What's Keeping Me Awake at Night

Three Things Thursday

Three Things Thursday highlights three things I am paying attention to as an epidemiologist each week.

Let’s talk about sleep — or a lack thereof. Regardless of what time I go to bed, I’ve been getting up around 4 each morning. And when I wake up my head is spinning and I cannot get back to sleep.

This week’s Three Things Thursday focuses on the three things that are on my mind when I wake up at 4 am and cannot get back to sleep — measles, ticks, and misinformation.

Hoping these posts help to educate and empower you
to be healthy and create healthy communities.

Measles

This week we are celebrating World Immunization Week. And the theme for this year is the “Big Catch-Up” because millions of children (25 million) missed routine immunizations during the pandemic. These millions of children who have missed their measles vaccines are the kindling for a wicked intense measles outbreak. Measles is currently spreading in India, Ethiopia, and OHIO.

And it is just a matter of time before measles (or another vaccine-preventable disease) becomes a serious problem in our communities.

Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, says —

“This is a red alert for child health. We are witnessing the largest sustained drop in childhood immunization in a generation. The consequences will be measured in lives. While a pandemic hangover was expected last year as a result of COVID-19 disruptions and lockdowns, what we are seeing now is a continued decline. COVID-19 is not an excuse. We need immunization catch-ups for the missing millions or we will inevitably witness more outbreaks, more sick children, and greater pressure on already strained health systems.”

Measles are keeping me up at night.

Ticks (and tickborne diseases)

Spring is here. The weather is getting warmer. We had a warmer winter than usual.

And the ticks are out there — in record numbers.

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black-legged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. According to CDC, if left untreated, the infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.

My kid has already found a tick crawling on him this spring.

And last summer, he found a tick burrowed into his bellybutton (yes, that is correct it locked into his bellybutton; it was so hard to extract). He was put on a wicked high dose of antibiotics afterward.

Lyme disease is no joke. Nor are other tickborne diseases.

Prioritizing tick-checks this summer is a necessity — for all of us.

Be sure you know what ticks look like.

Image source.

Have tweezers on hand — to help remove a tick.

And be sure to call your primary care provider or visit an urgent care center if you find a tick that is attached to your body.

Ticks are keeping me up at night.

Misinformation

The past three years have been plagued by an unimaginable amount of medical and public health misinformation. Misinformation — specific examples I will not discuss here or even mention; will not give those sources/examples credence — is epidemic. Misinformation is killing people.

Literally. Killing people.

Relying on Dr. Google must stop.

Going to Facebook for medical advice or reliable public health information must end.

And we all must take responsibility for working to end the epidemic of misinformation that is plaguing our society. We all have the responsibility to check our sources, ask questions, and never spread information we do not understand on social media or with our friends.

Seek out the truth; share it with conviction.

If you have questions, please ask me.

My passion and calling in life is to create healthy communities. I am committed to preventive healthcare; love research; advocate for vaccines; and have dedicated my career to educating the next generation of public health professionals. I have a Ph.D. in epidemiology and a master of public health degree. I have spent the past 20+ years studying, learning, working, and striving to create healthy communities — I am a reliable source of evidence-based information. And I am offering to be your reliable source of information.

Combatting misinformation is a priority in our shared work to create healthy communities for all.