Recent News

By Category: Agents & Toxins

When Americans Rejected Small Pox Vaccines

(Forbes) When I lived in Ann Arbor, my children attended a public school where upwards of 15% of kids were not vaccinated for mumps because their left-wing parents didn’t trust the vaccine industry. Meanwhile on the right end of the political spectrum, Tea Party heart throb Michelle Bachman famously accused vaccines of causing autism. How  Read More »

Many Schools Unprepared For Next Pandemic

(Everything Lubbock) During the school day, you leave your children’s health in the hands of the school nurse — but it’s hard to know if they are prepared for everything. Some forms of preparedness training, like fire drills and tornado drills, are mandated in schools. Yet readiness for infectious outbreaks is surprisingly low. Fewer than  Read More »

New biological agent detectors tested in Boston subway stations through next year

(The Republic) Boston’s subway system is the site of a test to evaluate whether new sensors effectively detect biological agents. Scientists will spray small quantities of a nontoxic virus in subway tunnels after hours to test the sensors. Similar tests have been conducted since 2009 to help determine how gases travel through the system and  Read More »

Dengue Fever: Close to home?

(Dallas News) Recently, there is a lot of buzz in the news and on-line about Dengue Fever. I had to really dig in my heels and sort through the published literature on this latest in “medical gossip”. Normally found in more tropical climates such as the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Mexico, a few cases in  Read More »

As pretty as a picture (but a lot more deadly): Killer diseases as you’ve never seen them before

(Mail Online) They look like works of modern art but these incredible images actually show some of the world’s deadliest diseases – including the Black Death and anthrax. Many of the specimens can have devastating affects on the human body and have caused major epidemics. But the bacteria, invisible to the naked eye, are shown  Read More »