National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) articles

This article reviews significant environmental health projects conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, particularly the Division of Environmental Health, during the 1990s and the following decade. The authors describe lessons learned from a new occupational health initiative, continuing work on the health assessment grant funded by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, and a new Environmental Public Health Tracking grant funded by the Centers for Disease Control an

In July 2003, the authors investigated an outbreak of Shigella sonnei infections in Marion County, Oregon. Nineteen confirmed and 37 presumptive cases, mostly young children, were identified. A case-control study implicated play in an interactive fountain in a city park (matched odds ratio undefined; p < .002). The association was confirmed by a cohort study among local schoolchildren (RR [relative risk] = 12.6, p < .001) that allowed us to estimate that >5

The impact of a food handler training (FHT) program was measured by comparing rates of total and critical violations from routine inspections of food service establishments before (2001–2004) and after (2005–2007) the implementation of an FHT program. A quasiexperimental design compared rates of inspection violations related and unrelated to the responsibilities of food handlers. A subset analysis focused on establishments in business for the entire time period. Violation rates de

In response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center and Pentagon, almost 50,000 rescue workers and approximately 300 search and rescue dogs participated in rescue and recovery operations. The dogs were exposed to the same hazards as the human workers, but did not have any of the personal protective gear. This prospective double cohort observational study compared annual medical history, blood biochemical and hematologic results, and thoracic radiographic find

The dilution rates of indicators Enterococcus faecalis and E. coli were studied from the St. John’s River estuary in Grenada, West Indies. Health risk zones were established based on the levels of bacteriological pollution. In accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) health risk guidelines, risks were in the range of <1% gastrointestinal (GI); <0.3% acute febrile respiratory illness (AFRI) to a 1%–5% GI; and 0.9%–1.9% AFRI within 100 m from