Health Department reviews diseases
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on November 17, 2015 1:46 PM
Cases of salmonella appeared to be the biggest issue among communicable diseases for the past year, Wayne County health officials say.
Between July 1, 2014, through Sept. 30 of this year, the county had 43 cases that fell under the state's classification list of communicable disease -- 27 of those were salmonellosis.
"It's not that it's an outbreak. We have sporadic (cases) from different families," Josa Raynor-Vaughn, the communicable diseases program manager for the Health Department, told the county Board of Health recently.
In the bulk of those cases, she said patients were unaware where they might have contracted the form of food poisoning, making it a challenge to trace.
In addition to sharing some of the areas her department covers, she explained its role.
"Disease control is a core public health function and in public health or communicable disease we provide necessary education to our community partners, prevention, surveillance and outbreak investigation," she said.
According to the state's General Statutes, she said physicians are required to report communicable disease cases to the local Health Department as well as hospitals, medical examiners and organ donation centers.
Other areas on the most recent list included seven cases of campylobacter infection, three cases of shigellosis, two incidents of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and one each of strep, legionellosis, E. coli and chikunguny, a bacterial infection similar to salmonella.
Sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, also remain a big concern, Mrs. Vaughn said, citing statistics for the Health Department's STD clinic from July of last year through June of this year.
She said the department recorded 3,421 visits, 2,179 HIV tests, 312 positive cases of chlamydia, 177 positive for gonorrhea, eight positive syphillis cases, three new HIV diagnoses and 30 positive for herpes.
The numbers are actually down from previous years, Mrs. Vaughn said.
Board member Tommy Gibson recalled a few years ago when syphillis cases were particularly high in the county.
In 2011, Wayne was second in the state for syphillis rates. In 2008, it had been ranked first, officials said, with the chlamydia rate 32 percent higher than the state average and gonorrhea being 82 percent higher.
Tuberculosis is another disease the local Health Department has experienced a resurgence in recent years. TB screening and evaluation is being provided for those considered at risk, Mrs. Vaughn said, with efforts made to increase education and outreach to the community.
"We target people who have been exposed to TB cases to make sure they're not positive and everyone, we give them the medicine to combat TB," she said. "We have really done good with TB this year. From July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015, we only have three active TB cases.
"We have had as many as 10 at one time. I think (the decrease) is excellent for Wayne County."
She added that the department currently has 29 residents on preventive treatments -- after having positive skin tests but negative chest X-rays. A regimen of medication is administered for nine months.
Immunization services are another important part of the job, Mrs. Vaughn said.
"Vaccines, they do save lives and protect you and your community from disease," she said. "Children who qualify for our VFC, vaccines for children, receive vaccines at no cost. That's for those (babies) through age 18."
Vaccinations are required at different intervals, she explained -- upon entering child care and kindergarten, entering seventh grade and college.
"Immunization services also include an immunization tracking program," she said. "We track every immunization that we give, 0 to 36 months, with the N.C. Immunization Registry."
The flu vaccine is particularly popular this time of year, she said. So far during 2015, staff has gone to two locations to administer flu shots.
"People call us every day asking if we can come out to give shots on their sites," she said. "From July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2015, we gave 4,508 vaccines to Wayne County citizens, and approximately 1,400 of those were flu vaccines."