Public Health Policy

Contradictions, Mistakes and Bullshit Are What Worry Us in Ebola Response

Media Still Misstating Science on Ebola Transmission

News media continue to present a picture of Ebola transmission that is significantly inaccurate by omission. They assert much more certainty than the science justifies. The version repeated like a mantra in most accounts -- only direct physical contact with an infectious person -- is wrong on its fa ... More >>

Highland Park ISD Wants Parents to Know They Are Safe From Clay Jenkins and His Family

This week, Highland Park school district's "Nurses's Corner" is an attempt to assuage parents' fears about the Ebola risk at HPISD schools. There is no risk, the letter says, despite Armstrong Elementary parent Clay Jenkins being in close contact with members of Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan's f ... More >>

Dallas ISD Puts Parents on High Alert for Ebola Symptoms as CDC Monitors Five Students

Early this morning, Dallas ISD received word from the Centers for Disease Control that five district students have been exposed to the Ebola virus. The students attend Emmett Conrad High School, Sam Tasby Middle School, Dan Rogers Elementary, and Hotchkiss Elementary. Jack Lowe Elementary, which is ... More >>

After West Nile and Chikungunya, DFW Now Has the Measles -- and It's Softball's Fault

Last week, the first Dallas resident came down with West Nile fever. It's news, but it's also to be expected. The virus has been in Texas since 2002, and every summer carries the potential for cases (and lots of spraying). Even though West Nile's 2012 summer was unprecedented, the virus is preventab ... More >>

Dallas County Health Director Disputes Misuse of AIDS Funds, Calls Media "Racist"

Dallas County Health Director Zachary Thompson gathered the media on Monday to address reports, from Unfair Park and others, that there was a federal investigation into the department's use of funding designed to treat people with HIV. To be clear, Dallas County Health Department Director Zach Thomp ... More >>

The Flu in Dallas County is Killing About As Many People As It Usually Does

It's flu season, a fact you've probably noticed if you've experienced a bout of achy, feverish misery, or if you've seen the equally feverish news reports on the mounting death toll in North Texas, which reached 21 yesterday. To put this all in context, we spoke with Dallas County Health Director Z ... More >>

There's a Measles Outbreak at Vaccine-Denying Pastor Kenneth Copeland's Fort Worth Church

For several days now, state health officials have been sounding the alarm about a nascent measles outbreak in North Texas. As of Friday, there had been nine confirmed cases, a number that will grow as new reports from local health agencies filter up to the state. The epicenter of the outbreak is Ta ... More >>

Dallas County Health Officials: Earlier West Nile Response Could Have Saved 12 Lives in 2012

Danny HurleyRemember this? Expect more in the future.At this point last year, Dallas County had already recorded a handful of West Nile deaths, a figure that would ramp up to 19 in the following weeks and months as the number of infections skyrocketed. But the West Nile outbreak of 2012, which resu ... More >>

Mosquitoes Are Already Testing Positive for West Nile

The West Nile virus is officially back. Public health officials got their first confirmation of that last week when mosquito pools in Richardson tested positive for the disease. Today, Highland Park announced a positive test of its own. Dallas County is already urging residents to use insect repella ... More >>

With Spraying Over, Dallas County Will Test Mosquitoes For Insecticide Resistance

The West Nile outbreak of 2012 isn't officially over, at least not according to Dallas County health officials, but it may as well be. There hasn't been a death reported in more than six weeks, the number of new cases is basically nil, and for most of us, the scenes of August nights spent barricaded ... More >>

Spraying to Stop West Nile - Is It Safe?

Let's All Stop Freaking Out About West Nile

It's like clockwork. Every year as summer rolls around, media outlets begin to hyperventilate about the approaching West Nile epidemic, then proceed to breathlessly report on every single human case that shows up. Public health experts dutifully slip on their white coats and talk about what a grave ... More >>

Texas Has Worst Health Care in Nation, Report Says. But What Does the Government Know?

Texas Republicans have been complaining loudly since the Supreme Court decided that the Affordable Care Act passed constitutional muster. The law is a huge overreach by the federal government, it's a "stomach-punch" to the economy, Obama is a socialist, etc. etc. There's even quite serious talk abou ... More >>

Have Babies and Young Children, Dallas? You Might Want to Get Vaccinated Against Whooping Cough

Cases of pertussis, widely known as whooping cough, are on a "modest" uptick in Dallas County, county health officials say. So far this year, the number of cases is higher than in 2010 and 2011. And with the death of one infant this year, health officials say it's "very important for all adults who ... More >>

Yes, But What If Texas Were Healthy?

​Yes, indeed -- when it comes to health care, says the Commonwealth Fund, Texas ranks ahead of only Nevada, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi. The full study's here for those looking for context, but for Texans all the bad news is right here -- five pages full of charts documenting all ... More >>

Outside a Quiet Two-Party Town Hall, Health Care Demonstrators Take To the Streets

Patrick MichelsDemonstrators on both sides of the debate shared space outside this morning's town hall meeting with Rep. Pete Sessions and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson.​Update: Check out our slide show for more photos from the meeting and the protest.Walking up to the health care reform protest outs ... More >>

Mustach-O-Retum

Re: NPR Knows What's Buggin' Dallas

Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy noticed our item about National Public Radio's story concerning Dallas' mosquito problem. And he takes issue with the story's theory that the giant salt-water-bred pests we're seeing about town stem from the salt-water lakes created by Barnett Shale dri ... More >>

Needle Point

This morning down in Austin, the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services is set to hear public testimony on Senate Bill 308 -- which, for those not keeping score at home, is the legislation proposed by Sen. Bob Deuell (R-Greenville) that would legalize needle-exchange programs in Texas. (Deuell, ... More >>

The Plague

Bizarre fibers. Black sweat. Bugs under the skin. Welcome to the controversial world of Morgellons disease.

Toke This

If news happens, but no one is there to issue a press release, is it still news? There's a koan for all you tree-hugging hippie stoner types to mull over while we offer up some rather old news to the less easily distracted: The League of Women Voters of Texas has come out in favor of decriminalizing ... More >>

Betty's In Charge

Is Dallas County's most explosive bureaucrat ruining the health department?

Letters