EbolaMapping.com

Ebola Tweet Map- Understanding and analyzing what people are saying about Ebola

The Ebola Virus outbreak has caused public confusion, mishaps, and panic, and has been the topic of conversation throughout the US and around the world. This virus is being talked about among people throughout the day, and as we all know with this day and age, if something is important enough to be said, then 99% of the time it will be tweeted. EbolaMapping.com took this puzzling abnormality and decided to give the public real time information, in hopes that the people would have a one-stop destination where they can easily see the facts and fiction of the disease. On the site, created by Vertices LLC, a tweet map shows tweets about Ebola in comparison to Flu around the world. This collection of information was started on August 13, 2014 and continues to be updated daily. Check it out !!

Created by Eva Gerrits, Intern. Click here to visit the site. Contact at gis@vertices.com

The NCHHSTP Atlas was created to provide an interactive platform for accessing data collected by CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP). This interactive tool provides CDC an effective way to disseminate data, while allowing users to observe trends and patterns by creating detailed reports, maps, and other graphics.

Currently, the Atlas provides interactive maps, graphs, tables, and figures showing geographic patterns and time trends of HIV, AIDS, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and primary and secondary syphilis surveillance data.

Learn more about the map here. Check out the map here.

Jin Lee, Intern, gis@vertices.com 

A North-South Divide

According to these maps compiled by the Huffington Post from various sources such as the US Department of Labor, USDA and Gallup, living in the Southern US isn’t all the rosy. Compared to Northern states Southern states have higher poverty rates, lower minimum wages, higher rates of obesity, decreased access to affordable health care…just to name some of the few health disparities.

Read the article and check out the maps here.

Juhi Mawla, Intern, gis@vertices.com 

Environmental Indicators and Respiratory Health Trends

Over at Mappler, we created a map showing environmental indicators and trends in respiratory health such as lunch care mortality. The map also includes PM 2.5 data measuring particulate pollution. Particulate pollution especially microscopic solids or liquid droplets have been linked with serious health problems since they can get deep into the lungs and cause damage. Studies have linked particulate pollution with outcomes such as

• premature death in people with heart or lung disease
• nonfatal heart attacks
• irregular heartbeat
• aggravated asthma
• decreased lung function
• increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways, coughing or difficulty breathing.

More data is being added to the map such as ambulatory care sensitive conditions, children in poverty and smoking data from the Center of Disease Control’s (CDC) Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Check out the map here. Interested in doing a similar project? Check out our site for more information.

Juhi Mawla, Intern, gis@vertices.com 

Other sources: http://www.epa.gov/pm/health.html 

Increased Severity of Antibiotic Resistance: Lethal Superbug CRE in the U.S.

We are no strangers to E.Coli. The bacteria is naturally present in our soil, water, and digestive tracts, as well as contaminating our food supply every now and then. E.Coli — along with Salmonella, Klebsiella, and a host more — all belong to the Enterobacteriaceae family of bacteria, which are becoming harder to treat due to their increasing resistance to common antibiotics over the years.

Select strains of enterobacteriaceae-based infections, such as klebsiella pneumoniae, have grown immune to the treatment of routine antibiotics, and ultimately to carbapenems (a broad spectrum class of antibiotics), which is the last resort regimen. This progressive resistance to available antibiotics has resulted in the development of “superbug” Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE — a nightmare scenario for public health and healthcare officials. CRE infections are most common in healthcare settings among individuals with already serious conditions; it has a high rate of morbidity and mortality, killing up to 50% of infected patients. At present, CRE is not a reportable disease, but it is present in 42 U.S. states as determined by two surveillance systems, the Emerging Infections Program and National Healthcare Safety Network which track healthcare-associated infections; this map indicates CRE trends and prevalence in the U.S.

The CDC has issued a Health Advisory urging healthcare professionals and facilities to take extra preventative measures to safeguard against CRE’s spread. Uniform reporting requirements would help in making CRE more readily traceable among healthcare institutions and communities.

Data Source: www.cdc.gov/hai

Oksana Hucul, Public Health Liaison, gis@vertices.com