Archive for May, 2009

Swine Flu Resources Round-up

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

It’s been interesting to watch publishers open up their H1N1 articles and resources to the general public. (Disclaimer: I know that part is only interesting to me as a librarian.  But the question remains: Is the future of publishing a ‘hybrid’ open-source model? Hmmm….)

Here’s a summary:

  • Scientific American mainly sums up blog entries from the “60 Second Science” blog. But there’s also a detailed interview transcript with Dr. Chris Olsen, Director of the Olsen Laboratory, a veterinary medicine lab in Wisconsin where Influenza ‘A’ viruses are studied, and a link to the April 2009 cover story called, “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic” that describes the work of the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative.
  • The Lancet (a British medical journal) has also opened their pages:

“The Lancet’s H1N1 Resource Centre is the result of a collaborative effort by the editors of over 40 Elsevier-published journals and 11 learned societies who have agreed to make freely available on this site any relevant content. All papers have been selected by a Lancet editor, grouped by topic and fulltext pdfs made available to download free of charge.”

(If you haven’t seen an Elsevier price quote, you can’t appreciate the magnitude of this – Elsevier articles are notoriously expensive.)

Posted in Pandemic, Research Links, Resources, government information | No Comments »

Investigating post-earthquake travel behaviours

Monday, May 18th, 2009

A new issue of the International Journal of Emergency Management is out, and this article was an interesting example of studying behaviors in a non-emergency situation:

An experimental investigation of post-earthquake travel behaviours: the effects of severity and initial location

from Most recent issue published online for the International Journal of Emergency Management. by S. Lamb

An experimental investigation of post-earthquake travel behaviours: the effects of severity and initial location
D. Walton, S. Lamb
International Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2009) pp. 14 – 32
A computer-aided personal interviewing survey containing 63 items examining post-earthquake travel behaviours was administered to 802 members of the general public. Earthquake simulation videos modelled a moderate and severe event (6.8 and 7.5, respectively, on the Richter scale) in an office and home setting. Travel movements were recorded over a simulated 48-h period following the earthquake. Geographic Information System (GIS) software was used to obtain trip origins and destinations the routes taken and trip distances. Information seeking was also examined. The results indicate that an event which induces significant travel produces trips that are for a variety of purposes, not just to return home. While individually rational, this behaviour is a form of collective social disorder. Mode choice varied with event severity and distance (walking was preferred up to 3.25 km, then vehicles were preferred). Well-prepared emergency plans reduce the need to travel. The motivation to travel was affected by available information and is discussed as a form of information seeking.

For University of Richmond students and faculty, you can access this issue and previous issues of the International Journal of Emergency Management through Journal Locator. Type in the name of the journal, and then click the “Inderscience Enterprises Ltd” link (ignore the dates and any error messages that might pop up – we’re working on that). Let me know if you have any troubles.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Biographies of Disease: Influenza

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009

This title, from a set we’re collecting, caught my eye.

From the Series Foreward:

Every disease has a story to tell: about how it started long ago and began to disable or even take the lives of its innocent victims, about the way it hurts us, and about how we are trying to stop it. In this Biographies of Disease series, the authors tell the stories of the diseases that we have come to know and dread…

This is the biography of a disease, but it is also the story of real people who made incredible sacrifices to stop it in its tracks.”

The author of the Influenza volume, Roni K. Devlin, is a practicing physician with a sub-specialty in Infectious Diseases. She covers the topic of influenza in a way that is both thorough and engaging. Starting with an explanation of “germ theory”, six chapters detail everything from the makeup and discovery of the virus, the epidemiology of influenza, particularly how it relates to H5N1 (avian flu – remember this was published before swine flu became all the rage), to the pandemic of 1918. But this is not solely a history book (try “The Great Influenza” by John M. Barry, or “Flu” by Gina Kolata for that). The last three chapters detail the clinical ‘manifestations’ of the flu, methods of diagnosis, future research possibilities, and prevention and treatment options.

