In an effort to raise awareness around chronic hepatitis C, Merck Pharmaceutical company, the American Liver Foundation and some Grammy Award-winning musicians like Gregg Allman, Natalie Cole and Jon Secada have joined forces in the Tune in to Hep C campaign.  To learn more about the campaign, go to www.TuneInToHepC.com.    

My interest in scientific illustration started with my mission to engage audiences in microbiology. I chose a novel and humorous approach to the art form while maintaining the scientific integrity of the images.  On the other end of the spectrum would be the measured and accurate depictions of insects to teach entomology.

On Sunday on OWN network, Oprah interviewed Daniel Pink about the subject of his recent book: A Whole New Mind - Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.  I was fascinated with his predictions that artists, inventors and storytellers will be essential to the business development of the future.  I am primarily a left-brained individual so birthing the nanobugs as a way to engage my audiences and teach practical microbiology, has really challenged my thinking and pushed me into exploring that untapped right side of my brain.   I'm no artist nor a scientist but I am increasingly attracted to right-brainers.  They are open-minded.  They grasp concepts.  They "get it" and seem to enjoy the challenges of facilitating left-brained ideas and missions.  

Science illustrators are "artists in service to science". Expand your horizon today and check out the website of the Guild of Natural Scientific Illustrators: http://www.gnsi.org/.  Then share it with a young person in search of a promising career of the future.   

Waist to height ratio is easy to determine.  To measure your waist circumference accurately, select the point midway between the lower rib and the top of the pelvic bone at the hip.   Use a tape measure.   Keeping your waist circumference less than half of your height can help increase your life expectancy.  It will also give you a healthy youthful appearance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5qovHD_kjQ&feature=share

Then share it with someone and do your part to promote some hand hygiene today.

One of my daughters is a zookeeper at the Topeka Zoo in Topeka, KS where she is responsible for the lions and gorillas. She came home for a visit and brought her laundry with her. Today I offered to do her laundry so she could take it home clean and ready for work on Sunday morning.  As you can imagine, her work clothes are dirtier than mine and so I pretreated (where possible) and set my high efficiency washing machine on “heavy soiled”.  I chose a double rinse and some borax in addition to the laundry detergent with no dyes or perfumes. did get the clothes clean and smelling good.  While the washer was running I located an article I read about a year ago about the differences in home laundry and hospital/institutional machines and processing.

.  I’ll bet there is a significant portion of the American population that generates heavily contaminated work clothes that are laundered in the home, including but not limited to- farmers, zookeepers, construction workers and plumbers, daycare providers, nurses, housekeepers and laboratory workers. 

This article is a beginning: http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/news/2011/10/residential-washers-may-not-kill-hospital-acquired-bacteria.aspx

Today most families use disposable diapers and many have purchased high-efficiency washing machines that use low temperatures and minimal water.  I still use my favorite laundry detergent but dilute it for my new washer.  I wonder about the composition of the new “specially formulated” detergents on the market now. It is obvious that the laundry challenges of today are tougher than just getting gravy stains out of grandma’s tablecloth.

According to the Center for Health, Environment and Justice:

Hand soap

In early August 2012, Johnson & Johnson announced that the company would phase out potentially harmful chemicals from their personal care items, including shampoo, lotions and soaps. Environmental advocacy groups pressured Johnson & Johnson and its competitors to change formulas in their products. The company pledged last year to remove traces of the formaldehyde-releasing preservative listed as quaternium-15  in its baby products. Check to see if the hand soap and personal care products used in your child’s school are free of these harmful chemicals.  The school nurse should be able to help you investigate this issue. 

School Supplies

Toxic chemicals have been found in 16 popular school products sampled in New York City – including a lunch box, a backpack and a three-ring binder. High levels of the chemicals called "phthalates" are used to make plastic more pliable, according to a report conducted by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. The chemicals have been linked to birth defects, asthma, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and diabetes. Some of these chemicals are banned from use in toys by the European Union and California. U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) is working with others to pass the Safe Chemicals Act, which would give the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more authority to regulate chemicals used in consumer products.

Mouse droppings.  No one intends to have contact with mouse droppings, but they might be camouflaged in the camping environment, fooling the unsuspecting camper. Yosemite National Park is a beautiful place to experience nature’s grandeur.  Unfortunately, recent campers at Yosemite who occupied some luxury cabins in the woods at Curry Village in Yosemite Valley have developed hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.  Two people died from this infection. California health officials are urging recent visitors with flu-like symptoms, to seek medical help.

Hantavirus can be found in the feces, urine and saliva of deer mice and other rodents. Rodents call the woods “home” and Yosemite is home to many.  Investigators found 18% of the mice they trapped in Yosemite were infected with hantavirus.  The design of the new luxury cabins at Curry Village contributed to the rodent infestations.  The walls are plywood or drywall in the inside and a canvas exterior with insulation in between.  The mice nest in the walls. Deer mice which are more prone to carry hantavirus are distinguished from solid-colored house mice by their white bellies and gray/brown bodies.  They can squeeze through holes only an inch in diameter. 

Hantavirus was first identified in 1993 in the USA in the Southwest. CDC reports that 600 cases of hantavirus have been identified since 1993 – most of them in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, and California.  Hantavirus can cause serious respiratory illness and kills 36 per cent of the people who become infected. 

Mouse droppings happen.  Be aware of hantavirus!

Here are some tips to reduce your chances of catching the virus:

•   Dispose of containers that collect water such as buckets, old tires, cans, flower pots.
•   Eliminate areas of standing water. Also, repair leaky outdoor faucets that leave puddles
•   Unclog all gutters and drains.
•   Empty and refill bird baths at least once a week.
•   Clean, drain and cover pools or hot tubs if not in use.
•   Fill tree holes with tar or cement.
•   Tightly screen all openings of your home.
•   Keep children indoors during times of peak mosquito activity (early AM and dusk)
•   Wear light-colored clothing that covers arms and legs.
•   Use insect repellent on both skin and clothing.
•   Repellents should contain EET, picaridin or lemon eucalyptus oil for skin and permethrin for clothing. Be sure to follow label directions.

Report any dead birds in your yard or neighborhood to public health authorities.  They will collect the birds and test for the presence of West Nile Virus. 

Find even more suggestions and statistics on the CDC's website.