HEALTH Zombies Upstage a Routine C.D.C. Bulletin A page from the government's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report has been getting much attention the last few days. By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. and GARDINER HARRIS Published: May 20, 2011 Pity poor Tom Skinner, a top spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has been valiantly trying to interest reporters in a new study in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report trumpeting "10 Great Public Health Achievements." Unfortunately for Mr. Skinner, over at his agency's public health blog, his colleagues were posting something that really got to the beating heart of morbidity and mortality: the first official C.D.C. instructions on coping with a zombie apocalypse. Yes, that's right. With a straight face, the normally staid health agency had posted a primer on how to prepare for an invasion of the brain-eating undead. "So what do you need to do before zombies ... or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen?" the post said. "First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house. This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp." The idea, said David Daigle, a C.D.C. spokesman whose portfolio includes disaster response, came up as they were discussing how to make the agency's annual "It's Hurricane Season Again" press release a little sexier. "One of the communicators mentioned that when we were tweeting about Japan and radiation releases, someone tweeted back asking us if it could set off a zombie attack," Mr. Daigle said. He took the idea to the agency's director of preparedness, Dr. Ali S. Khan, a specialist in infectious disease and a rear admiral in the Public Health Service. "Most other directors would have thrown me out," Mr. Daigle said. "He said, 'Let's form a Zombie Task Force.' " The blog post went up on Monday. "A typical post gets 1,000 hits," Mr. Daigle said. "We got 10,000, then 30,000 on Tuesday, and then it crashed the server." They found more server space, and the hits kept coming in -along with expert advice, he said. For example: Never mind the food and the shortwave radio, but what about a baseball bat and a chainsaw? (You can't kill zombies by shooting them in their unbeating hearts -you have to go for the head.) Dr. Khan said he was "gratified by the response -it's nice to see that people understand that public health includes preparedness." He would "leave it to law enforcement" to give Americans advice on arming themselves. After all, zombies need care too. "I'm a public health doctor," he said. "Even postmortem, I haven't given up on you." And how did he become such an expert? (He did mention on the blog that his favorite zombie movie was "Resident Evil.") "Oh, I spent years working on ebola, Rift Valley fever, monkeypox, prion diseases," he said. "Some of them can affect your brain." Meanwhile, the agency is living in fear of a different wave of flesh-eaters: Congressional budget cutters. With its budget under intense scrutiny, on Thursday it released the study Mr. Skinner was pushing, arguing that the agency's efforts over the last decade had saved billions of dollars and thousands of lives. Two signal accomplishments were the introduction of a vaccine against Streptococcus pneumonia, which has prevented an estimated 211,000 serious infections and 13,000 deaths, and another against infant diarrhea, which prevents an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 hospitalizations each year. A law requiring more folic acid in breads, breakfast cereals, noodles and other products led to a 36 percent drop in the number of infants born with defects like spina bifida, saving $4.7 billion, the report said. "Americans are living longer, healthier and more productive lives than ever before, thanks in part to extraordinary achievements in public health over the past decade," Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the C.D.C. director, said in an unusually direct appeal for more financing. "However, we can do much more." The Obama administration has proposed no increase in the agency's next budget. But that budget falls into the category of domestic discretionary spending, which is under broad assault by Republicans intent on slashing federal spending. The agency plans to cut spending on emergency preparedness after having spent heavily on pandemic flu and disaster planning. But the study focused on the fact that many preventable deaths come from mundane, well-known threats like infectious disease, smoking and automobile crashes. Cigarettes cause 443,000 deaths a year, and smoking among high school students declined sharply. It fell to 21.9 percent in 2003 from 36.4 percent in 1997, but then leveled off. It is now 19.5 percent, just below the incidence of smoking in adults at 20.6 percent. The decade also saw a sharp decrease in traffic deaths, mainly because of seat belts, child seats, safer cars and better roads. From 2000 to 2009, road deaths fell 26 percent, to 11 per 100,000 Americans from 14.9 per 100,000. Pedestrian deaths among children fell 49 percent, bicyclist deaths 58 percent. The decade also saw declines in deaths from heart disease and stroke because treatment and medications became better and fewer Americans smoked. Improved screening lowered the cancer death rate. Banning lead from gasoline and household paints, along with removing lead paint from public housing, cut poisoning of children. Did Mr. Skinner think anyone among the not-yet-undead would notice his agency's signal accomplishments? "I can't compete with zombies," he said. Those were the last words he said before the line went dead
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
ARE WE PREPAIRED!?¿¡?!
