Disaster medicine and public health preparedness
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Mar 2010
ReviewThe impact of disasters on populations with health and health care disparities.
A disaster is indiscriminate in whom it affects. Limited research has shown that the poor and medically underserved, especially in rural areas, bear an inequitable amount of the burden. ⋯ The current literature does not capture the strain of health and health care disparities before and after a disaster in medically underserved communities. Future disaster studies and policies should account for differences in health profiles and access to care before and after a disaster.
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Disaster Med Public Health Prep · Mar 2010
Which health care workers were most affected during the spring 2009 H1N1 pandemic?
To identify health care workers most at risk for H1N1 infection before vaccination and compare health outcomes after vaccination. ⋯ Of the reported cases of H1N1 in health care workers, 49% occurred in a population that constitutes less than 20% of the total population studied. Physicians and medical personnel had a higher infection rate than other employee positions, whereas ED personnel had the highest infection rate.