Georgia Coastal Health District

Every year about 20 million people get sick from norovirus which is the leading cause of disease outbreaks from contaminated food in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Norovirus is very contagious and can cause diarrhea and vomiting. Food can get contaminated with norovirus when infected people who have stool or vomit on their hands touch the food; it is placed on counters or surfaces that have infectious stool or vomit on them; or tiny drops of vomit from an infected person spray through the air and land on the food.
What is norovirus and how can it be prevented?
Norovirus Symptoms
NorovirusTransmission

Norovirus Prevention

Norovirus Treatment
How can those in the food service industry help prevent norovirus?
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In the United States, more than 25 million people are known to have asthma. About 7 million of these people are children. Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the lungs. It causes coughing, wheezing, chest tightness and shortness of breath. In an asthma attack, muscles around the airways tighten and the airway lining swells, making it hard to breathe.

Who gets asthma?
Asthma affects people of all ages. In Georgia, about 12 percent of children aged 0-17 years have asthma and about 8 percent of adults do, too. In most cases, we don’t know what causes asthma, but we do know that if someone in your family has it, you’re more likely to have it, too.
How is asthma treated?
While asthma has no cure, it can be controlled. There are many things people can do to control their asthma:
Have an Asthma Action Plan:
With a health care provider, write an asthma action plan. The asthma action plan shows your daily treatment, such as what kind of medicines to take and when to take them. Your plan describes how to control asthma long term AND how to handle worsening asthma, or attacks. The plan explains when to call the doctor or go to the emergency room. If your child has asthma, make sure their school, day-care provider, babysitters, camps and other caregivers have a copy of their plan.
Take controller medications:
Doctors can prescribe medication that can help people have fewer and milder asthma attacks. It’s important to take these controller medications as your doctor prescribes them. If you are using quick-relief medications, such as an inhaler, more frequently or daily, you should talk to your health care provider about getting your asthma under control.
Manage your disease:
Learn more about your asthma triggers, symptoms and how to get relief. Talk with an asthma educator to learn about asthma self-management.
Avoid asthma triggers:
An asthma attack can happen when a person is exposed to certain triggers. Common asthma triggers include cigarette smoke, mold, dust mites, air pollution, exercise, pests, strong emotions, respiratory infections and strong odors. Learn more about how to prevent these asthma triggers and make your home, school or day-care facility an asthma-friendly environment.
Click HERE for asthma resources for kids and parents.
Information provided by the Georgia Department of Public Health.

As adults, getting vaccinated is one of the most important and easiest things we can do to protect our health–yet not enough of us do it. Vaccine-preventable diseases kill more American adults each year than HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, or traffic accidents.

A vaccination you may not know about protects against a common infection called pneumococcal disease. Pneumococcal disease can strike quickly and lead to death in just a few days. Each year, there are more than half a million cases annually, and thousands of Americans die from pneumococcal disease.
Some adults are more likely to get pneumococcal disease or have a more serious illness from it. That includes everyone age 65 and older and adults age 19-64 with heart, liver, or lung disease; diabetes; asthma; HIV/AIDS; and other conditions that affect the immune system; smokers; and alcoholics.
If you fall into one of these categories, you should be vaccinated, even if you consider yourself healthy. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), too many adults nationwide are unprotected from this infection.
Vaccination is a critical part of staying healthy at any age. To receive the best protection against pneumococcal and other deadly diseases, it’s important for adults to contact their local health department or personal healthcare professional to talk about which vaccines are right for them.
Pneumococcal disease can be very serious and treatment may require hospitalization. Some patients may need weeks or months to recover before returning to normal activities. Getting vaccinated is the safest and most effective way to protect oneself. Even if vaccination does not prevent the infection, it can help reduce its severity, helping to keep you out of the hospital.
For more information on getting the pneumococcal or any other adult vaccinations, please contact your local health department.
Want to know more about pneumococcal disease?
Click here: NFID Pneumococcal Fact Sheet for Adults [PDF]
Want to know what vaccines you need and when?
NFID Adult Vaccination Tracker and Guide for Patients_2014 [PDF]
Photo courtesy of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

What is public health? It’s helping people quit tobacco. It’s inspecting restaurants for potential causes of foodborne illness. It’s the prevention and treatment of HIV. It’s watching for signs of disease outbreaks. It’s making sure that residents who are most vulnerable are evacuated before a hurricane. It’s educating mothers-to-be on the importance of breastfeeding. It’s protecting children against diseases that can be prevented. It’s all of that and much more. Public health touches every life at one time or another. National Public Health Week (NPHW), April 7 – 13, is a time to spread the news about the value of public health.

