CHECK IT OUT

In a world vulnerable to AIDS, anthrax and other natural and man-made

threats, can public health systems protect the planet? Is Orange County

any better prepared to combat a major epidemic than less affluent

communities in Third World countries?

Pulitzer Prizewinning medical journalist Laurie Garrett first

addressed these topics in 1995’s “The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging

Diseases in a World Out of Balance.” Pointing to exploding populations,

collapsing ecologies and careless antibiotic use, Garrett concludes that

humanity is sitting on a powder keg of disease.

The Newsday science writer will talk about her books and theories

later this month at Newport Beach Central Library in the second program

of the 5th annual Martin W. Witte Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series.

Many of her works are available at the library.

In “The Coming Plague,” Garrett implicates contaminated water

supplies, prostitution, recirculated air, global warming and shortsighted

politicians for disease’s rampant spread.

“While the human race battles itself . . . the advantage moves to the

microbes’ court,” she warns. “They are our predators and they will be

victorious if we . . . do not learn how to live in a rational global

village that affords the microbes few opportunities.”

Beneath conclusions based on interviews with experts in virology,

disease ecology and medicine -- plus extensive field research -- there’s

a note of hope. It’s within mankind’s power to control many amplifiers of

disease, and this is the challenge for those who work to protect

populations around the globe, she says.Garrett followed her pioneering

work of investigative journalism with “Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of

Global Public Health,” recently published in paperback. Focusing on

public health rather than medical technology, she exposes shocking

weaknesses in medical systems unprepared to deal with major epidemics.

Noting that more than 100,000 Americans die annually from infections

caught in hospitals, Garrett argues that medical cures using expensive

technology have been emphasized to the detriment of protecting human

health. In a world in which the health of individual nations depends on

the health of all, she calls for a global approach to insuring

humankind’s well-being.

Garrett can be seen on five videotapes in the “Great Minds of

Medicine” series, interviewing experts in emergency medicine, heart

disease, cancer, depression and infectious diseases. In the latter, she

taps into the insights of Dr. Karl Johnson, head of the Center for

Disease Control team that named the Ebola virus.

A limited number of tickets are still available for Newport Beach

lecture programs at 7 p.m. March 15 and at 2 p.m March 16. Tickets are

$55 for March 15, including dinner and live music, and $18 for March 16, including light refreshments.

Brochures with order forms are available at all Newport Beach Public

Libraries. For more information, call (800) 200-7094, or visit o7

www.newportbeachlibrary.orgf7 to reserve online.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams, in collaboration with

Steven Short. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers by

accessing the catalog at www.newportbeachlibrary.org.