, such as inclusion in liquid hand soaps,” Hammock said. “Yet we could also for now retain uses shown to have health value — as in toothpaste, where the amount used is small.”

Triclosan is already under scrutiny by the FDA, thanks to its widespread use and recent reports that it can disrupt hormones and impair muscle contraction.

alexandragamrod

This is not good for those of us that wash our hands excessively......

#publichealth

think-progress

7 shocking consequences of one billion people not having a toilet…NOT OKAY | Follow ThinkProgress

Team Lazarus: Continuing Progress

We have all worked very hard this semester. We have just begun to learn the benefits and setbacks that come from public health! Our group has enjoyed the time we have spent researching prescription drug abuse and our chance to meet with the community to collaborate about what should be done about this epidemic. Although we were not able to work with the grant for Harnett County I hope that what the community suggested will be considered for solutions. I hope to see the statistics of prescription drug abuse in Harnett County decrease over time and hopefully our webpage will be a success with the community! The availability of multiple sources of information at one place will increase education to community members. Team Lazarus hopes that education will increase in the local schools to better educate the students on the risks of abusing prescription drugs!! It will be a long process, but I hope we are continuing to make an impact.

#project lazarus #publichealth #campbelluniversity

Wrapping up!

This past week, after finalizing our church community flyers and collecting documentaries for the Harnett County website, Team Lazarus is completing their presentation for our Rural Health Class. We are preparing to talk about the benefits and limitations we have faced during our practicum, the future benefits that we hope to see Project Lazarus have in Harnett County, and how our practicum plays a role in rural health. We look forward to sharing our experience with the class and hope that they have seen the benefits and failures from their practicum that we have with ours.

#projectlazarus #campbelluniversity #publichealth

Try Again and Think Quick!

Team Lazarus has been creating draft bulletins and PSA announcements for the past few weeks for the local community in Harnett County. Handing out the flyers this next week will prove to be successful or a set back. On the one hand, I am hoping that the people of the faith community are receptive to the information we provide in that they decide to educate themselves on the issue of prescription drug abuse. However, as a part of Team Lazarus, I need to understand that some faith communities will not be open to conversing about drug abuse. It is our responsibility to be cautious when educating different divisions of the community and it is important to be sensitive to topics that are not easily accepted. Because we chose to strictly provide the facts and offer places for prescription medication drop off, I think that our flyers will not be rejected.

Lately, I have been thinking about the social effects of prescription drug abuse and the impact one abuser has on their community. Peer pressure can play a large role in how a person starts abusing prescription drugs, as well as the environment this person grows in. It is important to look at all aspects of the abusers life when trying to address the problem and treat the addiction. What about the family members of abusers that do not also abuse prescription drugs? The stress that an abusers family encounters is something an outsider cannot measure. Often, the family has an increase of psychological distress when constantly worrying about the abuser and depression when questioning what to do. The community needs to recognize that when dealing with a person that abuses drugs, the abuser is not the only one affected. As a community, Harnett County needs to work together to heal relationships between the abuser and the family and the family and the community. Often people dealing with this situation feel exiled from their community and that should not be the case. We can help!

I met a man going through recovery. I never understood how real the situation of drug abuse was until I heard his ideas for caring for other abusers. “See that cucumber over there, that is a child. If that cucumber becomes a pickle, that child becomes a drug abuser. That pickle will never be a cucumber again.” His message wasn’t prevention before the abuse; it was on how to treat the abuser. His quote hit hard and maybe it isn’t as clear, but the way he told the story and his expressions to the situation helped me understand that he was emotionally invested in recovering drug abusers. To me, he mainly spoke about opioid abuse and the people he works with; the fear that races over you when you get hurt and when the doctor prescribes you medication. He said that it is out of an abusers ability to go back to their previous lifestyles. I was interested in the way he spoke about the family and how it is the family’s responsibility to care for the abuser and not blame them.

It got me thinking about Project Lazarus and its motto that it is the community’s responsibility for their own health. Project Lazarus is a secular, non-profit organization. The importance of applying the knowledge that Project Lazarus offers to the community relays that the community is the solution. I heard this man speak about this same idea. With the same views on the topic we should be able to make a big impact! Team Lazarus wants to get into the local schools to educate the students on the effects of prescription drug abuse. It may be a better idea to begin educating students at a younger age, beginning in elementary school. I would like to know how many schools have programs in place that provide them with the dangers of prescription drugs, however, there is research done in North Carolina that found that some of these programs have increased the numbers of drug abusers in schools. This is because it is said to provide students ways of obtaining these drugs. I am interested in looking at the education methods that were used, as well as, the information that was provided.

Without enough funds we will not see drastic change. I believe we will see change, but compared to the funds in the counties located in metropolitan areas, it will not be as prevalent. The grant given to Harnett County to begin its work against prescription drug abuse will prove difficult to make a large impact. At the beginning of this project we saw a large turn out of healthcare workers, faith community leaders, and local schools. From Team Lazarus’ view, we have not seen the strength in numbers as months has passed. Hopefully this is not the case for the Harnett County Health Department. The work they have done to receive this grant money has been large and I hope as Team Lazarus we have helped lighten that workload.

In public health, I constantly tell myself to try again. Every obstacle I run into has made me a quick thinker and has forced me to educate myself, not only on prescription drug abuse numbers in Harnett County, but across the state of North Carolina and the rest of the country. As we near the end of the semester I hope to hear from the Harnett County Health Directors that Team Lazarus has been a big help in furthering the process to reduce prescription drug abuse.

#projectlazarus #campbelluniversity #publichealth

Community Outreach

Finally finishing the drafts of our church bulletins to be printed and distributed to local churches in Harnett County! Well done team!!

#projectlazarus

What You Do Not Know About Suboxone

http://www.marylandaddictionrecovery.com/the-dangers-of-long-term-suboxone-use

This blog post written by the Maryland Addiction Recovery Center in April 2014, sees both sides of Suboxone effects.

"Suboxone as a medication for opiate detox is an excellent drug. In the hands of an informed, trained physician, Suboxone can make a painful opiate detox much more comfortable."

"However, long term Suboxone use causes a myriad of medical issues. Furthermore, many long term Suboxone users claim getting off Suboxone is more difficult than even getting off OxyContin or heroin. Why? Because unlike an intensely painful 5-7 or even 14 day detox from opiates, the detox from Suboxone can last weeks or even months and with it brings not only painful physical issues but also highly concerning psychological issues."

Educate, educate, educate.. I cannot stress this enough. It is not enough to assume that every physician knows about the dangers of Suboxone and when in the right hands it can work wonders on an opioid addiction, however, the negative effects can often be worse.

This being said, we cannot sell the patient short thinking that they are unable to recover because there is no shortcut for recovering from drug addiction. It is important to know your patient and their environment to prevent harm! The message from Project Lazarus that the community is responsible for the opioid overdose. Working with those who are addicted and understanding their lifestyle make be an easier way of controlling their abuse problem instead of giving them another pill.

#projectlazarus #campbelluniversity #publichealth

harmreduction

Harm reduction means saving others the pain of losing someone to an overdose. #harmred14

andreaheeter

CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY PUBLIC HEALTH brings awareness to UNITED FARM WORKERS

www.ufw.org

Integrity: Doing the right thing even when no one is looking

Si Se Puede® Attitude: The embodiment of a personal and organizational spirit that promotes confidence, courage and risk taking

Innovation: The active pursuit of new ideas

Non-Violence: Engaging in disciplined action

Empowerment: A fundamental belief in and respect for people

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