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It’s World TB Day

March 24, 2012

It’s World TB Day. Some links for you: The current situation with the spread of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB is alarming. The best prevention for tuberculosis is finding and successfully treating patients. We urgently need to improve case finding, diagnosis, and treatment. How can you help? Put pressure on your government to restore funding to […]

My best laid plans

January 25, 2012

I’m in Paraguay again! I flew in on the same plane as Apocalyptica, who are apparently a cello-metal rock band. They were in the economy cabin like the average person. I respect that. (Or maybe they just couldn’t get first class tickets?) The dude with the drums almost asked me how to fill out the […]

More talk about poop, and some results

December 28, 2011

While I was in Mariscal Estigarribia I spent some time in the regional hospital for Boqueron learning how they do lab work. They have limited resources, so they don't get to use very advanced techniques and often have to come up with creative solutions. In particular, I was interested in learning how they do their fecal analyses for parasites.

They called me ‘Amanda poop’

November 12, 2011

While I was visiting my study communities, the kids would often sing-song my name when they saw me. At first it was "Amanda foto [photo], Amanda foto" because I always had my camera on me. Then it was "Amanda camion rojo [red truck], Amanda camion rojo" because they liked my big red truck. And then it was "Amanda samook, Amanda samook". Samook is the Nivacle word for 'poop'. It's okay, they weren't bullying me, they were just really excited about fecal samples.

Dengue: my personal experience with break-bone fever

April 6, 2011

Dengue has been on the nightly news in Paraguay every day for weeks now. 22 people have died this year, and thousands have been sick (although much fewer than the epidemics of 2006-2007). They don’t have enough hospital beds for all the people sick with dengue, and now flu season is starting up. Dengue is […]

Misadventure is my middle name

April 4, 2011

I had three compañeros with me for the trip out this time. The quad was loaded onto the back of a 4×4 truck and we left Asunción around the mid-afternoon. We had plans to stay at an estancia overnight and continue to my study communities the following day. But it rained. So we spent an […]

It’s World TB Day

March 24, 2011

Apparently, I haven’t been doing justice by my regular readers because recently my mom (a regular reader) asked me if tuberculosis is curable… YES!! Tuberculosis is curable! Today (March 24th) is World TB Day, so what better day to post about the scourge of my dissertation? Tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis […]

IDRC’s Ecosystem and Human Health Program

January 27, 2011

My colleagues at CEDIC are famous! Dr. Antonieta Rojas de Arias and Dr. Miriam Rolon are featured in a video by the IDRC (International Development Research Centre) of Canada about the EcoHealth projects they funded in Latin America and the Caribbean. CEDIC’s project investigates the vector for Chagas disease in the Paraguayan Chaco. Description of […]