With COVID-19 in our lives for over two years now and other infectious diseases circulating out there, public health has been a hot topic for quite some time. To learn more about public health, I invite you to take a look at my Public Health & Epidemiology library guide. In the guide, you will find many informative websites, books, eBooks, databases, videos, and podcasts on the subject. The guide contains a COVID-19 Information tab, which will take you to a page featuring links to general COVID information as well as vaccine information, guidelines, statistics, and relevant articles.
I have also created a book display on the slatwall just inside the Library entrance featuring nine books in our collection on public health. These books are available to be checked out. I recommend the following books on display:
Traces the legal history of epidemics, indicating how infectious disease has both shaped and been shaped by the law. Shows how history's answers to the major questions brought up by previous epidemics help shape our answers today: What is the relationship between individual liberty and the common good? What is the role of the federal government, and what is the role of the states? Will long-standing traditions of government and law give way to the social imperatives of an epidemic?
Explores the complicated history of vaccines and immunization and its consequences for personal and public health. Goes beyond the simple story of the triumph of science over disease to provide a new and perceptive account of the role of politics and social forces in medicine.
Looks at concepts that are a foundation of our public health policies by providing an accessible explanation of how viruses emerge to cause pandemics, how our immune system combats them, and how diagnostic tests, vaccines, and antiviral therapies work.
The following book is in the New Books display, also on the slatwall:
Describes the complex biological, environmental, and social issues that determine susceptibility to and the impact of current and emerging infectious diseases in developing countries, examining the challenges of developing and administering vaccines to prevent disease in those nations.
Remember that if you have questions about these resources or any others, please don’t hesitate to ask us. You may visit the Library during the hours posted on the Library's homepage, email us at library@harcum.edu, use our chat service, or call us at 610-526-6085.
American Contagions: Epidemics and the Law from Smallpox to COVID-19 by John Fabian Witt
Vaccine Nation: America's Changing Relationship with Immunization by Elena Conis
Viruses, Pandemics, and Immunity by Arup K. Chakraborty; Andrey Shaw
Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-Science by Peter J. Hotez