‘Dr. Microbe’ is the TV medical expert Texas needs right now. And in two languages
The best new TV medical expert is right here at our health science center.
She goes by “Dr. Microbe.” And she talks coronavirus in both English and Spanish.
In a month when TV news was dominated by government talking heads, some of the best moments have come from an Arlington scientist and director of the epidemiology program at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
Diana Cervantes knows her viruses. And she’s taken questions everywhere from Telemundo to KTCK/96.7 FM “The Ticket.”
“I was trained by old-school guys — they taught me that part of this job of fighting disease is getting the word out,” she said Friday as Texans settled in for another weekend at home.
In Fort Worth and Tarrant County, where coronavirus cases are doubling faster than anywhere else in Dallas-Fort Worth, we’re hearing way too much from officials and not enough from doctors or the medical schools.
“You definitely need a physician to talk about medical issues,” Cervantes said.
“And you definitely need an epidemiologist to talk about what’s going on in the population.”
Born in Monterrey, Mexico, into a family that had moved from Chicago, she took an interest in viruses and parasites as a biology honors student at UT Arlington.
One of her classroom assignments was to read the 1995 book, “The Coming Plague.”
Then came 9/11, and the ensuing attack of anthrax-laced letters in the postal system.
“Public health started getting more funding again,” she said.
“People were hiring. They’d say, ‘You know microbes? And you speak Spanish? You’re hired!’ “
She worked for the county public health department under a past administration, and led the state health department’s regional response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak and successful containment in Dallas.
That’s when her fellow workers in the state health office gave her a coffee mug dubbing her, “Dr. Microbe.”
Now, she sees her classroom lessons coming true.
“You prepare for this terrible moment, when you have a disease spread so quickly and efficiently,” she said.
“But you also see it and hope — maybe it won’t be like China, maybe something will happen to stop it, maybe it won’t be as efficiently transmitted. It’s incredible to see what’s happening in New York and know that it could happen in other areas.”
She’s giving all the warnings:
▪ Wash your hands well, and often.
▪ “Keep your distance” (from absolutely anyone outside those in your home).
▪ And — this is the most important — keep your hands off your face and mouth.
Masks can help and hurt.
“People get a false sense of security if they’re wearing a mask,” she said.
“If you’re going to the store, keep 6 feet away. If you have to ride the New York subway, or somewhere you can’t keep a 6-foot distance, wear something that covers your face and mouth.”
She answers a lot of anxious questions.
“Anytime you’re dealing with the unknown, people want to find something that will give them a sense of control,” she said.
“They ask about numbers, or the modeling, or ‘how do I bring in my groceries?’ ... We’re not seeing this many cases because people opened up packages. We’re seeing this because they interacted with other people.”
She’s also the parent of an 11-year-old.
So she’s taken extra time to tell young people why they should be careful to avoid making those around them sick.
“You have to take care of other people,” she said in a video for young viewers.
“It’s your responsibility to not just think of yourself — think of everybody you touch.’
More of us should listen to Dr. Microbe.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 3:17 PM.
