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: 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: 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: 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: 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
View online at AVOD
Summary: Ebola, one of the most deadly viruses known to humankind, struck a town in Zaire in January 1995, ultimately causing the agonizing death of 80 percent of its victims-many of them health-care workers. This riveting documentary traces the progress of this outbreak and reports on its aftermath. Doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discuss current research, the virus's possible...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In America, many AIDS patients receive as much as
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Avian influenza A (H5N1) has successfully made the leap from poultry to people. Is a human-to-human pandemic inevitable? Using Southeast Asia as a case study, this Wide Angle report looks at the Vietnamese government's efforts to contain the disease while educating its population. In addition, Bill Moyers speaks with Dr. Anthony Fauci, of the National Institutes of Health, about how this lethal...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: According to The American Journal of Medicine, over 70% of Americans have been infected with a genital human papillomavirus, yet few are aware that they have it-or even know what HPV is. This eye-opening program delivers the facts that high school and college students-the primary victims-need to raise their awareness about an incurable sexually transmitted disease. Doctors, professors, peer...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: A killer flu outbreak isn't just a developing-world nightmare. The influenza virus is so adaptable that the West is as vulnerable as anywhere else. This program outlines the history of influenza and explores current research into what steps, if any, might prevent a future flu pandemic. Viewers are shown how the virus mutates to resist vaccines and has an uncanny ability to jump species...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: This straight-talking, down-to-earth program describes in detail how HIV is acquired, how it can be prevented, and the relative risks of a wide range of sexual behaviors. Hosted by a young African-American man and Latina woman, the program addresses HIV and AIDS; condoms-what type to use, how to use them correctly, where to get them, and how to properly carry them; injection drug risks;...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: An avian influenza epidemic will almost certainly begin where poultry is slaughtered in poorly managed, unsanitary conditions. This semi-dramatized program starts in rural Cambodia, where a mutated H5N1 virus spreads easily from an infected chicken into the local population and prompts a swift response from World Health Organization field workers. Depicting the WHO containment strategy in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Although it is rarely fatal in wealthy countries, pneumonia kills more children each year than any other infectious disease. This program explains why the pneumococcus bacterium has run rampant in the underdeveloped world, and explores recent medical breakthroughs that may help reverse the deadly pattern. Interviews with prominent researchers-including Dr. Keith Klugman and Dr. Orin Levine, two...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: After severe acute respiratory syndrome struck down its first known victim, it seemed only fear could spread more rapidly than the disease itself. Little was known about it, except that it was flu-like-and, for 15 percent of patients, lethal. Filmed in the wake of the initial SARS onslaught, this gripping program describes the World Health Organization's decisive counterattack. Julie Hall, of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Most people associate cirrhosis with alcoholism-but another cause of liver scarring and failure is HCV, one of the most severe strains of hepatitis. This program provides a basic medical understanding of the virus, presents various ways that it is transmitted, and explores what many call a groundbreaking method of Hepatitis C treatment. Veteran researchers and doctors-Professor Eugene Shiff of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007