E-Borne Newsletter : April, 2005
Roger P. Freeman, D.D.S., Editor Roger@iAwareables.com
Dear friends and colleagues,
Spring has sprung, and so have we! The big news this season is our year-in-the-making Staph-design S.C.R.U.B.S.® If these duds don't get some attention on the wards, the word "hopeless" comes to mind. We're off to some new shows this season, making new friends, annoying some old ones. Stay'in alive, in 2thousand5....
YONDER LIES...
1. STAPH SCRUBS
2. CRUISE CONTROL
3. THANKS TO YOU...
4. NEW & IRRESISTABLE
5. PERSONAL PEEVE
6. CONTAGIOUS 300 POUNDERS
7. DA - RUSSIAN FOR AWAREABLE, COMRADE?
8. CONFERENCE SCHEDULE SPRING/SUMMER '05
9. CUSTOM DESIGN ANYONE?
1. "WEAR 'EM. DON'T SHARE 'EM!"
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After years of being beat up by the ICPs, we're excited (whew,...relieved) about the MAY 15 launch of our IA-Design S.C.R.U.B.S.® Our Outbreak Edition features Staphylococcus in two color combos: aureus (navy/gold) and pewterus (blue-gray/white). Manufactured by SmartScrubs, these luxurious garms are as good as scrubs get. Guaranteed non-exfoliative, so soft they could make you cry.
Along with the Scrubs (1, 3 pocket and Cardigans), we also have some Staph Thingees: Scopecoats™ (pajamas for stethoscope); S.C.R.U.B.E.E.S.® (for ponying up your hair); ScrubPocs®, a carpenter belt for t'stats and such; and Surgical Caps to cover up those loose ends.
Staph scrubs scream for vigilance and compliance, a good thing considering the increasing buzz for public reporting of hospital infection rates. Suit up your Staff with our Staph!
2. CRUISE...ummm, CONTROL?
In an effort to avoid calling aduckaduck, cruise lines are urging the CDC to create a new term for viral "Outbreaks" aboard ship (remember when they were called "epidemics"!?). Apparently, 2004's record of 37 such events tends to put a damper on the typical food frolics so much a part of the shipboard "experience." The main culprit continues to be the norovirus ("Norwalk"), the same one that has taken down scads of the Unsuspecting at hotels, nursing homes and hospitals. The cruise lines claim WE bring the critters aboard, and then we forget to wash our hands. Uh huh, and we suppose those sous-chefs are simply pawns of our great unwashedness! By the way, did you know that the CDC's reporting regs now require disclosure of any incidents that include either the "v" word or the "d" word!? Maybe you didn't want to know...
BTW, watch for our "Pathogenic Picnic" breaking out in 2006. A host of your favorite foodbornes. Might as well wear 'em, as long as we seem to be sharing 'em!
3. THANKS TO YOU...
Each January, Infectious Awareables allocates a portion of the profit made possible from your purchases to organizations that promote education, research or treatment of important public health concerns. In 2004, thanks to you, we were able to contribute to the following worthy agencies:
Christopher Reeve Foundation; Children's Hospital of Los Angeles; AIDS Project Los Angeles; Special Olympics; Y-Me Breast Cancer Foundation; National Multiple Sclerosis Society; U. of Georgia Dept. of Medical Microbiology; Purdue Foundation; OSAP Foundation; APIC Research Foundation; C. Indiana Prostate Cancer Foundation; Purdue Center for Education and Research (CERIAS); Lymphoma Foundation; Rotary International (Polio).
We also had fun "silent auctioning" or donating Awareables to numerous groups for fund raising or recognition occasions. Too many to list, but you know who you are :)
4. IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!
Introducing, "Moi!The Human Genome." All 24 chromosomes of you. Go ahead, wear yourself out!
Also, our new Microarray design for the chemically and diagnostically inclined. A very cool cravat, commemorating a major advancement in disease detection. (Thanks to Dr. Mark Schena.)
5. WHAT STEAMS US!
One of the really (choose your own word) American workplace habits is to tend to show up at work regardless of fever, festulance or contagious frostbite. Kudos for the loyalty/ethic factor, but a big ARGHH for common sense - and a 1 out of 10 on the Consideration Scale. One positive by-product of the Flu shortages this year seems to have been a trend toward good-neighborliness. SickFolks actually stayed home this season, when -gulp- sick! This is something we championed way back in '97 in our "H.I.D.E & S.E.E.K! 8 Strategies to Prevent Infection" video, and we're encouraged to see the change in attitude. Besides putting others at risk, the net economic effect of sicko heroism just has to be on the debit side. Curious: does it make you crazy, or is it just us?
6. RAMS WERE INFECTED
Vets, relax! It seems that five members of the St. Louis Rams NFL team developed nasty infections during the 2003 season after sustaining "rug burns" on artificial turf. (We used to call these weepers "strawberries," and they really hurt!) Anyway, they apparently passed them on to their "pals," the S.F. 49ers - a desperate act, to be sure, in a long standing rivalry. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers believe there is a growing skin-to-skin transmission among athletes in contact sports, especially worrisome considering the possibility of increased incidence of antibiotic-resistant staph infections.
Note: This is very surprising to us old(er) football fans, in that most of the Rams teams we watched for years made a special point of not contacting anyone! For the record, players with a "larger body mass" appeared to be more susceptible. WHO STUDIES THIS STUFF, ANYWAY!!??
7. DA - RUSSIAN MEDIA MADNESS
Anyone catch us in the recent Russian edition of Maxim magazine? No kidding. We get around.
8. CONFERENCE SCHEDULE FOR EARLY 2005
No rest for the Awareably Conscious:
April: Experimental Biology (the meeting, not the operation), San Diego
June: ASM (Microbiology), Atlanta
June: APIC (Assoc for Professional in Infection ControL), Baltimore
July: IUMS (Int. Union of Microbiological Societies), San Francisco
9. CUSTOM CORPORATE DESIGNS
What do Bayer, Roche, Wyeth and Aventis all have in common besides drugs? Answer: all have had custom designs created by Infectious Awareables, for use either as promotional or premium items, styling accessories for their teams, or as gifts to their Most-worthy. Your company may want to consider a custom design necktie or scarf to make a statement of its own. 300 units minimum but no limit to the creative possibilities, and lots of opps for strategic use.
Wishing you all a splendiforous, non-allergenic Spring. Be paranoid, stay aware. THEY're all over us...
Awareably yours,
RPF
Roger P. Freeman, D.D.S., and THE IA TEAM
