Top Public Health Risks

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1/10,000 Americans will be murdered or commit suicide using a gun this year.

3.59/100,000 Americans murdered with gun (last year)[2]
+
6.3/100,000 Americans commit suicide by firearm (last year)[3]— that’s 50.55% of all suicides!
= 9.89/100,000
Rounded to
10/100,000
Reduced
1/10,000
With your odds of being assaulted with a firearm at
50.8/100,000[2]
Or 1/2000

That’s a massive risk to public health.

Smallpox: a timeline
Pre-1798–Swept across continents killing 30% of infected.

60-85% of survivors have deep scars across their body and face.

1798–Inoculation with cowpox discovered as protection.
1960-1980–World Health Campaign to eradicate smallpox.

Today–Doesn’t occur naturally, but can be used as a biological weapon.

Untreatable: Drug-resistant illnesses
23,000 deaths to drug resistant illnesses last year[4]
Most in hospitals and nursing homes.

Most at risk:

Cancer Chemotherapy
Complex Surgery
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Dialysis for Renal Disease
Organ and Bone Marrow Transplants

Staph->MRSA
30% of the population live with staph in their nose or on their skin.

Staph “colonizes” 30% of the population and lives in their nose or on their skin.
–>It’s passed to others through open wounds
If not completely cured morphs into drug resistant MRSA

West Nile Virus is incredibly resilient
Discovered Uganda (1937)–>
Transferred to New York (1999)–>
(37,000 cases)(4% fatality rate)(1999-2013)[6]
Spread across entire U.S. (2013)–>
How it works:
Infected mosquito bites swell your brain
–> And you die.

Chagas Disease is in 20-60% of mammals in US urban ecosystems
A parasite–>
That kills 50,000 yearly–>
In Latin America

Obesity, the silent killer
35.7% of American Adults are Obese
Costing $3.91 more in medical costs per day
$27.41 more a week
$109.62 more a month
And $1,429 more a year
Than healthy weight adults
Obesity has exploded in America:
1991-
No data states: NV,NB,KS
<10% states:GA,WA,MOnt, UT, CO,NM 10-14% states:All other states 15-19% states:MI,WV,LA,MS 2010- 20-24% states:AL,CA,NV,AZ,UT,CO,MI,NY,VT,RI,NJ,DE 25-29% states:WA,OR,ID,WY,ND,SD,NM,NE,KA,IA,MI.IN,IL,OH,PA,MD,VA,NC,GA,FL >30% states: Everything else

Smoking is the single largest preventable danger to the U.S. people
With 443,000 people dying from second hand smoke or smoking every year[8]
Or nearly 50 an hour
And 8.6 million living with serious illnesses due to smoking
(that’s 1/36.5 Americans, OF ALL AGES)
Good thing smoking is slowly decreasing.
[by year, number of current smokers, total–both genders][9]
1965-42.5%
1970-37.4%
1974-37.1%
1980-33.2%
1985-30.1%
1990-25.5%
1995-24.7%
2000-23.3
2005-20.9%
2009-20.6%
Total Change=-51.4%

The CDC is preparing a comprehensive plan for Climate Change

Factors: [10]
1.)Increased temperatures =
Increased cardiovascular and respiratory disease

Heat= more ground level ozone=direct harm to lungs (asthma, COPD)

2.)Droughts= concentration of contaminated water/ shortage of water
=food shortages

3.)Migration of pathogen bearing organisms

4.) Coastal flooding=
loss of infrastructure
structural collapse
interruption of healthcare
Drowning
Soil Ph changes hurting agriculture

5.) CO2 concentrations in salt water =
More acidic seas
Destruction of fisheries

147,000 people died worldwide last year from climate, meteorological and hydrological events. It’s a big deal.[11]

There are a massive range of bioterror threats

Category A
–Easily spread from person to person
–Massive casualty rate
–Disruption of healthcare system
–Mass panic

Examples:
Anthrax, Smallpox, Plague

Category B
–Moderately easy to spread
–Moderate morbidity, low mortality rates

Examples:
Ricin, viruses, salmonella , mosquito borne illnesses

Category C
–Ease of production and dissemination
–If disseminated en masse cause massive mortality
Examples:
Tick borne illnesses, Nipah Virus, Yellow Fever, Drug resistant tuberculosis

In complex societies, public health risks can affect us all. Take precautions, support infrastructure and education.

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