5 Top Public Health Trends-- Collin County by Kirsten Roberts

Public Health Trends in Collin County, Texas                                                                                        Kirsten Roberts

Contacted: Joan Petree—HRIS Manager at the Collin County Health Department

Collin County is in the DFW area of North Texas. It has recently been affected by several diseases and health hazards. Some of these include West Nile Virus, pertussis, fungal meningitis, swine flu, and distracted driving.

West Nile Virus has been the most recently talked about health hazard in Texas. West Nile is a mosquito-borne illness and is especially prevalent in murky or humid areas, like Texas where the mosquitoes can breed and continue to infect many. 80% of people that are infected with West Nile Virus are not aware because their body fights it on its own and no symptoms are evident. However, people over the age of 50 or who have weak immune systems are more greatly affected and have a harder time fighting the virus. As of October 11 there have been 76 confirmed cases and 4 deaths in Collin County.

Pertussis, or whopping cough, has also taken its toll on North Texas. It is spread through the air, mostly through coughing or sneezing. It begins like a cold, but gradually worsens. The healthy adult body fights the illness better than infants or the elderly, but they can still be greatly affected. The illness comes in waves and from 2000-2012 there have been 43 confirmed deaths.

Fungal meningitis made itself known as an outbreak took place this year and is still lingering. All over the nation there were 438 confirmed cases and 32 deaths. The outbreak is believed to have been caused by an infected medication that was shipped to 27 states and then later recalled. Meningitis is a rare bacteria that is spread through blood to the spinal cord, so this outbreak in large shows what a big deal it was/is. The statistics for Collin County are not available to me at this time, but it did have a presence.

The swine flu greatly affected North Texas a couple of years ago and caused the whole state to go into cautionary measures. In 2009 it was considered a pandemic and although it is now under control, there are still concerns for influenza. The swine flu was unlike most influenza strains as it did not dis-proportionally affect those over 60 years of age. It was a very wide spread illness and killed an estimated 294,500 people. The entire nation, and world, took part in this, but North Texas definitely felt it.

The last health hazard that has had prevalent trends in Collin County is distracted driving. This is not a disease but it is a health risk and continues to kill more and more people. From 1999 to 2005, deaths from distracted driving increased 25%. This increase could most likely be blamed on texting and its increased use over the years. Again, I do not have specific statistics for Collin County, but this trend is noticeable all over the nation.