Flu season is here. WiRED International urges everyone to get vaccinated. Influenza or flu is a contagious respiratory illness caused by several viruses. Flu resembles the common cold because it infects the same organs (nose, throat, lungs) and has similar symptoms. However, the flu can develop additional symptoms and become much more severe than most common colds.

WiRED International is pleased to announce that WiRED-Armenia conducted its first ever televised health training session in Gavar, Armenia.

Double the number, multiply the benefit for community health! This year WiRED International celebrated a 130-member class that graduated from its Certificate Program in Kenya — double the number of graduates from last year.

September is Sepsis Awareness Month. Sepsis is a complication of infection that can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. The condition constitutes a global healthcare problem and is the primary cause of death from infection, especially in underserved countries, despite advances in modern medicine such as vaccines, antibiotics and intensive care.

WiRED provided medical and health education programs in Iraq from spring 2003 to late 2009. As the two prior stories in this history series describe, we worked initially from the relative safety of the Green Zone, then from Baghdad hotels and safe houses while providing Iraqi hospitals and universities throughout the country with equipment and training software.

Cholera in Yemen today … and in Texas tomorrow? The catastrophic flooding in Texas from Hurricane Harvey has caused death, destruction and displacement. The storm’s aftershock has produced contaminated and stagnant water and poor sanitation, conditions ideally suited to the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery and typhoid fever — all caused by pathogenic microbes.

The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees and the moon up above and a thing called … One Health? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) One Health program states that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the health of the environment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that every year 21 million cases of typhoid fever are diagnosed, and 222,000 deaths are caused by typhoid fever.

What is the deadliest of all animal families in the world? It isn’t the great white shark, or the massive grizzly bear or the ferocious lion. It’s the tiny mosquito.

WiRED International announces the release of a Dysentery Module as part of its Community Preparedness for Infectious Disease Outbreaks project. The Dysentery Module joins more than 400 interactive training modules in WiRED’s Health Learning Center.