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Take initiative to combat opioid use: International Overdose Awareness Day

8/26/2020

Take initiative to combat opioid use: International Overdose Awareness Day

By Matt Cimino

In 2017, there were more than 72,000 preventable drug overdoses. More than half of them involved opioids.

International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is observed every year on Aug. 31 in remembrance of those who have lost their lives from overdoses. That’s this Monday.

It’s a topic that is especially important at Monongalia County Health Department, which applied for and received grant funding for the Monongalia County Quick Response Team (QRT).

MCHD employees began meeting at the health department weekly with members that also include peer recovery coaches (PRC), MECCA 911, law enforcement, EMS, faith leaders and others. The QRT gets overdose reports with a goal of sending PRCs to meet with the individual within 24 to 72 hours to connect them to treatment and/or services.

In order to fully grasp the significance of prescription opioid’s role in overdoses, it’s important to realize just how greatly usage has increased over the years. Since 1999, painkiller prescriptions have nearly quadrupled. Each day, close to 7,000 people are hospitalized for misusage.

According to the American Medical Association (AMA) Alliance, painkillers are the most abused medication. These include oxycodone, hydrocodone, Percocet, methadone and codeine. There is sometimes the misperception that because these are not illegal, they are safe.

The truth is that these drugs are extremely addictive. Once someone becomes hooked, it is very difficult to stop.

One of the best things you can do on IOAD is educate yourself and others on the issue. You also could carry naloxone, which counters the effects of an opioid overdose.

Knowing the signs of an overdose is essential in getting individuals help quickly and administering naloxone. If a person is generally unresponsive, breathing slowly, limp, pale or clammy, these could be signs of an opioid overdose. In this situation, be prepared to call 911 or administer naloxone immediately. You can also watch a video explanation of the signs of an opioid overdose.

It's also good to remember that naloxone will not hurt the individual if you are unsure if it’s an opioid overdose or not, so don’t let that stand in your way of making a decision to administer to someone who might need it.

Popular brands of naloxone include Narcan and Evzio. It is an opioid antagonist, meaning that it binds to the receptors of painkillers and reverses or blocks their effects. Naloxone can be delivered through syringe or nasal spray. Individuals other than first responders are now able to administer the drug.

Monongalia County Health Department offers naloxone training to the community, both in person and via Zoom, depending on how the pandemic is progressing. Interested individuals should email Joe Klass, MCHD’s Threat Preparedness specialist, at Joseph.L.Klass@wv.gov.

While education on this issue is crucial, perhaps an equally important part is providing support to those who are already struggling. One in four people have in some way been impacted by the opioid epidemic. Developing opioid use disorder is not a choice. It is quite literally a forced rewiring of the brain.

Luckily, this condition is treatable and recovery is possible. If you know somebody who is personally struggling with drug abuse, or they know another who is, give them as much support as you can. Let them know that you care, and try to connect them to treatment. West Virginia Sober Living has been dedicated to offering recovery to those struggling with addiction. They can be reached any time at 304-413-4300.

Also, Monongalia County Health Department now employs a social worker who is part of the QRT. Mark Liptrap is taking appointments for free assessments of those with opioid use disorder or their affected family members and friends. To make an appointment with Liptrap, call 304-598-5160.

International Overdose Awareness Day is rooted in spreading information on drug overdoses, most significantly prescription opioid abuse. Encourage others in your workplace and at home to learn about how this issue continues to affect our community. Know how to recognize if someone is struggling with abuse, or is currently overdosing. Do not hesitate to connect yourself or others to treatment.

Overcoming addiction cannot be done alone. It takes others who know what it is like, and a community that cares about the well-being of others.

Matt Cimino is a public information office intern at Monongalia County Health Department.

Last year's public health concerns are still topical

8/19/2020

Last year's public health concerns are still topical

By Mary Wade Burnside

It’s interesting to look back at the summer of 2019 and consider the big public health concerns at the time.

Two big topics were rabies and measles.

Much of the country was experiencing a measles outbreak, which, at least in part due to West Virginia’s strict vaccination laws, never made it to the Mountain State.

But rabies sure had. By this time last year, 14 rabid raccoons had been found in Monongalia County. Five of them had been discovered after interacting with pets and sometimes the pets’ families. The other nine were found through routine surveillance conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS).

After urging from Monongalia County Health Department, the USDA agreed to move the border of its annual Oral Rabies Vaccine (ORV) baiting program to cover most of Monongalia County. The line had been moving west and only a tiny portion of the county was due to receive the ORV baits, which are dropped from airplanes. Raccoons and other wildlife that eat them are then inoculated against rabies.

The USDA’s bait dropping, along with hand baiting done by MCHD Environmental Health sanitarians in the Morgantown area, apparently did a good job in reducing rabies in our area. So far, there have been no cases of rabies reported in Monongalia County in 2020.

But this is not the time to be complacent. The ORV baiting must be continued in order for long-term protection. And even with the COVID-19 pandemic, measures need to be taken to keep the community safe from other diseases.

