Public Health

Changing of guardian for health as smoking reaches crossroads

Keith Seinfeld — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:04:00 +0000

For the first time since 1998, Washington is getting a new secretary of health. Mary Selecky is retiring, and her replacement starts today.

Selecky has been a familiar face during health emergencies, such as the pandemic flu. She made tobacco her top health priority, and saw smoking rates drop year after year. But, as she steps down, the anti-smoking crusade is at a crossroads.

ACLU, public health groups cautioning marijuana rulemakers

Bellamy Pailthorp — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:33:49 +0000

How do you build a whole new industry – and undermine a black market -- without increasing its customer base?

That’s the challenge state regulators are facing as they write the rules that will govern recreational marijuana in Washington. The American Civil Liberties Union is urging caution.

Washington bucks national trend with fewer teen driver deaths

Gabriel Spitzer — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:31:54 +0000

A new report finds more teen drivers are dying around the country, but not in Washington. So while nationwide there’s been a 19 percent increase in 16- and 17-year old drivers dying in the first half of last year, deaths dropped sharply in Washington

Public health at forefront of King County's gun initiative

Gabriel Spitzer — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:52:54 +0000

The debate over gun control may be focused on the nation’s capital, but one local official says King County will soon take measures of its own.

About 125 people die each year of gun violence in King County. Executive Dow Constantine says the way a county government can chip away at that number is through a public health approach. He announced in his state of the county address that he is directing the health department to collect new data on gun deaths and injuries.

How to prove the tree-huggers hunch? Study a deadly beetle

Bellamy Pailthorp — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:04:00 +0000

If you live in the Evergreen State, chances are, you like trees. Cities around the Pacific Northwest do a lot to protect them.

But, do they really make us healthier? An economist with the US forest service in Portland is working on that question.

Not as many Wash. children opting out of vaccines

Gabriel Spitzer — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 23:55:07 +0000

Fewer Washington parents are opting their children out of vaccinations, giving the state one of the biggest drops in vaccine exemptions in the country. Two years ago Washington had the highest rate of vaccine exemptions in the nation, with 6.2 percent of kindergartners taking a medical, religious or philosophical pass on getting one or more immunizations.

Tacoma man not alone with grill brush horror story

Gabriel Spitzer — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Federal regulators are looking into a health hazard that sent a Tacoma man to the hospital over the weekend.

Adam Wojtanowicz ate a grilled steak, and ended up in surgery. It had nothing to do with the meat, or even cooking with fire – no, Wojtanowicz actually ingested a metal bristle from the wire brush used to clean the grill. That little whisker of steel can wreak havoc on the digestive system, puncturing intestines or other organs.

It turns out to be a rare but not unique injury.

Wintertime vomiting disease strikes Seattle

Keith Seinfeld — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:14:37 +0000

Don’t be surprised if you notice a few co-workers are out sick, or if a stomach bug seems to be hitting your family. Winter is peak time for sharing germs – and right now, at least, most of those are NOT the flu bug.

For Lisa Steinbrueck of Seattle, it seemed at first like food poisoning:

Follow-up: $800,000 ad campaign designed to help us choose healthy

Keith Seinfeld — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:17:53 +0000

Why spend $800,000 to advertise what seems like common knowledge? That smoking is bad for you, that eating nutritious foods is better than a diet of fast-food and physical activity is a good idea?

Because too many of us have trouble following those golden rules.

Why Metro Transit refuses to run a public health message

Keith Seinfeld — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 12:00:00 +0000

A major ad campaign launches this week to promote healthy living, with advertisements featured on Seattle-area television, radio and billboards. Just about the only place you won’t find the ads is on Metro buses.

The transit agency says the advertisements violate its new policy regarding public service announcements. The policy, adopted April 8th, prohibits ads that express a viewpoint on “matters of public debate about economic, political, religious or social issues.”

Longevity: Is your community more like Albania or like Sweden?

Keith Seinfeld — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 20:10:28 +0000

If you live in certain counties in Washington, your life probably won’t be much longer than someone's in Albania or Mexico. On the other hand, the healthiest counties have life expectancies similar to Switzerland and Sweden.

This comes from new research showing life expectancy in many American communities is failing to keep up with the rest of the world. And the growing health gap is affecting women more than men.

Thirty years of AIDS in Washington, USA

Keith Seinfeld — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:01:00 +0000

Thirty years ago this month, the first cases of AIDS were identified by the medical community. It was still a mystery disease. A strange form of pneumonia was striking young men in Los Angeles. Since then, the epidemic has been a dramatic roller-coaster of death, disease, politics and what some people call the greatest medical success story of the past half century.

(This interactive timeline is from the federal AIDS.gov website. Click and scroll for dates and highlights.)

I sat down with Dr. Bob Wood, one of the most prominent local faces of AIDS and the fight to contain it, to discuss the highlights and low points. You can listen to the interview by clicking on "Audio."

Kids and seniors get a taste of local produce in King County programs

Charla Bear — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:32:30 +0000

Over the past few years, a lot of people have pushed to get local, fresh produce into meals at public schools. Far less attention has been focused on kids in childcare programs. That effort is finally underway.

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-967778.mp3

Northwest states move to counter rise in child immunization waivers

Tom Banse and KPLU News Staff — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:35:07 +0000

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-960681.mp3

Record numbers of parents in the Northwest are seeking waivers from mandatory child immunization requirements. The trend alarms public health officials. They say it creates increased risk for disease outbreaks. Washington, Oregon, and Idaho are all moving to sway vaccine skeptics.

All U.S. states require parents to immunize their children before sending them to school.

One of every three of us on planet has TB; Seattle rates remain twice national average

Tom Paulson — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:19:10 +0000

My friends always tend to disbelieve me (in general, but also specifically) when I tell them that one out of every three people on the planet has been infected with tuberculosis.

So where are all these consumptive folks, they might say? — This is assuming they know that TB used to be called consumption because of the way it “consumed” and withered the body as the infection progressed.

They’re everywhere, I’d reply, including right here in wealthy and smug Seattle.

Seattle, in fact, has one of the worst problems with TB in the nation. But it’s always here, managed by the public health folks, so it’s hardly news.

The news is that it’s World TB Day.