GHIG is happy to be collaborating with the Johns Hopkins Medicine Distinguished Speaker Series (JHMDSS) to co-sponsor a talk by Dr. Anthony Fauci–a pioneer in the field of HIV basic science, current director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and winner of several prestigious international awards, including a Lasker Award (2007) and Presidential Medal of Freedom (2008). Dr. Fauci is going to speak on emerging infections (i.e., novel infectious agents like SARS and H1N1) in the context of globalization. His talk will then be followed by a panel discussion on the topic by professors across the JHU campuses with expertise on everything from disaster preparedness to infectious diseases/ microbiology to science and the media to modeling epidemics, moderated by the Director of the Center for Global Health, Dr. Thomas Quinn. At our last journal club, GHIG got together and drafted a list of questions for the panel. In the meantime, we look forward to this exciting event!
Tag Archives: infectious disease
Water, Water Everywhere, Except Where There’s Disease
I spent the summer in India during the peak of monsoon, the rainy season. Everywhere I went were signs like, “know your Lepto,” or “how to identify dengue before it identifies you.” I jest, but seriously. The rains, anxiously awaited by millions across the subcontinent, represent growth, fertility, the harvest, and, unfortunately, disease. In an economy that is as much agrarian as IT, and as dependent on weather as independent of time zone, monsoons are a blessing and a public health curse. Malaria incidence, too, was unprecedented this year, with public hospitals erecting overflow tents just to accommodate the hordes of patients flooding their grounds.
The flood has left 20 million homeless, and more than half a million suffering from waterborne and other diseases.
And this was just in areas of “normal,” seasonal rain. Imagine the situation in Pakistan. The floods have been catastrophic, not only for the devastation they have wrought, but also for the illness they bring. Diarrheal diseases have already claimed thousands of lives, and skin and respiratory illnesses follow closely. Waterborne diseases such as typhoid, jaundice, and diarrhea are particularly virulent, but higher incidence of H1N1 and other respiratory viruses also seems to be associated with the moist, cool climate.
As the situation in Pakistan evolves, it is increasingly clear that the flood’s chronic pathology will include large-scale infectious and health concerns, which must be addressed as urgently as any epidemic.
