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Epi Wit & Wisdom Articles
Publication Called a “Ticket to
the Mystery and Drama of Epidemiology”
Epidemiologists Called “Illness
Tamers”
“The most intriguing magazine
you’ve never heard of is printed in black and white, lacks
photographs, measures a scant 6 1/2 by 8 inches and contains about as
many numbers as words. Even its title...promises less than it
delivers.”
Can you guess which publication
the Baltimore Sun writer is referring to? (Hint: It’s a CDC
publication.) Give up?
You should have guessed by now
that it’s the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
According to an October 14, 1997
story in the Sun, the MMWR is the “chronicle of the nation’s ills” and
while it lacks flair, “is consistently the first with articles about
outbreaks and oddities that bear watching.”
The many interesting articles in
the MMWR over the years have included the first report of AIDS cases,
Legionnaire’s disease, toxic shock syndrome and hanta virus, the
article said.
Always interesting for
epidemiologists to read are the definitions of epidemiology
constructed by the media. In this article, epidemiology is defined as
that branch of medicine “that deals with the causes, spread and taming
of illness.” Epidemiologists as tamers. Not bad.
Also interesting was the concept
of the MMWR presented in the story as a key link in the process by
which public health problems are observed, investigated and solved. To
support this concept, MMWR editor Rick Goodman gave the example of L-tryptophan
which began with doctors reporting mysterious findings to the health
department in New Mexico which shared them with CDC. These, in turn,
were published and alerted doctors in other parts of the country who
soon realized that L-trytophan was the common element in the cases
being seen. FDA recalled the dietary supplement and the outbreak
ended.
According to Goodman who is
quoted in the Sun story, “All the pieces were put together. It’s a
beautiful story of the way public health works in this country, a real
collaboration between several state health departments and the CDC and
the FDA.”
Published November 1997 v
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