10.14.14 Ebola and Fear

10.14.14 Ebola and Fear

Ebola is a scary disease.

I am a public health geek so I have had an awareness of this disease for some time. It always struck me as a fascinatingly dreadful disease with nasty symptoms and disease course including a high case fatality rate. Yet the current outbreak has become something more than just an interesting case study as the number of cases continues to grow and we hear of the second case within the US borders. Particularly as it is not clear when or even how we will get the outbreak under control in West Africa.

So how worried should we be?

While the risk to us here is not zero, it is far from an immediate threat to educators or the children with whom they work. First off the outbreak is continuing in a part of the world that has a substantially weaker health infrastructure than the US. There are also cultural practices about how the dead are handled that are driving the continued expansion of the outbreak.

Second, even though this is the largest Ebola outbreak we have ever seen, it has still affected less than 10,000 people in a three country region that is home to tens of millions. So even in the affected countries, a relatively small sliver of the population has contracted the disease. And so far we have had 2 cases in the US.

Third, Ebola is not like colds or flu. You cannot get Ebola from someone just by breathing the same air or being in the same room (or airplane) with them. It takes closer contact.

Finally, after a number of missteps by international and local health authorities that allowed this outbreak to take hold and expand, the response to the outbreak appears to be ramping up significantly in West Africa and in the US.

I am more concerned about fear of Ebola than the disease itself.

All of this reminds me of the situation we faced in the beginning of the AIDS pandemic. One of the biggest challenges for us then was to overcome our fears: irrational fears of getting the disease from casual contact, exaggerated fears that drove us to stigmatize and ostracize people from certain groups and even blaming them and the choices that put them at risk. We wasted a great deal of time and energy discussing and reacting to our fears, rather than making sensible decisions about how to stop the disease.

Fear that drives our public policy decisions in unhelpful directions and distracts us from current and present public health crises in the US–like the Entrovirus 68 outbreak that has killed two children this year and laid out thousands for days of misery including a couple of my work mates.

What should we do?

In the days and weeks to come we need to keep all this news in perspective. Yes, we should be concerned, but let’s channel that concern in a useful direction.  There are numerous international organizations that are giving assistance to the health authorities in the affected areas. They could use our financial support, and if you are a person who prays they could use that support as well. Let’s not react to risks that are small or non-existent. Let’s not engage in speculation and rumor spreading. Let’s make sure we are not stigmatizing people from the affected countries. Finally, let’s focus our public health concerns in areas where we can make a difference like our own wellness, taking seriously child and our own mental health or re-visiting our disaster preparedness plans.

Cross A Finish Line for Children in Need

By Carrie Marriot

The Finish Line is Just the Beginning

Our son Henry, pictured here, was just 10 months old and learning how to pull himself up to standing. I was in the kitchen making dinner like any other day; with one eye on my son crawling happily around on the floor. While I took a chicken dish out of the hot oven and before I could kick the door shut, Henry pulled himself up on it. Even now, five years later, the memory of his intense pain and the huge blisters that bubbled up immediately on his little hands is as raw as it was in the moment. We didn’t know if he would regain full use of his hands.

Thanks to the unique pediatric burn unit at Children’s National Health System, today you would never know he’d been through such trauma.

There are countless stories similar to ours from families in the Washington, DC area – and from across the country and around the world – who have experienced firsthand the many reasons why supporting Children’s National is so important. Matt and Karen Smith’s son Noah is another example. Born with an extremely rare heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot With Inverted Great Arteries {S, D, I}, Noah needed medical expertise that was hard to find. His was one of only 10 known cases around the world. His surgeon at Children’s National had treated this very condition and is at the forefront of innovation in the area. Today, Noah is like any other adorable, active 4-year-old, running up and down the soccer field and triumphantly scoring goals.

Race for Every Child

On September 13, at the Race for Every Child 5K, toddlers, teenagers, their courageous families and supportive friends – along with thousands of schoolmates, teachers, health professionals and community advocates – will walk, run, stroll, skip and (for the babies in strollers) roll their way to a finish line that marks new beginnings. I will be running with Henry and our whole family at my side.

