Infectious Diseases Episodes

Dec. 4, 2023

556: New Suicide Prevention Policy Statement, Testing Could Curb Newborn Syphilis Cases

Dr. Mark Levine, commissioner, Vermont Department of Health, says ASTHO’s new policy statement on suicide prevention offers many recommendations including a call to improve access to health care services for those at highest…
Dec. 1, 2023

555: New Climate Policy Calls for Funding, Actions to Prevent Dengue

Elke Shaw-Tulloch, public health administrator, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, says ASTHO’s revised policy statement on climate and health recommends more funding for state and territorial climate programs; Dr. Lyle…
Nov. 30, 2023

554: Ending Structural Racism, New Book on Public Health Strategy

Dr. Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, senior vice president, Health Equity and Diversity Initiatives, ASTHO outlines the organization’s updated policy statement on structural racism in public health; Dr. Brian Castrucci, president …
Nov. 21, 2023

549: Role of Schools in Preventing Teen Overdose, CDC Builds Outbreak Modeling Network

Dr. Lauren Tanz, an epidemiologist with the CDC, talks about the rising numbers of teen overdose deaths in the United States; Dr. Dylan George, director of the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics at the CDC, discus…
Oct. 3, 2023

516: Mpox Approaches, Health Equity Report Card Creator

Chris Taylor, ASTHO’s Director of Infectious Disease Outbreak Response and Recovery, says it's important that health departments remain vigilant against Mpox; Alyssa Gonzales, Communication Specialist at Salud America, share…
Aug. 29, 2023

492: Breastfeeding Equity, TFAH’s New Podcast

Heather Hamner, Maternal, Infant, and Toddler Nutrition Team Lead at the CDC, explains the importance of Breastfeeding Awareness Month; the Trust For America’s Health has launched a new podcast to highlight the work in the A…
Aug. 8, 2023

477: PH-HERO Set to Grow, Dialysis Patient Voices

Omar Khalid, ASTHO’s Director of Workforce Development, explains the expansion of ASTHO’s Public Health – Hope, Equity, Resilience, and Opportunity (PH-HERO) initiative; Erin Laird, ASTHO’s Director of Emerging Infections, s…
June 30, 2023

452: Making Federal Connections, Malaria in the U.S.

Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO President and Chief Medical Officer for Alaska Department of Health, explains best practices for building connections with the federal government; Dr. Benjamin Beard, Deputy Director of the CDC's Divisio…
April 24, 2023

405: Childhood Immunization Schedules, Island Area Health Equity Plans

On the first day of National Infant Immunization Week, Dr. José Romero, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC, discusses the importance of vaccines and the COVID-19 schedule for…
April 19, 2023

402: Equity Change Agents, Equity Success In Michigan

Dr. Somava Saha, Founder and CEO of WE in the World, shares a framework to help public health officials create health equity; Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, explains how Michigan …
April 18, 2023

401: New HAI/AR Resources, STI Hurdles and Opportunities

Elizabeth Mothershed, Deputy Associate Director of State Strategy for the CDC, says it’s important for leaders to work together on Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) programs; a new ASTHO …
Feb. 21, 2023

361: RSV Immunization Considered, Making CPR and AEDs More Common

Dr. Christopher Rizzo, Senior U.S. Medical Director for Sanofi, is working on a passive immunization for RSV that could help protect young infants from the virus; Lana McKinney, ASTHO Senior Policy Analyst for State Health P…
Feb. 8, 2023

353: Community Vaccination Push, Campaign for Safer Communities

Ernia Hughes, Director of the Office of Health Center Investment Oversight with the Health Resources and Services Administration, says her organization hopes to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates with grants to more than 1,400…
Feb. 2, 2023

349: Safe Drug Use Sites, Toxic Pandemic Stress

Julie Wernau, Health and Science Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, says drug use sites face many hurdles even if they have local permission to operate; Dr. Anne Zink, ASTHO President, tells the Associated Press that her m…
Jan. 18, 2023

338: Medicaid Cliff, Global View for Public Health

Carolyn McCoy, ASTHO Senior Director of Federal Government Affairs, shares the good news that Congress has addressed Medicaid funding concerns that have plagued the U.S. territories for years; Dr. Jay Butler, former ASTHO Pr…