Englewood, CO 5 trends

Justin Stewart

HLTH 100

            I spoke with Dr. Thomas L. Stone MD DDS FACS about the local public health trends in Englewood, Colorado. They are as follows:

            Whooping cough. There have been several whooping cough cases in the community, mainly in school settings. He explained whooping cough as being highly contagious that is most common in younger children. He explained the reason for this local outbreak as parents possibly not being aware of the severity of the illness and/or not knowing the symptoms. He recommended having infected and people within close contact of infected individuals be immunized.

            Influenza. The most common reason for the spread, like in most other place, is because of improper sanitation. This can be not washing your hands frequently and covering your mouth to reduce the spread of the disease. This year Dr. Stone has noticed a decrease in the amount of people receiving the flu vaccine. Most severe cases that he has seen have been in elderly people, age 60+, because they have other health issues, making them immunocompromised. He recommends everyone get the flu vaccine every year to reduce the unnecessary spread of the disease.

            Denial. I did not understand what he meant at first, but after the explanation, it made a lot of sense. He explained that he sees a lot of patients will often deny the early warning signals of a disease that they have. As a result of this, they will delay seeking care. In his eyes, this is unnecessary and foolish. With almost every disease, it is much easier to treat upon the early warning signs, compared to treating it when the diseases have already settled in. With early detection and effective control, it is often possible to prevent or significantly delay disease progression.

            STDs. There has been a local increase in the cases and spread of STDs. He believes that the reason for this is all the local High Schools. Teens are beginning to be more sexually active and are afraid to consult a doctor about they suspended disease. As a result, they are ignored and the spread continues. He is afraid this will just get worse because of the decreasing age at which kids are beginning to become active.

            Physical Activity. He wanted to end the conversation on a more positive note, so he discussed the increase in active people he has seen. This includes his patients and observing people outside and at the gym he attends. He said he always encourages people to get out there and run, he being a marathon runner himself. Fortunately, we live in a place where the environment, air quality and water quality are so great that people want to be outside. He did mention that the recent cold weather did influence the disease increase as well, but that was just a side note. Englewood is awesome, he concluded.