animal water dishes are common breed- ing grounds for mosquitoes.
Ms. Castillo says the department has
not heard of any cases of dengue so far this year, but the weather is still dry. “Once the rain starts, that’s when we start seeing the mosquitoes come out,” she said. “We’re on the lookout.”
Get educated Peter Jay Hotez, MD, is founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and an en- dowed chair of tropical pediatrics at Tex- as Children’s Hospital, both in Houston. “There’s a lot more dengue on the Gulf Coast than we currently realize,” he said. Dr. Hotez, his colleague Kristy Mur-
ray, PhD, and Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine Professor Dean Pierre Buekens, MD, penned “The Gulf Coast: A New Ameri- can Underbelly of Tropical Diseases and Poverty,” published in the May issue of
Public Library of Science Neglected Tropi- cal Diseases.
The article cites two factors that
promote tropical diseases in develop- ing countries — extreme poverty and a tropical climate. Both are also prevalent in five states along the U.S. Gulf Coast, including the southeast area of Texas, according to the article. The authors say a retrospective study led by Dr. Murray revealed Houston suffered from a seasonal outbreak of dengue fever in 2003. “No information beyond this period is available, so it re- mains a possibility that dengue emerged prior to 2003 and might still be causing seasonal epidemics,” the article states. The authors also address Texas’ vul- nerability to a chikungunya outbreak. Dr. Hotez says Dr. Murray planned to track chikungunya’s progress throughout the summer. “Every Friday morning at our tropi- cal medicine clinic in the Harris Health
System, we see patients with tropical diseases, many of which are acquired in Houston,” Dr. Hotez said. Chagas disease, a parasitic infection of the heart, and cysticercosis, a brain parasite, are common diagnoses, he says. In partnership with the Sabin Vaccine Institute and the Texas Children’s Hospi- tal Center for Vaccine Development, the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine is working to develop vaccines for neglected tropi- cal diseases, including illnesses affecting residents of Texas and the Gulf Coast. The school offers an eight-week di- ploma in tropical medicine in the sum- mer and winter for physicians to learn how to diagnose, manage, and treat tropical diseases. “There’s a lack of physician awareness of how to identify these diseases,” Dr. Hotez said. For more information about educa- tional opportunities at the school, visit
www.bcm.edu/education/schools/na tional-school-of-tropical-medicine.
Cancer survivors face economic burden
Seeking Primary Care Physicians
With locations throughout the Greater Houston area, Houston Methodist Primary Care Group is dedicated to providing quality patient care for the entire family. We are proud to be a part of Houston Methodist and its family of hospitals, ensuring efficient access to specialty and hospital services whenever the need arises.
We are seeking experienced, board-certified, Family Medicine physicians.
Houston Methodist is consistently ranked as one of America’s “Best Hospitals”, ranking No. 1 in Texas. We are also ranked on FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For”.
Send CV to:
ALandreneau@HoustonMethodist.org
U.S. cancer survivors face significant economic burdens due to growing medi- cal costs, missed work, and reduced productivity, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion (CDC). Researchers analyzed data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s 2008–11 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to estimate annual medi- cal costs and productivity losses among male and female cancer survivors aged 18 years and older and among those without a cancer diagnosis. Lost pro- ductivity estimates came from reviewing employment disability (being unable to work because of illness or injury), health-related missed work days, and days spent in bed due to ill health. From 2008 to 2011, male cancer sur- vivors had annual medical costs of more
44 TEXAS MEDICINE September 2014
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