Blog archive
March 2024
Addressing The Needs of Older Adults Through Pasadena Village
03/25/2024
Coming Soon: More Resources for Older Americans, Online and in Person
03/25/2024
Community Building Locally and Nationally
03/25/2024
Preparing for the Future with Ready or Not
03/25/2024
Volunteering is at The Heart of the Village
03/25/2024
Women's Liberation: Then and Now
03/25/2024
Writing Memoirs Together
03/25/2024
Current Views on Current Events
03/20/2024
Unchained
03/18/2024
Rumr of Humor issue # 2409
03/10/2024
Blacks Portrayed by European Artists
03/03/2024
Rumor of Humor #2408
03/03/2024
February 2024
Caring for Ourselves and Each Other
02/27/2024
Doug Colliflower Honored
02/27/2024
Great Decisions Connects Us to the Worldwide Community
02/27/2024
Letter from the President
02/27/2024
Pasadena Village's Impact
02/27/2024
The Power of Touch
02/27/2024
Villages as a New Approach to Aging
02/27/2024
Addressing Gang Violence in Pasadena-Altadena
02/21/2024
Rumor of Humor Issue 2407
02/19/2024
Thank You For Caring.
02/12/2024
Rumor of Humor 2405
02/11/2024
Curve Balls
02/10/2024
Sylvan Lane
02/10/2024
Rumor of Humor 2404
02/09/2024
Larry Duplechan, Blacks in Film
02/03/2024
January 2024
Pasadena Village Joins Community Partners in Vaccination Campaign
01/29/2024
Rumor of Humor #2403
01/28/2024
Pasadena Village Joins Two Healthy Aging Resource Projects
01/25/2024
Decluttering: Do It Now
01/24/2024
Village Volunteers Contribute to the Huntington Magic
01/24/2024
Villagers Creating Community
01/24/2024
Villagers Reflect on Black History Month
01/24/2024
Walk With Ease, 2024
01/24/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2402
01/21/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2401
01/15/2024
Re- Entry Programs, a Personal Experience
01/08/2024
“ACCIDENTAL HOST—The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease”
By Susan KujawaPosted: 05/01/2023
Claire and Patrick Dunavan are founding members of Pasadena Village. Patrick, a long-time documentary filmmaker, launched his career in the mailroom of CBS Television City in Los Angeles, then worked as a film editor and producer, earning his first of 8 Emmys by age 30. After moving to Pasadena in 2008, he also created, directed, and produced our 2012 video that introduced Pasadena Village to the broader community.
Dr. Claire Panosian Dunavan is a UCLA specialist in infectious diseases and past-president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene who spent several years as a writer, reporter and co-anchor for Lifetime Television. Her print journalism has also appeared in major newspapers and magazines. Claire first met patients with rat lungworm meningitis while working in southern Taiwan in the 1980s. Four years later, she met Patrick after joining his staff for a nationally-broadcast medical special.
Now for some background on an exotic disease flying under the radar. When Claire first encountered rat lungworm, it was almost a curiosity…a strange, foodborne, brain-invading, blight found solely in Asia and certain Pacific islands. Forty years later, rat lungworm thrives in tropical areas of six continents (North America, South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa—and most recently coastal Spain), while, in recent years, some people in Hawaii have suffered dramatic, even-life-threatening infections. Tourists also contract rat lungworm, and there are now homegrown cases in the southeastern United States. Paradoxically, explains Claire, many people are exposed to the infection when trying to “eat healthy” but inadvertently ingesting unwashed produce, especially leafy greens, contaminated by invisible larvae. You can watch the special on PBS here.
Claire and Patrick produced their documentary for several reasons: a profound lack of awareness on the part of patients and doctors--major difficulties around diagnosis and treatment—and the disease’s wide range of “accidental hosts,” including children and animals. Adds Claire, “It's a film with many human stories as well as ecological layers.” Check out the "Accidental Host" website here.
For supporters of PBS who have access to PBS Passport, the 53-minute documentary can be accessed by searching for “Accidental Host” on your PBS Passport app. The film provides an eye opening, accessible, explanation of a little-known but emerging infectious disease now spreading around the globe.