GERMS KNOW NO COLOR: RACIAL SEGREGATION IN BALTIMORE DURING THE INFLUENZA PANDEMIC OF 1918-1919

The influenza pandemic in 1918-1919 killed more people worldwide in a shorter period than any other known historical epidemic. Wartime conditions and gatherings of large groups of people aided disease transmission. Racial segregation in Baltimore and other cities created overcrowding, and poor living and economic conditions for black citizens. These conditions affected black health and proved conducive to increased viral transmission and subsequent influenza infection. Higher influenza infection rates coupled with lower resistance led to higher mortality rates from secondary complications like pneumonia. In my work, I examine the pandemic flu in Baltimore and especially racial segregation policies that ultimately affected black health and mortality during the event. Segregation caused overcrowding and poor living conditions. It also decreased the ability of blacks to receive medical or nursing care in the civilian and military sectors. Eugenic assumptions about African-American capabilities, in addition to the overwhelming demands of the pandemic emergency, allowed Baltimore’s white community to justify their disregard of the crisis in the African-American community

Understanding the deterrent effect of police patrol

The fact that crime clusters spatially has been known since at least the early 19th century. However, understanding of the extent and nature of this clustering at different areal units, and the fact that crime also clusters at different temporal scales is relatively new. Where previously the most at-risk areas (or `hot-spots') of crime were defined over areas the size of city districts and for periods of months if not years, the last decade has seen the focus shift to micro-places - areas of only a few hundred metres across - which are only `hot' for days or even hours. The notion that visible police presence in crime hot-spots can deter crime is not new and has been the basis of police patrols for two centuries. This deterrent effect has been well evidenced in many previous studies, both by academics and police practitioners. However, evaluations of these more recent micro-level hot-spot patrol strategies face significant analytic challenges and data quality concerns. They also often assume levels of police activity at the micro-area level (an `intention-to-treat' design) rather than measuring it directly. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the accuracy and precision of data that can be used to evaluate micro-level hot-spot patrol strategies and the implications this has for any analysis conducted using such data at these micro-level geographies. This thesis begins by outlining the relevant literature regarding place-based policing strategies and the current understanding of how crime clusters in both space and time. It continues by highlighting the data challenges associated with evaluating micro-level police interventions through the use of an illustrative analytic strategy before using a self-exciting point process model to evaluate the effects of police foot patrol in micro-level hot-spot under the assumption that the crime and patrol data being used are accurate. This is followed by two chapters which investigate the quality of the two datasets. Finally, the point-process evaluation is re-conducted using simulated data that takes account of the uncertainty of the datasets to demonstrate how data quality issues effect the result of such an evaluation and ultimately, the perceived efficacy of these highly-focussed policing strategies

The Anthropology of Epidemics

Over the past decades, infectious disease epidemics have come to increasingly pose major global health challenges to humanity. The Anthropology of Epidemics approaches epidemics as total social phenomena: processes and events which encompass and exercise a transformational impact on social life whilst at the same time functioning as catalysts of shifts and ruptures as regards human/non-human relations. Bearing a particular mark on subject areas and questions which have recently come to shape developments in anthropological thinking, the volume brings epidemics to the forefront of anthropological debate, as an exemplary arena for social scientific study and analysis

FLOWERS FROM THE DEVIL: AN AMERICAN OPIATE CRISIS, THE CRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA, AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE PROHIBITION STATE, 1840-1940

This dissertation focuses on historic changes in public perception of narcotic use and abuse from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth. From the 1840s to the outbreak of Civil War, politicians, physicians, the general public, and state and federal government remained largely ambivalent on the topic of drug use. Opium, morphine, and cannabis were legal, widely available in American pharmacies, and touted as essential medicines. Within the Bohemian community, artists and writers experimented with the recreational use of cannabis and their accounts of that style of consumption filled the pages of Harper’s, The New Yorker, and a host of other literary-minded publications. By the 1880s, that seemingly permissive environment seemed to suddenly give way to a government increasingly focused on the regulation and prohibition of drugs. This work argues that a late-nineteenth century opiate epidemic radically transformed the country’s relationship with drugs and placed cannabis on a historical trajectory that led to its criminalization in the late-1930s. As newspapers blamed the perceived narcotic crisis that emerged in post-bellum America on the medical community, public opinion turned, to a large extent, against doctors and pharmacists. This erosion in public trust in the practice of medicine— a direct byproduct of an American opiate crisis—instigated a transfer of control over the nation’s approach to drug management. Once entirely the occupation of a relatively decentralized medical community, crucial choices over the dispensation of narcotics and their general management shifted to the arena of popular politics. This dissertation argues that transference of power aided the formation of a prohibition-minded state that rapidly banned smokable opium, non-medicinal opiates, cocaine, alcohol, heroin, and—eventually—marijuana

