The Health News USA January 12 2018
- Health officials in Salt Lake County, Utah, are warning residents that an estimated two thousand of them could have been exposed to hepatitis A at a local 7-Eleven convenience store. According to the Salt Lake County Health Department, people who visited the location in West Jordan between December 26 and January 3 could be at risk if they used a restroom in the store or consumed certain food items. The departement said on Sunday that the possible hepatitis A exposure occurred when an infected employee worked while ill and potentially handled certain items in the store.
- The flu has hit early and hard — 46 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control — and this year hospitals face an additional hurdle to treat it: A shortage of IV bags. CBS News reports that the scarcity leads back to Hurricane Maria. When the storm hit Puerto Rico in September, it disrupted production at one of the island’s major suppliers of IV bags. The small bags deliver intravenous fluids and medications to patients. The deficit has led hospital personnel to deliver meds in more time-consuming ways.
- After 2 years of reductions, the Mississippi State Department of Health is requesting a modest budget increase for the coming year. The state health officer, Dr. Mary Currier, told senators Wednesday that the department has cut expenses by going from 9 administrative districts to three.
News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 12th of January 2018. Read by Tabetha Moreto.
http://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/08/health/7-eleven-hepatitis-a-utah-outbreak/index.html
Health officials in Salt Lake County, Utah, are warning residents that an estimated two thousand of them could have been exposed to hepatitis A at a local Seven-Eleven convenience store.
According to the Salt Lake County Health Department, people who visited the location in West Jordan between December twenty six and January three could be at risk if they used a restroom in the store or consumed certain food items. The department said on Sunday that the possible hepatitis A exposure occurred when an infected employee worked while ill and potentially handled certain items in the store.
The case is believed to be connected to a wider hepatitis A outbreak in the area that has been ongoing since August. Customers who used the restroom or consumed a fountain drink, fresh fruit or food from the hot food case should contact the county health department to get information about receiving a preventive hepatitis A injection. Prepackaged items don’t pose a risk of exposure. As of Monday afternoon, two hundred fifty six people had been referred by the county health department to get an injection.
Hepatitis A is a highly contagious liver disease caused by the hepatitis A virus and is most frequently transmitted by eating food or drinking water handled by someone who has not properly washed their hands. It can also be spread by sex and illicit drug use. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever and fatigue — can take fifteen to fifty days to appear. The virus is especially hard to kill and can live for months outside of the body, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The flu has hit early and hard — forty six states, according to the Centers for Disease Control — and this year hospitals face an additional hurdle to treat it: A shortage of intravenous therapy bags. CBS News reports that the scarcity leads back to Hurricane Maria. When the storm hit Puerto Rico in September, it disrupted production at one of the island’s major suppliers of IV bags. The small bags deliver intravenous fluids and medications to patients. The deficit has led hospital personnel to deliver meds in more time-consuming ways.
Paul Biddinger, chief of the division of emergency preparedness at Massachusetts General Hospital said: “This is a nationwide problem which is part of what makes it so hard is that we can’t borrow from any other hospital.”
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On January four, the Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb reported that power has been restored to Baxter, the medical supply facility in Puerto Rico, and things are improving.
To avoid coming down with the flu, the CDC recommends getting a flu shot and taking everyday preventive actions to stop the spread of germs.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/article194029389.html
After two years of reductions, the Mississippi State Department of Health is requesting a modest budget increase for the coming year. The state health officer, Doctor Mary Currier, told senators Wednesday that the department has cut expenses by going from nine administrative districts to three. Offices in Tupelo, Jackson and Gulfport oversee the staffing and activities of Health Department clinics in multiple counties. Currier said the change has made management difficult and she would like to have six districts.
The state-supported part of the Health Department budget was sixty two million dollars last year and is fifty seven million dollars this year. An early proposal by top budget writers would give the department a small reduction for the year that starts July one, but Currier is requesting an increase of three point four million dollars. About one point five million of that would be for district staff and offices, six hundred fifty thousand dollars would be to deal with syphilis and the human immunodeficiency virus (or HIV) in the Jackson metro area, and nearly one point seven million would be to track tuberculosis cases statewide to try to curb the spread of the disease.
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The Health Department is also asking lawmakers to consider authorizing three point four million dollars in bonds to fund a loan program for improvements to rural water systems. Currier said for every one dollar Mississippi would put into the program, the federal government would put five dollars.
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