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This radio program is a weekly series of episodes that provide insights into a broad range of biomedical science topics. We hope these episodes stimulate you to think, question and appreciate how science impacts you and your world. 
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This Week's Episode
Lyme Disease That’s right. Plus, ticks are such nasty looking critters; the last thing I’d want is to find one attached to me. If you haven’t seen one up close just check out our website. They look like something out of the movie – "Alien". They attach by piercing the skin and embedding themselves to feed. You need tweezers to remove them and doing so within 24 hours is key to preventing Lyme disease. If you don’t, within a week after infection symptoms could appear but they vary making it hard to diagnose. In the classical presentation, you can have fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, plus a rash that resembles a bulls-eye. The problem is some people have no early symptoms. After days or weeks, the infection can spread throughout the body with pain seemingly moving from joint to joint. It gets even more serious when you have inflammation of the heart and nerves and some even suffer mental changes. Luckily you can treat this bacterial disease with antibiotics. What’s little known is that there was a safe and effective vaccine but it was withdrawn by the manufacturer in 2002 because of slow sales. Ticks spread lyme disease by feeding on an infected animal and then biting humans and other animals. But you can do a lot to avoid this by removing woodpiles and leaf debris around your house; clearing thick brush and trees that attract deer and rodents; wearing long sleeves and pants; and using insect repellants containing DEET if you plan on spending a lot of time outdoors. Next Week's Episode
Salmonella Salmonella gastroenteritis is a serious disease, Norbert. Until the source of this contamination is found it would be best to avoid the types of tomatoes responsible. First recognized in April, the disease has been found in 383 people in thirty states. At least 48 people have been hospitalized and one person in Texas may have died from this. While the reported numbers aren’t huge, Salmonella cases are always under reported so there are likely thousands more. What’s remarkable was how they were able to narrow this outbreak to a single source since Salmonella gastroenteritis is a common food borne disease in the US. Also consider there are more than 2000 different types of Salmonella that cause gastroenteritis. The Centers for Disease Control compared the DNA "genetic fingerprints" of bacteria isolated from infected individuals and found they all involve Salmonella serotype Stpaul. This particular Salmonella is relatively rare so this outbreak is unlikely to be a random pattern of disease. The CDC was able to determine that uncooked tomatoes were the common food consumed by these individuals. This is a nifty piece of detective work by the agency charged to help protect us from disease. People with Salmonella gastroenteritis get diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever in 12-72 hours after eating contaminated food. While most people feel like they want to die, they rarely do. But in people with impaired immune systems, the disease can become life threatening. This may be the case for the death in Texas. Tracking and identifying the source of outbreaks is important for the control of infectious diseases. It is also one of the many reasons why it is important to continue to invest in a vibrant and responsive public health system in the US. |
On The Edge…
"The outbreak of Salmonella Infections Continues" |
You’ve heard of Lyme disease and you may know it’s transmitted by a tick bite. But you many not know much beyond that. If so, this is a good refresher since summer is here and you may be headed outdoors. 
Tomatoes are one of my favorite foods and now they’re on the "black list" because of the nationwide outbreak of salmonella infections.