Spring 2002 Issue
Perspectives from Kenya: In the Field with a Knight Journalism Fellow
Cary Barbor has covered a lot of ground in her work as a freelance health writer and editor for such news outlets as CBS HealthWatch, Salon and ReadersDigest.com. But she never had a chance to immerse herself in epidemiology and public health until she became a Knight Journalism Fellow at CDC in 2001.
“What I like about being a journalist is that I’m always learning new things,” says Barbor. “This was an opportunity to do that, but on a much larger scale. I gained a new perspective about CDC and a deeper understanding and broader knowledge about what is behind CDC’s work.”
Barbor chose an assignment with CDC’s Division of Parasitic Diseases, which included a month-long trip to rural western Kenya to observe CDC and Kenyan scientists in the field. The scientists were in Kenya to report the results of a large-scale malaria control trial and to begin a follow-up study to determine the trial’s long-term effectiveness. Conducted by CDC and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) from 1996 through late 1999, the trial analyzed whether the use of bednets treated with insecticide reduces the incidence of malaria.
Barbor was particularly impressed that researchers in Kenya presented their results from the trial to local villagers before making a more formal presentation to their colleagues. From the field she wrote:
The CDCers and their Kenyan colleagues have been reporting back to the community the findings of the study on bednets. Last week was a series of meetings and presentations to different audiences…the big village gala was held at Asembo Bay, a small village that was included in the study. They hosted a big festival day that included a bike race, a boat race and a netball game for the locals. Then there were songs, poems, and other presentations by the villagers - all about malaria!
I am amazed at how interested the community is in the project. CDC and KEMRI scientists gave the results of the study - essentially that the bednets save one in five infants. They went into more detail about exactly which mosquito it fights, and how often people should continue to dip the nets in insecticide. Much of it was in Luo, the local language…[locals] are happy to hear about the study and seem grateful for the work the scientists have done.
Across the dusty, bumpy roads of Kenya, Barbor traveled with CDC and KEMRI field workers to local villages as they began the follow-up study. But Barbor did not remain on the sidelines. She gained valuable hands-on experience collecting mosquitoes in the field, observing them in the lab, and helping to interview local villagers.
There is so much for me to see and learn in Kisumu at the field station, and many CDCers to take me along on their appointed rounds and teach me about parasitic disease.
My favorite thing here continues to be walking around this spectacular countryside and meeting and talking to the villagers. I did some ‘knockdown’ mosquito collection, which is where we go into a hut, spread a sheet on the floor, then spray insecticide and wait 10 minutes, and collect all the bugs that have fallen to the sheet. It is an entomological technique to see how many and what type of mosquitoes are present and what stages of life they are in.
Having been here awhile, I am able to see how the mosquito population expands and contracts according to the rainfall, which is really interesting.
After her trip to Kenya, Barbor visited the World Health Organization in Geneva to learn about the global malaria eradication effort. She also spent time in Alaska to find out more about the workings of public health at the state level.
Before traveling to Kenya, Barbor trained alongside CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service officers in Atlanta. As part of her preparation, she studied the life cycle of mosquitoes, collected the insects in the field, learned to identify the stages of the malaria parasite under a microscope, and observed scientists as they performed DNA testing to determine insecticide resistance. In addition, she took part in a CDC-sponsored course on parasites and the diseases they cause.
Barbor considers the week spent in the lab with entomologist William E. Collins, Ph.D., chief of CDC’s host/parasite biology section, as one of the most rewarding experiences of her fellowship. Dr. Collins has been studying malaria since 1959 and was instrumental in establishing CDC as the major international center for work on malaria in monkeys and the testing in these animals of malarial vaccines. “It was a tremendous privilege to spend time with him,” says Barbor. “He is a generous teacher, and he helped me understand how malaria spreads, and why it is such a thorny disease to eradicate.”
When Barbor first learned about the Knight Journalism Fellowship, she knew that it could provide some interesting professional training. She holds a master’s degree in English and has been a health and medical reporter for more than a decade, yet her science education was limited to her on-the-job reporting and research. She viewed the fellowship as a “scientific sabbatical” that could strengthen her knowledge about public health.
Richard Steketee, M.D., M.P.H., EIS ‘83, chief of CDC’s Malaria Branch and Barbor’s mentor in Atlanta, describes the fellowship as a positive way to bridge the gap between CDC and journalists. “For us, it is an opportunity to help journalists get experience in our field,” he says. “We can help them better understand and appreciate science and our work environment and be more thoughtful in approaching our field in the future.”
Barbor intends to apply her new knowledge of public health to her profession. “I’m leaving here with even more respect for CDC than I had coming in,” Barbor says.
- Lisa Splitlog