The Anthropology of Epidemics

Over the past decades, infectious disease epidemics have come to increasingly pose major global health challenges to humanity. The Anthropology of Epidemics approaches epidemics as total social phenomena: processes and events which encompass and exercise a transformational impact on social life whilst at the same time functioning as catalysts of shifts and ruptures as regards human/non-human relations. Bearing a particular mark on subject areas and questions which have recently come to shape developments in anthropological thinking, the volume brings epidemics to the forefront of anthropological debate, as an exemplary arena for social scientific study and analysis

A scoping review & taxonomy of epidemiological-macroeconomic models of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic placed significant strain on many health systems and economies. Mitigation policies decreased health impacts but had major macroeconomic impact. This paper reviews models combining epidemiological and macroeconomic projections to enable policymakers to consider both macroeconomic and health objectives. METHODS: A scoping review of epidemiological-macroeconomic models of COVID-19 was conducted, covering preprints, working papers and journal publications. We assessed model methodologies, scope, and application to empirical data. RESULTS: We found 80 papers modelling both the epidemiological and macroeconomic outcomes of COVID-19. Model scope is often limited to the impact of lockdown on health and total gross domestic product or aggregate consumption, and to high income countries. Just 14% of models assess disparities or poverty. Most models fall under four categories: compartmental-utility-maximization models, epidemiological models with stylized macroeconomic projections, epidemiological models linked to computable general equilibrium or input-output models, and epi-econ-ABMs. We propose a taxonomy comparing these approaches to guide future model development. CONCLUSIONS: The epidemiological-macroeconomic models of COVID-19 identified have varying complexity and meet different modelling needs. Priorities for future modelling include increasing developing country applications, assessing disparities and poverty, and estimating of long-run impacts. This may require better integration between epidemiologists and economists

Public Health Rep

19314438PMCnul

Economics of pain management in terminally ill pets

Master of AgribusinessDepartment of Agricultural EconomicsMajor Professor Not ListedPain management in terminally ill pets is an important and complex issue. Physical therapy, acupuncture, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, muscle relaxers, holistic herbs, nutraceuticals, cannabinoids, and opioids are all commonly used to manage their pain. Often, they are used in combination with each other to better control the pain level. Animal owners have the option of humane euthanasia which can be considered, when time, cost, or emotional toll goes beyond the benefit-cost value to a family. This research demonstrates how to use a pain scale to facilitate decision making when managing chronic pain. Some background on pain medications and other pain management modalities are discussed. Normally more medications, higher doses, and opioids are added when pets are in a terminal decline. The research uses a terminally ill canine with cancer in the final six weeks of his life. We employ a benefit-cost analysis using pecuniary and non-pecuniary risks and benefits to facilitate a decision guide. The pecuniary variables are cost of medications and veterinary services. The non-pecuniary costs include separation anxiety and emotional cost. The satisfaction the pet owner gets from the companionship of the pet is captured as the principal benefit in the model. The model explores alternative values for the different variables and simulates the potential decision outcomes. The decision rule using the benefit-cost ratio analysis is the traditional economic decision rule: When the benefit cost ratio is greater than unity, the pet owner may choose to continue treatment. However, a benefit-cost ratio of less than unity would require the pet owner to consider the pet’s quality of life and discuss euthanasia as an effective economic and emotional option. The benefit cost model developed in this study provides a useful tool for veterinarians to discuss the difficult subject of euthanasia with their clients when the quality of life of their terminally-ill pet does not justify sustaining life even if the pet owner’s separation anxiety seems to ignore this. The model relieves the veterinarian from making the decision for the client, and allows the client to explore the relative weights they place on the different dimensions of the model to arrive at a decision that both humane and economical

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - 2008 Annual Report: The Road to Reform

Contains president's message, year in review, program information, statistical highlights, distribution of funds, and grants list