Video Library

200 Years of Medicine - NEJM

Getting Better is a short documentary that explores three remarkable stories of medical progress: Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Surgery. The film looks at the role of researchers and clinicians, of patients, their families and their advocates, and how information is translated into action. It is the story of research, clinical practice and patient care, and how we have continued to get better over the last 200 years.

Global Disease Detectives

CDC global health leadership brings the world’s leading public health experts to a Guatemala cave, where rabid bats threaten human health. Elsewhere, CDC community workers keep a health watch over Kenya’s poor; while in China, CDC scientists protect babies from a mysterious outbreak. These examples of CDC at work in the world help protect America and all from disease threats that respect no borders.

How Vaccines Work

Animated video for the public explains how vaccines create immunity to diseases. Visit the Immunize for Good website of the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition for more information.

The Last Measle

A short, animated video explaining the measles from a child’s perspective. Learn more at www.measlesinitiative.org.

A History of Vaccination

Vaccines are often seen as a marvel of modern medicine. Surprisingly, the history of vaccination extends back centuries. This animated sequence details the intriguing history of vaccination, beginning more than a millennium ago.

Immunity and Vaccines

Our bodies are bombarded by bacteria and viruses. For those that make their way inside, our immune system is on guard, waiting not only to kill the invaders but also to create memory cells that will help defeat them more quickly the next time they try to attack. Vaccines, which are weakened versions of a disease like polio or measles, rely on the memory of our immune system to combat the real danger if it eventually enters our bodies.

Denialism and Vaccines

Vaccine-autism claims, “Frankenfood” bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public’s growing fear (and, often, outright denial) of science and reason, says Michael Specter. He warns the trend spells disaster for human progress.

Rotavirus: A Family Story

Parents share their harrowing experience with rotavirus infection. Rotavirus caused serious dehydration in both of their children, requiring hospitalization.

TED Talk: See How We Will Stop Polio for Good

Polio is almost eradicated. But as Bruce Aylward (former director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative at the World Health Organization) says: almost isn’t good enough with a disease this terrifying. Aylward lays out the plan to continue the scientific miracle that ended polio in most of the world — and to snuff it out everywhere, forever.

In Memory of Martha Mason

After contracting polio as a child, Martha Mason lived more than 60 years in an iron lung. She died last month at the age of 71 in Lattimore, N.C.