Lead is a toxic metal that was used for many years in products found in and around our homes. Lead also can be emitted into the air from motor vehicles and industrial sources, and lead can enter drinking water from plumbing materials. Lead may cause a range of health effects, from behavioral problems and learning disabilities, to seizures and death. Children six years old and under are most at risk.

Approximately 250,000 U.S. children aged 1-5 years have blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, the level at which CDC recommends public health actions be initiated. Lead poisoning can affect nearly every system in the body. Because lead poisoning often occurs with no obvious symptoms, it frequently goes unrecognized. CDC’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program is committed to the Healthy People goal of eliminating elevated blood lead levels in children by 2010.

Mexican-made “lead-free” bean pots contain high levels of toxic metal.

A resource from SAGE in English and Spanish. A reminder to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze to prevent sickness from spreading. Prints legal size.

This resource helps you address stigmatization by providing best practices for inhibiting and the actions to take when you encounter stigmatization when new infectious diseases and illness emerge.

Early in an outbreak, such as the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, groups of people, places, and animals can be singled out and will be at risk of being stigmatized by association with the threat this virus poses. Groups are stigmatized by an infectious disease when the risk of infection to others is not present or remote but the association of the risk is magnified by others for that population group, or place or animal.

This digital archive features a number of recordings and texts in the indigenous languages of Latin America. Materials are available in Mixteco, Mam, Nahuatl, Otomi, Triqui, Zapoteco, and many other indigenous languages. These materials give information about the cultures of these indigenous groups. Original works of literature in indigenous languages are also published on this site. AILLA works to preserve written forms of these languages, but it also collects grammars, dictionaries, ethnographies, and research notes that can be used as teaching materials. Most of the archive is free and available to the public.

The recommendations provided in this report include specific action steps and new activities that will require additional funding and a renewed commitment by government and nongovernment organizations involved in domestic and international TB control efforts to be implemented effectively. The Federal TB Task Force will coordinate activities of various federal agencies and partner with state and local health departments, nonprofit and TB advocacy organizations in implementing this plan to control and prevent XDR TB in the United States and to contribute to global efforts in the fight against this emerging public health crisis.

Medicaid is a significant source of financing for oral health services, particularly for children and adolescents. Almost universally, however, Medicaid programs identify access to dental care as a significant and persistent problem for persons with Medicaid.  Oral health status and access to dental services are issues for all populations served by Medicaid.  This document from HRSA discusses some of the most critical issues in improving oral health access through Medicaid.  

Founded by singer/songwriter Paul Simon and pediatrician/child advocate Irwin Redlener, MD in 1987, The Children's Health Fund (CHF) works nationally to develop health care programs for the nation's most medically underserved population - homeless and disadvantaged children. CHF brings medical care and essential services directly to underserved children in rural and urban communities via Mobile Medical clinics (doctor's offices on wheels) and fixed site clinics. Moreover, CHF has become a major national advocacy voice on behalf of all children, and has inspired special federal legislation designed to help create innovative Children's Health Projects throughout the United States. The Children's Health Fund's website contains a lot of useful information, which would undoubtedly benefit your audience. 

Physician outreach efforts regarding West Nile Virus diagnosis. We have created a webinar that medical professionals can access for free. CME credits are part of the activity, which makes it even better. The webinar features Lyle Petersen, head of CDC’s vector-borne disease unit, along with Anne Kemptrup, from California Dept. of Public Health and Susan Little, executive director of the DEET Education Program. The program runs for one hour.

Link to APHA's Get Ready Campaign website with comprehensive information regarding potential influenza pandemic including several useful full-color brochures/handouts and other free materials.

Are You Ready? An In-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness (IS-22) is FEMA’s most comprehensive source on individual, family, and community preparedness.

 Are You Ready? provides a step-by-step approach to disaster preparedness by walking the reader through how to get informed about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that affect their local area, and how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit. Other topics covered include evacuation, emergency public shelters, animals in disaster, and information specific to people with disabilities.

Are You Ready? also provides in-depth information on specific hazards including what to do before, during, and after each hazard type.

An Overview of Drinking Water Quality and Water and Sanitation-Related Disease by James VanDerslice, Ph.D. and Amy K. Liebman, MPA. The information for this article comes from presentations Jim VanDerslice made at recent MCN environmental health intensivesand an outreach program that both authors developed and implemented along the US-Mexico Border.

Also in this issue: Newsflashes, TB Education and Training Network and TB-Educate Listserv, Pizcando Suenos/Harvesting Dreams: The Voices of Mexican American Women.For more Streamline articles visit http://www.migrantclinician.org/news/streamline.html