Skyler Lodwig
Intro to Public Health

11/12/12

Community Trends – Orange County

I spoke with a lady named Sharon (I couldn’t understand her last name, she had an accent) and she is an administrator at the Orange County Health Care Agency. She said that five of the trends that they are dealing with right now are whooping cough, teen alcohol and drug use, West Nile Virus, proper immunizations, and STDs.

1.    Whooping Cough
          Whooping cough has become such a problem that California has made it a law that all kids going into Seventh Grade have an immunization shot (of Tdap) before they can start the grade. Parents have been responding differently to this – some are upset because they do not believe in vaccinations and do not want to be forced to make their kids get one. Since the mandate for this vaccination is somewhat new, they are still figuring out the best way to handle those that are against this vaccination.

2.    Teen Alcohol and Drug Use
         She was saying that problems with teen alcohol and drug use have been on the rise in last few years. They are trying to combat it with more education to children but it is hard when the number of educators they have restricts them. As of right now they haven’t seen an unusual increase in teen pregnancy but she said that officials are worried that that is what will end up happening.

3.    West Nile Virus
         This season there have been reports of West Nile Virus. Initially, it was mainly affecting birds and mosquito pools but there have now been reports of humans too. So far there have been 42 reported cases of humans infected by West Nile Virus in Orange County and the public health officials are worried that this will be an indefinite concern. They are trying to educate the community on how to avoid places that are typically infested with mosquitos and how to mosquito proof their homes.

4.    Proper Immunizations
          As mentioned earlier, there are plenty of parents that are against their children having vaccines and with this new flu season, it has been a problem. Many of the parents do believe that there is a link between autism and vaccinations and therefore do not with their child to have any. To them it is worth the risk. Officials in the public health community are working on emphasizing the potential risks of not having immunizations and the benefits of it.

5.    Sexually Transmitted Diseases

         The rise in STDs in Orange County has been unsettling. The rise has mainly occurred in Northern Orange County where the demographic consists of lower income families, however it hasn’t exclusively been there. They are trying to work more with community clinics to educate, offer contraceptives such as condoms, and give treatment for the STDs.