Twenty-first century medical library

One of the deadliest diseases healthcare workers fight today, tuberculosis (often called TB) infects the lungs of one-third of the world's population and kills about 2 million people a year. While scientific breakthroughs brought this bacterial disease under control during the 1960's to the 1980s, it was never completely eliminated. In the early 1990's, TB came back as a serious global threat. Not only has TB now spread to virtually every country...

USA TODAY, the Nation's No. 1 Newspaper, reports that in the United States "about 19 million new STD infections, other than AIDS occur each year, about half in young people between ages 15 and 24." Sexually transmitted diseases are bacterial or viral infections that can be passed from person to person. Understanding STDs-their prevalence, their symptoms, how they are passed, and how they can be treated-is an important first step in controlling the...

With the 2009 outbreak of the deadly H1N1 flu, popularly known as "swine flu," people across the globe crowded emergency rooms and clinics for treatment. During outbreaks, schools shut down and parents stayed home from work as the flu spread across the United States. But the best prevention method touted over and over again was profoundly simple: "Hand washing is a cheap, easy and effective way to avoid catching...the flu" reports USA TODAY, the Nation's...

By some estimates, 25 percent of young people in the United States are either overweight or obese, a figure that has doubled in the last 30 years. In that time, the physical activities in our lives have gone down while our caloric intake has gone up. The U.S. Surgeon General has called the incidence of excessive weight-which unfortunately extends to all age groups including the elderly-a public health crisis. By presenting both real-life case studies...

In North America, mosquito bites are usually only a nuisance. But in areas such as Africa and Southeast Asia, the bite can be deadly. There, many mosquitoes transmit a disease called malaria-and malaria can be a killer. In Africa, one child dies from malaria every thirty seconds. Worldwide, more than one million people die from malaria each year. What can be done to stop this global killer? This book examines how public health organizations work to...