News Tip
To: News editors, health
reporters
From: Pat Pyke, Boise State communications and marketing, 426-1987,
ppyke@boisestate.edu
Subject: Health resources for
August news items — Immunizations and West Nile virus
National Immunization Awareness Month (August) and West Nile virus are two
topics your newsroom may be interested in reporting about in August. To
supplement data you may usually obtain from the state epidemiology office and
health department, here are two Boise State University professors who can give
your reporters a public health perspective on these timely topics.
Uwe Reischl, (pronounced ooh-vay rye-shle), director of the Center for Health
Policy at Boise State. A medical doctor with Ph.D.s in occupational medicine and
environmental health sciences and a former science advisor to the World Health
Organization, Dr. Reischl has been involved with the assessment of environmental
health conditions and health care delivery systems globally. He can speak about
communicable diseases, immunizations and public health, and special immunization
needs for employees of Idaho companies who travel abroad.
On the topic of West Nile virus, Dr. Reischl can comment on emerging diseases
and what we can do about West Nile virus. You may also call on Dr. Reischl as a
resource for other issues regarding public health, such as physiological and
environmental factors facing forest firefighters, food-borne illnesses, smallpox
as a bioterrorism weapon, and the re-emergence of tuberculosis. Reischl may be
reached at (208) 426-2445 or ureischl@boisestate.edu.
Pamela Gehrke, (pronounced yer-key), associate professor of nursing. Gehrke, who
specializes in community health at Boise state, served for several years on the
state immunization coalition and the governor’s steering committee for the state
immunization registry. She enjoys dispelling myths about immunizations that
prevent families from immunizing their children. She can discuss reasons for
immunization and barriers to immunization that contribute to Idaho’s low
immunization rate. Gehrke can be reached at (208) 426-1651 or pgehrke@boisestate.edu;
she will be out of town intermittently until Aug. 11.
Please contact me if you have any difficulty getting in touch with either of
these professors during these last few weeks of summer vacation. I may be able
to contact them through alternate means. Thank you for your interest.
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