Johnson County Health Department - EPI Update Newsletter

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) has announced that contrary to information that has been provided to schools earlier this year, Kansas students are not required to receive two doses of Varicella vaccination prior to enrolling for the 2007 – 2008 school year.

In a memo to Kansas school nurses in January of this year, KDHE had notified school districts that two doses of the vaccination, which provides increased immunity to chickenpox, would become mandatory for kindergarten and first graders. One dose of the vaccination had been required in previous years.

Although it is highly recommended that all children receive two doses of the Varicella vaccination, a recent audit of the current regulations revealed that only one dose is actually required for school attendance this school year. New regulations are in the process of being approved that will require the second dose, but will not be approved prior to the start of classes.

“We recognize that some of our communications regarding this issue have been confusing for parents, schools and health care providers,” said Dr. Howard Rodenberg, State Health Officer. “We want to make sure that this confusion does not preclude any Kansas children from attending school.”

To see the news release, go to: www.kdheks.gov/news/web_archives/2007/08152007.htm

Mosquitoes are still active this summer season. Precautions are necessary to prevent mosquito bites to reduce the possibility of West Nile Virus. The Johnson County Health Department urges people to continue prevention efforts during late summer and early fall.

Dr. Leon Vinci, Health Director of the Johnson County Health Department, reiterates recommendations to protect themselves and family members:
- Use effective insect repellent with DEET or picaridin on skin
- Wear protective clothing when practical (long sleeves and pants)
- Remove standing water
- Use larvicide in water that cannot be removed
- Replace water in bird baths, pet bowls, and wading pools at least every three days
- Limit outdoor activities at dawn and dusk when mosquitoes are most active

West Nile Virus can be spread to people by mosquitoes that first bite an infected bird, but it is not contagious from person to person or directly from birds.

Symptoms range from mild to extreme and in rare cases, death. Most people have no symptoms. Once a person contracts WNV, they are considered immune to it.

Milder symptoms of the illness may include: fever, headache, rash, general muscle aches and weakness, gastrointestinal signs and inflammation of the lymph nodes with no other likely explanation for the symptoms.

More extreme symptoms include severe headache, high fever, difficulty walking and/or talking, coma, and even death.

Source: www.cdc.gov

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The recent recall of many commercially produced food products in the United States has many people concerned about the safety of food manufacturing processes. There were several different reasons for each of the recent recalls, from contamination with biological agents, such as salmonella in peanut butter and botulism in canned chili, to pieces of metal found in sandwich bread, to chemicals in toothpaste that should not be used as an ingredient. Many issues can contribute to the problem.

First, some manufacturing companies are not required by the Food and Drug Administration to follow either Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) or Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems, both of which help to control potential physical, chemical and biological hazards in food production.

Second, inspections are not done as often as they should be due to inadequate funding for federal programs. Also compounding the problem, manufacturing plants are getting larger, producing more food, and distributing it to a larger geographical area. Therefore, if there is contamination in a food product, it affects consumers on a greater scale. Several solutions to these manufacturing problems exist, including adopting GMP and HACCP programs, adequate training for production staff, proper maintenance of production and building equipment, consumer training on proper food handling, better policing of ingredient suppliers by manufacturers, and more effective inspection programs.

Source: http://news.thomasnet.com/companystory/526459

How Travelers Aid in the Spread of Disease

In a recent study soon to be published in Emerging Infectious Disease Journal (www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid), a group of researchers attempted to evaluate how frequent fliers contributed to the spread of infectious respiratory diseases, in particular, influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It was concluded that frequent fliers are more likely to travel for business, mingle with other frequent fliers, stay in particular hotels, and use specific airport lounges; this behavior has the potential to spread a respiratory infection quickly. In 2003, the rapid spread of SARS from Hong Kong was started by one traveler who infected 16 others while staying at a hotel. Six of these secondary cases took international flights leading to outbreaks in Hanoi, Singapore, and Toronto.

In studying past influenza outbreaks, a realization was made that during the latent period of influenza these infected may be contagious and not show symptoms. This could lead to a large quantity of infected people traveling, even with strict screen processes--simply because the infected are asymptomatic.

When examining how a respiratory infection is spread between high-frequency fliers and the general population, two distinct scenarios exist. The first is if the epidemic starts in the general population, the high-frequency fliers who do not mix regularly with the general population will be less likely to become infected in the early stages of the epidemic. The second scenario is one where the recurrent fliers contract the disease before it becomes an epidemic in the general population, they will function as catalysts in the rapid spreading of the disease to all parts of the population.

Source: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid

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Public Health Emergency Program Staff Bio: Amy Mott

Amy Mott has been keeping busy since transferring to her new position as the Logistics Management Specialist in June. She has planned and implemented a dispensing exercise in less than two months, upgraded the Public Health Emergency Program’s inventory tracking system, and begun to re-evaluate the program’s storage needs.

Mott shifted from her role as the Public Health Emergency Program (PHEP) Aide to the newly-created Logistics Management Specialist earlier this summer. With her new duties, she is in charge of ordering, storing and tracking all supplies needed in the event of a public health emergency.
One of the first projects she is working on is to create deployable totes for medical point of dispensing sites. The totes will hold office supplies, computer accessories (not including the laptop computer), clipboards and other supplies to use at a mass vaccination or medication dispensing clinic.
We are excited to continue to have Amy as a wonderful member of the PHEP team.

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Disease Reporting Notes:

If you have any questions about the monthly Epi Update, or any other disease surveillance or containment questions, please contact Nancy Tausz, RN, BSN, Director of the Disease Containment Division, at (913) 477-8362 or by email at: Nancy.Tausz@jocogov.org.

Communicable disease reporting is the cornerstone of public health surveillance and disease control. Please remember to maintain an index of suspicion for bioterrorism and reportable disease, and give the Disease Containment staff a call if you have any questions or concerns at (913) 826-1303. On behalf of the Johnson County Health Department, thank you for your continued support.

Johnson County government does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age and handicapped status in employment or the provision of programs and services.