CDC Prepares for Zombie Apocalypse → CDC Prepares for Zombie Apocalypse theinevitablezombieapoc alypse: /via @abcnewsradio: (WASHINGTON) —The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention –a government agency –hasn’t outright predicted a zombie apocalypse, but rest assured: it’s prepared. In a post that caught the attention of geeks and politicos alike, the CDC this week posted a guide, called “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse,” to insure public safety in the event of a zombie uprising. “The rise of zombies in pop culture has given credence to the idea that a zombie apocalypse could happen,” the CDC says in a blog post. “In such a scenario zombies would take over entire countries, roaming city streets eating anything living that got in their way. “The proliferation of this idea has led many people to wonder ‘How do I prepare for a zombie apocalypse?’” Fact is, the post isn’t all that serious (Editor’s note: We are not denying the possibility of a zombie apocalypse); it’s merely intended to prepare the public for more practical emergencies, like hurricanes or wide-spread illness. The CDC urges the public to assemble an emergency kit, including items like water, food, and both prescription and non-prescription medication. This, they say, will “get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp” or, more realistically, “in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored.” The agency also suggests sitting down with family to coordinate an emergency plan. “This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your door step.” But of course, “You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency.” [READ THE FULL POST ON THE CDC WEBSITE] And don’t worry. If zombies do take over, the CDC says it “would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak.” No word on what the CDC’s got planned for Judgment Day. More Health News From ABC News Radio -»
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Do you sing to your baby
Baby The Surprising Benefit to Singing to Your Baby Posted by Christie Haskell on May 13, 2011 at 9:35 AM Parents spend a lot of time and effort trying to encourage development in their babies --especially first-time parents. Despite claims that reading programs help advance your child in the early formative years, Sally Goddard Blythe, director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology, says that too much emphasis is put on those things ... and not enough on singing. That's right, singing. In fact, she goes as far as to claim that singing to pre-verbal infants can actually help prevent language issues later in life. Apparently a lot of children enter school without adequate language and communication skills, and the blame is put on parents for not focusing on basic communication. I share the belief that infancy and toddlerhood should be about learning how the world works, not textbook information, so I love a lot of quotes from Blythe in an article where she discusses her book, Genius of Natural Childhood: Song is a special type of speech. Lullabies, songs, and rhymes of every culture carry the 'signature' melodies and inflections of a mother tongue, preparing a child's ear, voice, and brain for language. ... Neuro-imaging has shown that music involves more than just centralised hotspots in the brain, occupying large swathes on both sides. I guess I really need to stop worrying so much that my singing voice isn't fantastic and just start singing away, huh? My daughter loves music already way more than my son did, and her language skills are also significantly more advanced. I wonder if that's related? Blythe's research notes that a baby's brain responds differently to recorded singing versus live singing ... the same way popping in a book on tape doesn't compare to actually sitting down and reading to your child. So you can't pop in a lullaby CD and call it good ... you actually have to croon along. No matter how out of tune you may be, baby will still love it. But Daniel Dwase, editor of the online Child Development Guide, says that the singing isn't enough, even though it teaches rhythm, language, and communication, but that adding in dancing teaches balance and coordination as well, for a fun, musical gray matter workout. That's the kind of workout I can get behind. Do you sing and dance with your baby?
THE END.....IS IT NEAR?
Billboards advertise "Judgement Day" KMTR-TV EUGENE (KMTR) –Area billboards are making drivers a bit uneasy stating “Judgement Day” is nine days away on May 21st, 2011. One of the signs is located on I-5 near Pioneer Parkway in Springfield and another is on West 11th Avenue in Eugene. The group behind the billboards is Family Radio, a non-profit, non-commercial Christian radio network. NewsSource 16 tried to contact the group but no one was available to comment. Harold Camping is the president and general manager of the business and according to the website, has studied and analyzed the Bible for more than five decades. “Given the overwhelming biblical evidence, the Family Stations, Inc. Board of Directors made a determination to dedicate all available resources to proclaim the warning May 21, 2011. God has prepared Family Radio for this important time in history. Given the population of the world, radio and internet are perfect vehicles to deliver this warning.” Camping states Judgement Day was derived solely from evidence and signs he found in the Bible. “These proofs alert believers that May 21st of 2011 is the date Christ will return for His people and begin a period of the final destruction of the world.” Harold says two major events will occur on May 21st. Harold refuses that May 21st will end without something happening. Family Radio, Inc. is broadcast in more than 61 languages online and worldwide. The same billboards, more than 2,000 of them, can be found throughout the world and on traveling RV caravans. Camping also wrote a book in 1992, titled 1994?. In the book, Camping inferred Christ would return in 1994, however said later that important information was not yet known and therefore the book was incomplete. He said he overlooked something and hence included the question mark into the title. In the book, he mentioned the 2011 date as another probable year. The billboards have been up for months. Area radio stations listed under Family Radio, Inc. include KQFE in Springfield, KPFR in Pine Grove and translators are listed in Florence, Roseburg, Newport, Coos Bay and more. Click here to read this story on www.kmtr.com
Posts
