Sentinel for health : a history of the Centers for Disease Control / Elizabeth W. Etheridge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Etheridge, Elizabeth W., author.

Contributor:

Centers for Disease Control (U.S.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Epidemiology--United States--History.

Epidemiology.

Centers for Disease Control (U.S.)--History.

Centers for Disease Control (U.S.).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xix, 414 p., [15] p. of plates ) ill., ports. ;

Edition:

Reprint 2019

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, California : University of California Press, Ltd., [1992]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In the only history of its kind, Etheridge traces the development of the Centers for Disease Control from its inception as a malaria control unit during World War II through the mid-1980s . The eradication of smallpox, the struggle to identify an effective polio vaccine, the unraveling of the secrets of Legionnaires' disease, and the shock over the identification of the HIV virus are all chronicled here. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and source documents, Etheridge vividly recreates the vital decision-making incidents that shaped both the growth of this institution as well as the state of public health in this country for the last five decades. We follow the development of the institution as it was transformed by the will and the imagination of remarkable individuals such as Dr. Joseph Mountin, one of the first heads of the CDC. Often characterized as abrasive and impatient, Mountin pushed the CDC to become a vital player in eradicating the threat of communicable disease in the United States. Others such as Dr. Alexander Langmuir brought the expertise necessary to establish epidemiology as one of the primary functions of the CDC. Created to serve the states and to answer any call for help whether routine or extraordinary, the CDC is now widely recognized as one of the world's premier public health institutions.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Charts

Abbreviations

Preface

1. War and the Mosquito

2. The Lengthened Shadow of a Man (1)

3. The Disease Detectives

4. Building the Temple (1)

5. Establishing Credibility

6. Building the Temple (2)

7. 1600 Clifton Road

8. A Call to Arms

9. The Candidate for Surgeon General

10. Immunization: The First Crusade

11. The Lengthened Shadow of a Man (2)

12. Immunization: The Second Crusade

13. Over Oceans and into Space

14. The Crusade against Smallpox

15. Africa's New Challenges

16. Acquisitions

17. In Pursuit of the Promised Land

18. 1976

19. Aftermath

20. The Lengthened Shadow of a Man (3)

21. Immunization: The Third Crusade

22. Maintaining Credibility

23. Toward the Twenty-first Century

24. Discovery of the AIDS Epidemic

Epilogue

Notes

A Bibliographical Note

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (pages [391]-394) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780520910416

0520910419

9780585098654

0585098654

OCLC:

1149504519