At the Race for Every Child 5k run/walk (and the fun 100-yard Kids’ Dash for children aged 3 to 10), we say that “the finish line is just the beginning” because the funds raised from the event will have a lasting impact on the lives of so many children in need. Last year alone, Children’s National provided $41.3 million in uncompensated care to some of the nation’s most vulnerable kids.

The hospital welcomes every child in need of medical care – and provides every child with world-class care – regardless of the family’s ability to pay. Last year for our inaugural race participants represented some 26 states to help patients who came from 22 countries worldwide.

This year, we will walk together again with a monumental backdrop, down Pennsylvania Avenue, around the National Mall, past the U.S. Capitol, down Independence Avenue and then back with the goal of raising $1 million to continue to meet almost 15,000 hospital admissions, 108,000 emergency visits, and nearly half a million outpatient visits every year.

Wherever we may live, let us be unified in our purpose: To not only raise funds or advocate for an issue that is near and dear to our hearts, but also to learn lessons about community service and commitment to causes that create change.  In the process, we learn to step up for a cause and step out for our own health.   

The health and safety of NEA members, and the schools and communities they serve, is HIN’s mission-driven mandate. Remember that opportunities to realize this mission are not restricted to the classroom alone! The Race for Every Child is a case in point where our youth, family, friends – indeed, entire community – can take part in a fun-filled family day with a serious purpose:

To bring communities together to encourage children’s health and wellness and to raise much-needed funds that help the region’s only children’s hospital provide world-class preventive and critical medical care to every family in need.

Learn more at RaceForEveryChild.org, where you can sign up to run/walk or donate if you’re unable to join us that day. Please support this critical cause, and celebrate children’s health with us on September 13, 2014!

Guest blogger Carrie Marriott is an active philanthropist and advocate for children’s health and education, and a busy mother of four children under the age of 12. Youngest son, Henry, is one of the compelling reasons why is Carrie is chairing the second annual Race for Every Child for Children’s National Health System in Washington, DC to ensure that all children have access to world class health care, regardless of their ability to pay.

NEA HIN Commemorates National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month

Teen birth rates are declining in the US.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 329,797 babies were born to teen girls aged 15–19 years in 2011, which is an 8% drop from 2010. Birth rates also fell 11% for teens aged 15-17 and 7% for ages 18-19.  Although this decline has been steady over the past two decades, teens are still engaging in sexual activity and teen girls are still getting pregnant.

Teen pregnancy has a tremendous impact on the educational, social, and economic lives of young people.  Early parenting reduces the likelihood that a young woman will complete high school and pursues the necessary postsecondary education needed to compete in today’s economy.  According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, only 38% of teen girls who have a child before age 18 get a high school diploma by age 22 and 30% of teen girls who have dropped out of high school cite pregnancy or parenthood as a reason.

This month marks the annual observance of National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month.  Although birth rates among teen girls are declining, in order to substantially continue to decrease the rate of teen pregnancy in the U.S., coordinated strategies that equip youth with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy , and provide them access to reproductive healthcare are needed. These approaches should be evidence-based and geared towards meeting the needs of all children.

For more information on teen pregnancy prevention, please visit:

• www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy
• www.thenationalcampaign.org

National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day: Engaging Youth Voices in the HIV & AIDS Response

April 10^th marks the annual observance of National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD).  The theme this year is “Engaging Youth Voices in the HIV & AIDS Response.”  Youth in the United States account for a substantial number of HIV infections.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 new HIV infections occur in youth ages 13 to 24 years.  Of those new infections, African American youth and young gay and bisexual men are most at risk, with nearly 60 percent of new infections being amongst African Americans and 87 percent being amongst young gay and bisexual males.

Many people get infected with HIV as a teen or young adult.  Nearly 60% of all youth with HIV do not know they are infected, are not getting treated, and can unknowingly pass the virus on to others.  The risk for HIV for most youth begins when they start having sex or injecting drugs.  Strategies including encouraging condom use, delaying in sexual initiation, partner reduction, and early HIV testing and treatment can be effective in helping young people reduce sexual risk behaviors.  As we mark this day, let’s recommit to taking action by investing in young people and encouraging their voices to be heard in this fight against HIV and AIDS. 

For more information on NYHAAD, please visit:

• www.advocatesforyouth.org
• www.youthaidsday.org
• www.aids.gov/news-and-events/awareness-days/youth/