That’s why the fact that the USDA has included Monongalia County again for its upcoming bait drop is great news. The bait drop began in West Virginia last Saturday and is scheduled to continue through Aug. 26.

And according to Jon Welch, program director of MCHD Environmental Services, the health department will be picking up ORV baits that will be hand-distributed around the Morgantown area soon, and baiting should take place by Aug. 26.

Anyone who comes across the baits should leave them alone unless they are in an area where pets or children play. They should not be ingested but won’t harm pets if they are.

Unfortunately, when it comes to vaccine-preventable illnesses, such as measles, the news isn’t as good, even though West Virginia still hasn’t had any cases. However, the World Health Organization has expressed concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has kept some children from getting routine vaccinations.

At around the same time, the Centers for Disease and Prevention has noted a decrease in orders from the Vaccines for Children vaccines recommended by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

August is National Immunization Awareness Month. One reason for the timing is because of back-to-school vaccines, which MCHD Clinical Services is administering via appointments now. Even though school plans might seem up in the air, the need to keep children up to date on vaccines is not.

The CDC has a handy guide for parents to help them navigate their children’s immunization needs from birth to 18 years of age.

Adults also want to make sure that they have been properly immunized against measles as well as other illnesses. Here is the link to CDC’s recommendations for adult vaccinations.
And just about everyone 6 months and older should plan to get an influenza vaccine this season. That includes pregnant women, who want to pass on protection to their unborn babies until they are old enough to be inoculated.

A flu vaccine is always important, but this year it’s vitally so. You want to keep your immune system as strong as possible to avoid COVID-19. And you don’t want to find yourself with symptoms such as body aches, chills and fatigue and wondering if it’s COVID-19 or flu. Flu vaccines will be available at the health department in about a month in order to make sure the vaccine’s potency lasts through the entire flu season, which can last well into spring.

To make an appointment for vaccines, call MCHD Clinical Services at 304-598-5119.

Mary Wade Burnside is the public health officer at Monongalia County Health Department.

Don't let COVID-19 keep your child from getting routine vaccinations

8/12/2020

Don't let COVID-19 keep your child from getting routine vaccinations

By Mary Wade Burnside

Recently, the World Health Organization has expressed concern that the COVID-19 pandemic is keeping parents from taking their children to their health care provider for routine vaccinations.

This means that around the world, 80 million babies are at high risk for diseases such as diphtheria, measles and polio. It was also noted that this has been the largest disruption in vaccination campaigns since they began in the 1970s.

At around the same time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has noted a decrease in orders from the Vaccines for Children vaccines recommended by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

After closing to all visits but emergencies for about two months at the start of the pandemic, Monongalia County Health Department’s Clinical Services program is back open and providing back-to-school vaccines.

Because August is National Immunization Awareness Month, it’s a good time to highlight that everyone still needs to get the vaccines they need so they can avoid coming down with preventable illnesses.

That’s always the goal and it’s definitely a good one during a pandemic.

This blog will focus on vaccines that babies and young children need. These days, parents have an arsenal to help them combat 14 harmful and potentially deadly diseases that their kids can be exposed to before their children hit the terrible twos.

Most parents agree that inoculating their offspring against diseases such as measles, chickenpox and whooping cough is the right thing to do. In numbers available last year, before the pandemic, the CDC reported that nine out of 10 people have their children vaccinated according to an immunization schedule or intend to do so.

A year ago, a measles outbreak in the United States was the illness making big news. Luckily, because of West Virginia’s strict vaccination laws, none of those cases were diagnosed in West Virginia. The outbreak did illustrate that people can become complacent when they forget how commonplace diseases such as the measles were before the widespread availability of vaccines. Many of them also never saw complications associated with illnesses such as measles.

Measles is highly contagious and can be dangerous, especially for babies and young children. According to the CDC, one out of four people who get measles will be hospitalized, one out of every 1,000 who get measles will develop brain swelling due to an infection called encephalitis — which may lead to brain damage — and one or two out of 1,000 people with measles will die, even with the best care.

The MMR vaccine — when administered according to the CDC’s immunization schedule — provides children with protection from measles, mumps and rubella.

Then there is pertussis, also known as whooping cough, which can cause serious and sometimes deadly complications for babies and young children, especially those who are not fully vaccinated. Complications include:

• 1 out of 2 babies younger than the age of 1 will need hospital care
• 1 out of 4 will get pneumonia
• 1 out of 100 will experience convulsions
• 3 out of 5 will have apnea, or slowed or stopped breathing
• 1 out of 300 will have encephalopathy, or disease of the brain
• 1 out of 100 will die

The DTaP vaccine, administered at 2 months, 4 months, 6 months, 15 through 18 months and through the ages of 4 and 6, not only protects against whooping cough, but also diphtheria and tetanus. If a child falls behind schedule, he or she can get the Tdap vaccine after the age of 6.

These are just some of the common childhood illnesses that vaccines can prevent or make symptoms less severe. Vaccines are the safest and most effective way to protect children from these diseases. Parents can provide the best protection by following the recommended immunization schedule, giving children the vaccines they need when they need them.

