It's not a huge day for Hallmark, but tomorrow is
World Rabies Day. Events are planned in 61 countries and more than two dozen veterinary schools around the United States. Why do this? One person dies worldwide from rabies every 10 minutes. In 2006 there were nearly
7,000 cases of animal rabies reported in the United States.
Most human
exposure comes from domestic
dogs
that have encountered wildlife such as bats,
skunks,
raccoons,
bears, foxes, coyotes and wild dogs, all of which are hosts for rabies.
The Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette reports:
Over the last 100 years, the danger presented to
humans from rabies has changed. Before 1960, the majority of animals
infected were domestic, but in the last 40 years, 90 percent of cases
reported to the Centers for Disease Control now involve wild animals.
Read this from the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC):
Despite being 100% preventable, rabies results in an estimated 55,000
deaths globally each year – approximately one person every 10 minutes.
Most of these deaths are reported from Africa and Asia with almost 50%
of the victims being children under the age of 15. The most important
global source of rabies in humans is from uncontrolled rabies in dogs.
Children are often at greatest risk from rabies, as they are most
likely to be bitten by dogs or other animals and are often bitten in
high-risk areas (such as the head or face).
If I were telling this story, I'd ask the Department of Health for some help finding a dog-bite victim who had to undergo rabies shots. The vaccine in humans used to consist of painful shots in the abdomen.
It now consists of five shots in the arm over a one-month period. The health department should also be able to tell you how many rabies tests it does every year. I bet the number will be surprising.
I wonder if the local post office knows of any postal carriers who have been bitten and have had to worry about rabies.
Here is pretty much everything you could want to know about rabies.
A 2000 national study says that at least 40 percent of the 40,000 people who get rabies shots in the United States each year don't need them.
Why do they cut off the heads of animal's suspected of being infected? It is because the only real way to diagnose the disease is to examine
brain tissue. The health department doesn't usually want to ship an entire dead farm animal to the lab, so it ships just the head. The brain tissue is tested using the direct fluorescent antibody test (DFA), which can only be performed after the animal is dead.
Since you shouldn't go willy-nilly cutting off human heads to test brain tissue, health officials use a variety of tests that are necessary to diagnose rabies in humans.
The CDC explains the uncomfortable procedure:
Tests are performed on samples of saliva, serum, spinal fluid, and skin biopsies of hair follicles at the nape of the neck. Saliva can be tested by virus isolation or reverse transcription followed by polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Serum and spinal fluid are tested for antibodies to rabies virus. Skin biopsy specimens are examined for rabies antigen in the cutaneous nerves at the base of hair follicles.
Suicide Among Girls Rises
Regular readers of Al's Morning Meeting know that I recommend you check the
CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report every Thursday for story ideas. Yesterday, the site released a big story.
The weekly report says the teenage suicide rate in the United States
jumped -- by a lot. By way of background, the teen suicide rate
(for 10 to 24 year olds) dropped more than 28 percent between 1990 and
2003. But from 2003 to 2004, (the last measurement taken), the suicide
rate of the same age group rose by 8 percent. Is this a blip or a
trend? Researchers say they don't know.
The CDC reports:
“This is the biggest annual increase that we've seen in 15 years. We
don't yet know if this is a short-lived increase or if it"s the
beginning of a trend,” said Dr. Ileana Arias, director of CDC′s
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. “Either way, it's a
harsh reminder that suicide and suicide attempts are affecting too many
youth and young adults. We need to make sure suicide prevention efforts
are continuous and reaching children and young adults.”
The report says the biggest increases are among girls and 15 to 19-year-old boys:
An increase in the suicide rates for three gender-age groups accounts
for the increase in the overall suicide rate, the report said. Rates
rose for 10- to-14-year-old females, 15-to-19-year-old females and 15-to-19-year-old males from 2003 to 2004.
- For 10-to-14-year-old females, the rate increased from 0.54 per 100,000 in 2003 to 0.95 per 100,000 in 2004
- For 15-to-19 year-old females the rate increased from 2.66 to 3.52 per 100,000
- For 15-to-19 year-old males, the rate increased from 11.61 to 12.65 per 100,000
Prior to 2003, the rates for all three groups were generally decreasing.
The study also says that kids are using different methods to take their own lives:
The analysis also found that changes had taken place in the methods
used to attempt suicide. In 1990, firearms were the most common method
for both girls and boys. However, in 2004, hanging/suffocation was the
most common method of suicide among girls, accounting for 71.4 percent
of suicides among 10- to-14-year-old girls and 49 percent among
15-to-19 year-old girls. From 2003 to 2004, there was a 119 percent
increase in hanging/suffocation suicides among 10-to -14-year-old
girls. For boys and young men, firearms are still the most common
method.
USA Today offers this summary of the report.
The Whole 'Couric Thing'
What is it about newspaper people and Katie Couric?
The Boston Herald story yesterday was spiced with sexist overtones:
Katie Couric has traded in short
skirts for body armor as she anchors the CBS Evening News from Iraq
this week. “America’s sweetheart” scored a one-on-one interview with
President Bush and toured the battered streets in what many view as a
bid by the leggy anchor to earn her boots.
"Short Skirts?" "Leggy anchor?"
Come on.
Fox News, for obvious snarky competitive reasons, asked if a single mother should be in a war zone.
The New York Post also sniped:
The plucky, 5'11/2" newswoman will trade her high heels for combat boots ...
This is a journalist working in a war zone. I
notice that her critics (and I) are reporting from our air-conditioned
offices, and the biggest threat we face today is that the coffee machine
might run dry. Couric is doing what Murrow, Cronkite and Rather all
did. She is reporting from a war zone. Did anybody write that they
traded their penny loafers for combat boots? Did anybody question
whether a bread-winning parent should be in a war zone?
Some have criticized CBS for presenting an optimistic, pro-administration view of how the war is going. I appreciated this passage from
Couric's appearance on "Face the Nation":
And so, you do see signs of life that seem to be normal. Of course,
that’s what the U.S. military wants me to see, so you have to keep that
in mind as well. But I think there are definitely areas where the
situation is improving.
She
openly points out that she really only sees what she is permitted to
see. That is often true in embedded war coverage. It has been true for
100 years. But she is there, and her presence attracts attention to a
war worth covering. Frankly, my main critique is that I wish her crew would
swing into Afghanistan and focus some attention there, too.
Don't get me wrong. I am not happy with evening network newscasts. They lead with solid reporting from people like
Lara Logan and
Martha Raddatz,
then degenerate after the first commercial break into a stream of
useless medical "breakthrough" stories and features better suited for
Ladies Home Journal.
But I see nothing wrong with a news anchor going to the war zone one week
before such an important status report on the war is presented to Congress.
When the
television critics convention is held in Baghdad instead
of Beverly Hills, I will be more impressed with what the writers have to say.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends on the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
You're damned right. Thanks.
