Summary: In an increasingly global society, disease outbreaks are on the rise-and so is the need for epidemiology expertise. This program introduces students to vital information regarding the transmission, clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, vectors, prevention, and control of several communicable diseases. Students receive vital information on zoonotic diseases such as SARS, Rift Valley fever,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The prescription of antibiotics is a medical tightrope-walk. The drugs save lives, but, because of overuse, may soon usher in a new era of super-germs. This program outlines the discoveries of bacteria and penicillin and sheds light on the frightening emergence of multi-resistant, often deadly microbes during the last six decades. Presenting interviews with researchers who are deeply involved...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Around the world, hospitals have become known for something other than healing-in fact, quite the opposite. This program follows the challenges faced by various hospitals, many of them state-of-the-art facilities, that have become hosts to nearly invincible germs. Focusing on the bacteria known as MRSA, the video goes inside French, German, and Dutch hospitals battling the sinister and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: In an escalating war between humans and microbes, catastrophic disease may have the edge. This program studies the ubiquitous threat posed by super viruses and describes scientific efforts to prepare for viral disease epidemics. Documenting the World Health Organization's response to the 2005 Angolan Marburg virus outbreak, the program examines strengths and weaknesses in the WHO...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program offers an excellent worldview of AIDS, providing background on the disease's history, its transmission and symptoms, innovative awareness campaigns, and the ongoing search by scientists from around the globe to find an effective long-term treatment. Fred Valentine, director of the Center for AIDS Research at the New York University School of Medicine; Lawrence Altman, medical...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: From San Francisco, the epicenter of the AIDS explosion, to the Bronx, notorious for its injected drug abuse, this program examines how AIDS took hold in the U.S. during the early 1980s and the advances being made toward a cure. Noted journalist David Perlman, of the San Francisco Chronicle; pioneering epidemiologist Dr. Selma Dritz; Dr. Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of the retrovirus HIV1; Dr....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Antibiotics initially worked miracles, saving millions of lives. In just decades, many of the wonder drugs are ineffective. How did it happen? This program reports on a battle for survival between humans and microbes, providing a concise history of antibiotics, as well as tracing their decline in efficacy. Their overuse and misuse is examined in medicine, agriculture, and domestic cleaning...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Often mistaken for less debilitating problems, interstitial cystitis is a serious and painful disease of the bladder lining that, if not properly treated, can ruin a patient's life. This program explores the challenge that IC presents to physicians-specifically, the difficulties of diagnosing it-and features therapies and support organizations that have greatly reduced, and may one day...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is an umbrella term used to describe patients with chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, or any combination among those three ailments. This program examines the impairments of COPD, including shortness of breath and mobility so restricted that simple tasks like walking to the car are almost impossible. Several case studies reveal both the clinical and the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The shock and stigma that often follow a genital herpes diagnosis are difficult to overcome. This program deals with the physical side of the disease-explaining how it is contracted, how it manifests itself, and how it can be treated-as well as its social and emotional impact. Interviews with distinguished medical professionals shed light on specific developments in the fight against genital...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: After nearly disappearing from much of the world, the measles virus is on the rise. This program journeys to Tajikistan, where the collapse of the health care system established under Soviet rule led to a hiatus in disease vaccination. With measles now threatening children across the country, the Tajik government has launched a new vaccination campaign in partnership with UNICEF. The video...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This engaging program delves into the microscopic milieu that overlays life as human beings know it, illustrating the complex relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic worlds as the human host, with its billions of microbial allies and antagonists, journeys from the birth canal to the decomposition that follows death. Spectacular 3-D computer animation, case study footage, and expert...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Did the HIV1 virus originate with an endangered subspecies of chimpanzees in sub-Saharan Africa? In this program, ABC News correspondent John Donvan sums up the chain of events leading to that remarkable hypothesis. Then, anchor Forrest Sawyer; Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Laurie Garrett, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer for Newsday; and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: WHO Issues a Global Outbreak Alert "Emergency Travel Advisory" "SARS Spreads Worldwide" When SARS first hit the headlines, it was poised to become a major pandemic. This program shows how vigilant medical professionals save countless lives by tracking and identifying emerging mystery viruses-and stopping them cold with shared knowledge and cutting-edge technology deployed on a global scale....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Flying home from Hawaii, where he has met with a group of Chinese business contacts, salesman Michael Peterson begins to feel ill. This program presents the frightening consequences of his journey, which has transformed him into America's Patient Zero-an unwitting carrier of the deadly, Asian-born H5N1 virus. Peterson soon infects his own son, other inhabitants of his California suburb, and,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: According to the American Lung Association, flu and pneumonia are jointly ranked as the seventh leading cause of death in the United States-hence, the critical importance of flu and pneumococcus vaccines in preparation for winter. This program outlines the science behind influenza and pneumonia and the conditions, both hygienic and environmental, that contribute to the spread of dangerous...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Bold claims about the curative powers of "superfoods" and other trendy products represent a daunting challenge for today's consumer. How reliable are these assertions? What happens when a no-nonsense medical doctor applies rigorous scientific testing to the health hype on product labels? This program takes viewers on an eye-opening journey led by Dr. Lesley Regan, a veteran physician and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: After years of studying illness from the perspective of germs, microbiologist Paul Ewald believes that Big Pharma is wrong on some very basic issues. In this TEDTalk, Ewald reaffirms his status as a leader in evolutionary biology as he posits radical new medical approaches. But first, he has to drag us into the sewer. Investigating why some microbes are more harmful than others - as well as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Every day is a new battle for the human body as microscopic intruders try to muscle their way in. What specialized cells and organs are there to resist them? This program clearly and concisely maps out the complicated human immune system, explaining both how it keeps the body healthy and what happens to the body if it malfunctions—or, even worse, if it shuts down completely. Beginning with the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Rabies, Lyme disease, West Nile virus-all are examples of zoonosis, an infection that can be transmitted to humans from animals. In this program, several experts discuss major zoonotic diseases of concern, as well as outline safety tips for both people and pets. Dr. Wendy Walker, president of the Maryland Veterinary Medical Association; Joe Conlon, medical entomologist with the American...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Until 1348, people in Sienna and Florence enjoyed the richest, safest, and most comfortable lives in their history. But almost overnight, their certainty of life-and even any hope of a good death-was gone. This program assesses the aftermath of the ferocious damage unleashed by the bubonic plague on the two city-states. Historians Alexander Nagel and Nicholas Terpstra, from the University of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: With the final investigative work of journalist Peter Jennings as its cornerstone, this program studies the frightening rise of AIDS among African-Americans-a trend that has been developing for several years, but which has gone largely unnoticed outside the black community. Jennings' contribution to the program is a candid group discussion he conducted with HIV-positive African-American men in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: What is it like to live with a life-threatening illness? Can fear, anger, and joy be translated into movement? In this program, journalist Bill Moyers and filmmaker David Grubin give viewers a rare glimpse into dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones's highly acclaimed dance, "Still/Here. At workshops around the country, people facing life-threatening illnesses are asked to remember the highs and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Drawing on documentary and archival footage, 3-D and 2-D animations, and high-tech imaging, this program investigates a variety of virological topics: the nature of pandemics as illustrated by the SARS outbreak in China; genetic sequencing of Spanish influenza from exhumed tissue of a century-old corpse; how animal viruses jump the species barrier; the dissection of live viruses in a biosafety...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008