I talked to the Supervisor of Communicable Disease
Epidemiology named Justin Frederick because I am interested in epidemiology. He had a lot to say about recent disease trends, and also shared with me a few new programs in the area that the entire health department is working on. He had much information to share, so I picked the topics I found most interesting.
1. STDs have
become a growing concern in Omaha. This has become such a major problem that
the county health department recently created a new division to deal
specifically with STD education, prevention, and testing. They now offer free
testing for HIV and cheap testing for many STDs, such as gonorrhea and syphilis.
This is in an effort to try and reduce the spreading of the diseases and
increase awareness of and protection against them. When people come into the
clinic for testing, they are taught about the disease, infection, and
prevention. They are also encouraged to talk to their partners to encourage
them to come in for testing as well.
2. The
outbreak of influenza this year in Omaha was a cause for concern. Officials
were concerned with the high number of cases reported in such a short time.
When cases were reported in a neighboring state, the health department reminded
the public to get the vaccination (which was very close to the flu strains this
year), especially pregnant women and young children. The first cases were
reported much earlier than the first cases reported in other years. By
November, there were 27 confirmed cases, compared to the normal 5 or 6 cases.
After the death of a woman hospitalized with flu complications, the health
department again reminded the public to get the vaccination and suggested many
actions everyone could do to keep from spreading the illness.
3. There was
also an abnormally high outbreak of Shigellosis cases this year in Omaha. Shigellosis
is a diarrheal illness caused by the bacterium Shigella. Over 50 cases were reported since May. Many of those
cases involved young children who were associated with child care settings. It
also affected many food handlers, which caused problems with the return of
students to school in August. The health department worked the best they could
with food handlers to keep the illness contained. They required each infected
person to complete treatment and be symptom free for 48 hours before returning
to work. This temporary loss of food handlers caused problems with serving food
to students and to those workers because most rely on that job to support
themselves and families.
4. Histoplasmosis
is a respiratory fungal infection that affected 32 camp counselors this past
summer in Omaha. These counselors worked in city-sponsored day camps and had
contracted this infection by cleaning up the parks in preparation for the
camps. These camps had been flooded the past two years, which required much
cleanup from the counselors. The health department determined that digging fire
pits increased the counselors’ risk of contracting the disease as they were
breaking up the dirt and allowing the spores that had collected in the soil to
be exposed to the air. They also found a bat population living in a shelter,
which promoted bacterium growth in the soil because of their poop. None of the
affected counselors were hospitalized and all camp attendees were fine.
5. WIC (women,
infants and children) is a new program offered through the Omaha health
department. This program was created to increase the healthiness of pregnant
women, mothers, and young children. It offers healthy meal and snack ideas to
help increase awareness of the importance of eating foods from all the basic
food groups each day. It also provides checks to those in need to help them buy
the food items they need to eat better. There is a campaign that corresponds
with this program. It’s called “Show Your Love” and focuses on healthy habits
before pregnancy. They are trying to help women who desire to be mothers
understand the importance of being healthy before and during a pregnancy.
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