BACKGROUND Infectious disease surveillance is a primary public health function in resource-limited settings. In 2003, an electronic disease surveillance system (Alerta) was established in the Peruvian Navy with support from the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment (NMRCD). Many challenges arose during the implementation process, and a variety of solutions were applied. The purpose of t...

In Cambodia, despite an impressive decline in prevalence over the last 10 years, malaria is still a public health problem in some parts of the country. This is partly due to vectors that bite early and outdoors reducing the effectiveness of measures such as Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets. Repellents have been suggested as an additional control measure in such settings. As part of a cluster-rand...

Men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that MSM account for 48% of all men living with HIV and 53% of all new HIV infections in the United States in 2007 [1], and the number of incident cases among MSM continue to increase in the U.S. while incidence has been flat or declinin...

On November 6, 2002, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) convened a group of experts from the fields of philanthropy, research, government, and policy to examine the nation's public health infrastructure and explore opportunities for grantmakers to strengthen and sustain this fragile and troubled system. During the course of this meeting, representatives from the Institute of Medicine, which recently r...

We conducted a content analysis of newspaper and television news coverage in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grantee locations from June 2011 through May 2013. After searching 2 databases for news stories related to overweight or obesity, we coded and analyzed stories for valence (how the author/reporter framed overweight and obesity control strategies), descriptors, causes and...

Background: Using alcohol is one of the most important death factors that can be prevented. Lifestyle-related diseases are at the top cause of mortality and burden of disease, whereas most of them can be prevented. Considering the growing importance of diseases related to lifestyle (including alcohol abuse), providing evidence-based clinical guidelines for diseases and life-style related condit...

Seasonal influenza infects approximately 5-20% of the U.S. population every year, resulting in over 200,000 hospitalizations. The ability to more accurately assess infection levels and predict which regions have higher infection risk in future time periods can instruct targeted prevention and treatment efforts, especially during epidemics. Google Flu Trends (GFT) has generated significant hope ...

Drought is by far the most costly natural disaster that can lead to widespread impacts, including water and food crises. Here we present data sets available from the Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (GIDMaPS), which provides drought information based on multiple drought indicators. The system provides meteorological and agricultural drought information based on multipl...

In June 2006 the North Carolina Folic Acid Council, the North Carolina Chapter of the March of Dimes, and the UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health created an inventory of preconception health activities in North Carolina. The resulting booklet, Looking Back Moving Forward: North Carolina’s Path to Healthier Mothers and Babies,was developed in response to a recommendation from the US Center...

The terrorist attacks on Sept 11, 2001 (9/11) uncovered weaknesses in the US national public health infrastructure. Response e orts did not have the integrated communications and uni ed command needed for a large-scale response, and information crucial for decision making was not shared among agencies.1 First responders were poorly trained and equipment for their roles was inadequate; according...