It might seem overwhelming, but the CDC has prepared a graph and chart detailing the 14 diseases prevented by vaccines before the age of 2 in an easy-to-read format. And all vaccines used in the United States require extensive safety testing before they are licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

For more information on vaccines, contact your health care provider. To make an appointment for vaccines, call MCHD Clinical Services at 304-598-5119.

Because of the pandemic, MCHD Clinical Services has a series of safeguards in place to protect patients, including filling out forms in advance, calling from your car when you arrive, taking temperatures and escorting patients directly to the exam room.

Mary Wade Burnside is the public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department.

Breastfeeding Awareness Month will be different this year

8/5/2020

Breastfeeding Awareness Month will be different this year

By Mary Wade Burnside

In a typical year, the WVU Erickson Alumni Center comes alive on the first Thursday in August, with families marching on the grounds, carrying signs with slogans such as “Breast is Best,” “Breastfeeding is nothing to be embarrassed about” and “Breastfeeding — the original fast food.”

Then, after events such as a Diaper Derby that determines the fastest crawling baby, and maybe a few photos and fist bumps with mascots Monti Bear and Cooper the Black Bear, everyone would assemble inside for healthy snacks, a slice of cake, a talk by a local breastfeeding advocate, and the chance to win donated gifts such as a baby car seat or a breast pump.

Alas, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Breastfeeding Awareness Walk, organized by Monongalia County Health Department’s Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) and the Monongalia County Breastfeeding Task Force, will not be held this year.
But August is still Breastfeeding Awareness Month, as declared by the United States Breastfeeding Committee. And Aug. 1-7 remains World Breastfeeding Week, as determined by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action.

So it’s a great time to discuss breastfeeding in general, as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Breastfeeding is a completely natural part of the human experience that provides both mother and baby with many benefits, including the obvious one: nutrition for the infant.

“It helps the baby’s immune system and gives them a healthier gut,” says Lynne Ryan, a WIC lactation consultant.

For the mom, breastfeeding helps normalize her weight and the state of lactating releases hormones that are relaxing, which help her body readjust after going through a pregnancy, Ryan added.

The Breastfeeding Awareness Walk is held to call attention to this normal practice and to advocate that women who feed their babies in this manner in public or who need to pump milk at the workplace be free to do so without harassment. In the Mountain State, it’s mandated in a law, the West Virginia Child’s Right to Nurse Act of 2014.

At MCHD, breastfeeding counselors talk to their pregnant clients to help them prepare for how to go about this loving task after their babies are born. WIC clients are pregnant and postpartum women and infants and children up to age 5 who meet generous income guidelines.

Usually, there are free breastfeeding classes for any pregnant or new mother, not just WIC clients, in the six counties covered by MCHD WIC: Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor.

For now, those have been suspended because of the pandemic until at least Oct. 1, Ryan said. “We are still doing prenatal breastfeeding education by phone and will mail the education materials which are usually handed out in class.”

Consultations lately for clients have been completely over the phone; they also can use the Pacify app that coincidentally was introduced last year but has really come in handy during the pandemic. The app allows breastfeeding moms to have unlimited video visits with breastfeeding experts who are available 24/7. It’s free and available to all West Virginia WIC clients.

So then there is another important question to explore: Is breastfeeding safe if a mother has COVID? According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), yes, if the parent has been exposed to COVID-19 but is asymptomatic.

COVID-19 is spread via respiratory droplets and, to date, studies have not detected the virus and similar infections in breast milk, according to information provided by AAFP. “So it’s recommended that moms continue to breastfeed,” said Angie Rebrook, MCHD WIC’s interim breastfeeding coordinator. “Milk still provides antibodies. Of course, moms should make sure and wash their hands and if she has COVID, wear a mask while breastfeeding her baby.”

Even if a parent has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or was exposed and has symptoms, it is still reasonable to breastfeed and/or provide expressed milk for the infant, according to the AAFP. Extra precautions should be taken, including limited interaction with the baby outside of breastfeeding, or avoiding the act altogether while another individuals feeds the infant expressed milk.

MCHD WIC's breastfeeding website is a font of information. And here's more information from the AAFP on breastfeeding during the pandemic.

Here’s hoping that next year, the pandemic will have subsided, the Breastfeeding Awareness Walk will be a go and that new mothers will be even freer to feed their babies even when they are out and about on the go..

Take initiative to combat opioid use: International Overdose Awareness Day

Take initiative to combat opioid use: International Overdose Awareness Day

By Matt Cimino

Matt Cimino is a public information office intern at Monongalia County Health Department.

Last year's public health concerns are still topical

Don't let COVID-19 keep your child from getting routine vaccinations

Don't let COVID-19 keep your child from getting routine vaccinations

By Mary Wade Burnside

Breastfeeding Awareness Month will be different this year

Breastfeeding Awareness Month will be different this year

By Mary Wade Burnside

Mary Wade Burnside is the public information officer for Monongalia County Health Department.

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