In addition, this slim volume is replete with tables, illustrations, and other useful details, including a timeline going back to Hippocrates, a glossary, and a bibiliography with many references to online resources. Swine flu merits a fairly long entry in the index. Altogether, this is an accessible but scholarly resource. It’s Library of Congress Subject Heading is “Influenza–History–Popular Works”, but that doesn’t begin to touch the science detailed in it. Check it out!

Posted in Book Reviews, Pandemic, Resources | No Comments »

Virginia Emergency Operations Plans link

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

From the VDEM newsletter:

Gov. Tim Kaine has approved the Commonwealth of Virginia Emergency Operations Plan Pandemic Influenza Incident Annex VI, now available at http://www.vaemergency.com/library/plans/index.cfm. The annex represents nearly two years of collaboration with many state agencies and provides guidance for non-medical response operations in Virginia to a pandemic influenza event.

Posted in Pandemic, Research Links, Training, government information | No Comments »

CABI Global Health database now freely available

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Too busy today to do more than post this:

News release

Free access to world-renowned public health database to assist swine-flu effort

1 May 2009

CABI today has announced free access to its specialist Global Health database – the definitive database for public health information – www.cabdirect.org/globalhealth

Simultaneously CABI has developed a Swine flu ‘dashboard’ that brings together up-to-the-minute information on the virus (http://www.netvibes.com/cabialerts).The ‘dashboard’ includes resources from CABI and critical advice from key health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

“Our mission is to help people worldwide through the provision of scientific knowledge,” said Dr Trevor Nicholls, CEO of CABI. “Today we are offering our most applicable resource, over the coming weeks, to help health professionals and others working on the front line.”

In a fast changing sequence of events that has led to the rapid escalation of concern from WHO, and the reaction of national governments in considering their response to a possible influenza pandemic, release of the database is designed to give urgently needed support to those who need it most: scientists, medical professionals and health authorities investigating the causes and treatments of the disease and linkages to past outbreaks.

Influenza researchers urgently need to be able to refer back to previous scientific work in this area to understand the behaviour of previous strains of the virus and to research effective mechanisms for handling earlier outbreaks.

The Global Health database brings together global knowledge on every aspect of influenza since 1910. The knowledge it contains could provide a key weapon in health researchers’ response in understanding and controlling the virus.

Much of the data in Global Health is derived from publications that have long since vanished. They tell us a great deal about past pandemics, from rates and patterns of transmission, duration, timing of epidemiological peaks, geographical distribution of the disease, government preparedness and quarantine provisions through to effects on different age and social groups, severity in developing versus developed countries, symptoms, causes of mortality (secondary problems, especially pneumonia, were devastating in the Spanish flu) and mortality rates.

By opening the door to a wealth of historical information on past pandemics, the Global Health database has the potential to reveal vital clues in the international fight against swine flu (influenza A – H1N1).

CABI Swine Flu Dashboard – www.cabdirect.org/globalhealth

Global Health database – http://www.netvibes.com/cabialerts

Media contact: Sarah Wilson, PR and Corporate Communications Manager, tel: +44 (0) 1491 829 361, mob: +44 (0) 7516 928 845, email: s.wilson@cabi.org

Editor’s notes

About CABI

CABI is a not-for-profit science-based development and information organization. Its mission and direction are influenced by member countries that help guide the activities undertaken. These include publishing; development projects and research; and microbial services. CABI produces key scientific information, including CAB Abstracts – the world-renowned bibliographic database covering agriculture and the environment. CABI also publishes multimedia compendia, books, e-books and full text internet resources aiming to further science and its application to real life. Our expertise includes animal and veterinary sciences, entomology, plant sciences, environmental sciences, human health, parasitology, mycology, crop protection, rural economics, rural development and leisure and tourism. For more information go to www.cabi.org

About the Global Health database

The Global Health database is published by CABI which has recorded public health and veterinary research since 1910. Global Health is the only specialist bibliographic abstracting and indexing database dedicated to public health research and practice. With more than two million records, Global Health is the definitive international public health database for academics, researchers, NGOs, policy makers, clinicians, healthcare professionals and students. The database covers all pathogens relevant to human health, including swine flu.

Once I have a minute, I’ll do some looking and see what’s there, but it looks interesting, and potentially very useful.


Posted in Bioterrorism, Research Links, Resources | No Comments »