“Public health continues to grow and evolve but preventing disease and promoting healthy communities will always be our goal,” said Diane Z. Weems, M.D., Health Director for the Coastal Health District.
NPHW 2014 will have daily themes:
Monday, April 7: Be Healthy from the Start
Public health starts at home. From family nutrition and maternal health to safety precautions and disaster preparedness, the first step the community takes toward public health are in the comfort of their own home.
Tuesday, April 8: Don’t Panic
Public health professionals help communities withstand the impact of a natural or manmade disaster by planning ahead, acting as a source of information during the crisis and helping to mitigate the long- and short-term effects.
Wednesday, April 9: Get Out Ahead
Prevention is now a nationwide priority, and as the public health system evolves, there are more options than ever when it comes to preventive health measures.
Thursday, April 10: Eat Well
The system that keeps our nation’s food safe and healthy is complex. Public health professionals can help guide people through their choices.
Friday, April 11: Be the Healthiest Nation in One Generation
For the first time in decades, the current generation isn’t as healthy as the one that came before. Communities need to band together to take a stance against this disturbing trend to make sure that children and young adults have bright, healthy futures.
For more information on the services offered at health departments in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, and McIntosh counties, click HERE.

Say YES to protecting your daughter against cervical cancer by making sure she gets the HPV vaccine. This is a safe and effective vaccine given in a series of 3 shots over about a six month period. If your daughter is age 11 years or older, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) recommends you vaccinate now to protect her against cervical cancer. Already, 35 million doses of HPV vaccine have been distributed across the country–but that is not enough.

About 20 million people, most in their late teens and early 20s, are infected with HPV, the type of virus that causes cervical cancer. That’s why it’s important to protect preteen and teen girls early through vaccination.
“We have an entire generation of girls we could protect against cervical cancer,” says Dr. Anne Schuchat, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “What most parents might not realize is that while cervical cancer might not be a household name, every year 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 4,000 die. If we can protect girls now, we could drastically reduce these numbers.”
You can use any visit, like an appointment for a camp or sports physicals, to ask your doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or clinic about the shots your kids need. When you go in for your daughter’s first shot of HPV vaccine, don’t leave without making an appointment for the next shot. Ask the doctor’s office or pharmacy to send you a text, email, or phone reminder. Involve your daughters in a reminder system–they probably know how to set up an electronic reminder better than you do!
Many parents don’t realize that vaccines don’t end once your child starts school–preteens and teens still need vaccines. As they get older, girls and boys are at increased risk for some infections. Also, the protection provided by some childhood vaccines begins to wear off.
There are three vaccines recommended for preteens starting at age 11-12, including Tdap (the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis vaccine), HPV vaccine, and meningococcal vaccine. Preteens and teens should also get a flu vaccine, which is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older, every year. If you have an older kid like a teen, it’s not too late to get shots they’ve missed. HPV vaccine requires more than one dose. That’s where some parents get bogged down–it’s easy to get very busy with school, activities, work, and all of the juggling that parents of preteens and teens do every day.
There is assistance for families that may need help paying for vaccines. If you don’t have insurance, or if it does not cover vaccines, the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program may be able to help. This program provides vaccines at no cost to doctors who serve eligible children. Children younger than 19 years of age are eligible for VFC vaccines if they are Medicaid-eligible, American Indian or Alaska Native, or have no health insurance.
Like millions of moms and dads across the country, you can protect your daughters from cervical cancer.
For more information, visit the CDC web site just for you: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/teens