​For years, West Virginia has been in the top spot for opioid related deaths in the country. But year after year, people who have dedicated their lives to ending opioid related deaths have shown that recovery is possible and there is no shame in seeking help.

Jon Dower is one of those people. He is the executive director of West Virginia Sober Living, as well as a certified intervention professional and recovery coach. He spoke about what he believes to be the largest social issue of this generation: substance misuse.

Substance use disorder (SUD) affects millions of Americans and is widely stigmatized. “This is one of the very few populations on Earth that are judged for the worst day of their lives,” Dower said. “I would ask an individual that’s never had that experience with SUD — if they were judged by the worst day they’ve ever had, how difficult would that be?”

Aug. 31 is International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD), a global campaign dedicated to ending overdose, remembering those who died from overdose and ending the harmful stigma around SUD.

“Raising awareness can inform policy and create a collaborative solution that involves the layers it takes to address this problem,” Dower said in light of IOAD. “From the federal government to the state to the local community, it’s going to take all hands on deck.”

One of the resources of our local community is Monongalia County’s Quick Response Team (QRT). Funded through grants obtained by Monongalia County Health Department, the QRT is a collaboration among first responders, public health, peer recovery coaches and other partners dedicated to providing immediate and longer term help to those struggling with substance abuse. 

Dower is also a member of the QRT, which he believes is especially vital because of the way it brings the community together. “We have individuals who employ people in recovery. We have people who help families. We have people in a faith-based community. We have public health employees, EMS and police,” Dower said. By bringing together different specialties, the QRT allows each specialty to add immense value to the mission of ending overdose. 

One of the key functions of the QRT is the distribution of naloxone and offering naloxone training to the public. Naloxone, usually in the form of the brand Narcan, is a medicine that rapidly reverses opioid overdose by kicking the opioid molecules off the receptors in the brain. It can be given as a nasal spray or as an easy injection, and anyone can do it.

“Naloxone is a life-saving drug. We can distribute it to vulnerable populations and their loved ones who might be at risk,” Dower said. “Furthermore, we distribute it to high risk areas in our community, from hotels to gas stations. A bystander can intervene and save someone’s life.”

Want to be one of those life-saving bystanders? The QRT always offers naloxone training, but Sept. 25 is West Virginia’s Save a Life Day, a day dedicated to distributing free naloxone to the public. Businesses all over the county will be participating in Save-a-Life day, including in rural areas. “We don’t want any disparity in where the resources are,” Dower said. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., volunteers will be at 13 locations offering free naloxone training, something that just takes a few minutes and could make the difference between life and death.

Overdose Awareness Day is a great time to reflect on what you can do to help end overdose, but it is also a time to remember those who have lost their lives to overdose. The grieving process for someone who has lost a loved one to overdose is sometimes subject to judgment and stigma. 

The QRT sponsors a grief support group specifically for those who have lost someone because of substance misuse. The group meets on the first and third Mondays of every month at Sabra United Methodist Church from 7-8:30 p.m. Use the yellow Darst Street entrance.

If you or a loved one are struggling with substance misuse, know that there is no shame in seeking help with one of our many resources. This Overdose Awareness Day, everyone is encouraged to save lives.

​“Get tested.”

When you hear those words, you probably think of COVID-19. We’ve spent over a year keeping track of our COVID tests and vaccines, but you might be forgetting to take care of your sexual health along the way.

Even in a pandemic, STD cases in West Virginia have been rising. From 2018 to 2020, reported cases of chlamydia have risen from 3,599 to 5,290 cases. Cases of gonorrhea have gone from 1,143 to 1,727, and cases of syphilis have gone from 185 to 290.

And here at Monongalia County Health Department’s Clinical Services, we’ve seen an uptick in STDs since school started back.

STDs, or sexually transmitted diseases, pose a threat for everyone. They are spread through sexual activity and are easy to contract. Since many STDs don’t always cause noticeable symptoms, a lot of people end up having an infection without even knowing it.

Even though many symptoms of STDs are unnoticeable for years, the long-term effects can be very dangerous. For instance, untreated chlamydia and gonorrhea in women can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, which can lead to long-term pelvic pain, infertility and potentially deadly ectopic pregnancy.

The thing is, if caught early, those STDs, along with syphilis, can be easily cured with an antibiotic. 

And that’s one of the best reasons to get tested.

Plus, when left untreated, these STDs can also increase your risk for HIV. As you probably know, HIV, as well as herpes, can only be managed, not cured, and if left untreated, HIV can turn into  life-threatening AIDS. 

Human papillomavirus, or HPV, is the most common STD in the United States. Often, HPV goes away on its own, but when it doesn’t, it can lead to serious health problems like genital warts and cancer. The HPV vaccine, available at MCHD Clinical Services, is recommended for girls and boys ages 11 to 12, but is also effective for ages nine to 26. 

While STDs affect people of all ages, young people ages 15-24 are especially susceptible. Of the 26 million new STDs that occurred in 2018, CDC estimated that young people accounted for almost half of those cases. That’s almost 13 million new cases just among teens and young adults!

School being back in session after a year of mostly online education sets up a scenario that already seems to be leading to an increase in STDs among college students here in Monongalia County.

There are a few reasons young people are more at risk for STDs. They might have more than one sex partner, or just be more sexually active in general. Young people are also less likely to have insurance or transportation, limiting access to testing. Some may find it uncomfortable to talk openly and honestly about STDs, not just with doctors and nurses, but even with each other.

Also keep in mind that using alcohol or other substances can lower your inhibitions and impair your judgment. For instance, you might end up not using a condom, or using one incorrectly. 

Do not be afraid to talk openly about your sexual health with your doctor. They are not there to judge you — they want what’s best for your sexual health. Remember to answer questions honestly and speak up if you have any concerns about your own health.

It’s important to remember that STDs are entirely preventable. The most sure-fire way to prevent infections is abstinence. Reducing your number of sex partners or practicing mutual monogamy also greatly decreases your risk for infections.

Not your style? That’s okay, you can still watch out for your sexual health. Remember to use condoms and inquire with your sexual partners about their status. You can also get vaccinated for Hepatitis B and HPV with our clinical services.

Above all, get tested to keep track of your sexual health. Just like for COVID, getting tested for STDs is the responsible thing to do to take care of yourself and others. Everyone should be tested at least once in their lifetime for HIV. If you have multiple partners or if you are a man who has sex with men, you might be at higher risk and could benefit from getting tested at least once a year, if not more frequently.

MCHD Clinical Services offers free STD testing and treatment, as well as a variety of vaccines, including the one for HPV. Our friendly, non-judgmental nurses want to ensure the safety of their patients to keep them healthy and to keep STDs from spreading.

You’ve survived this far into a pandemic — don’t let STDs get the best of you now!

Here we are again. The days are getting shorter, kids are going back to school and WVU’s fall semester starts today. 

Soon the weather will turn cooler and it will be time to get flu shots.

But just like last year, as we prepare for fall, the world is dealing with surging with COVID cases, this time fueled by the more infectious and contagious Delta variant.

If you’re 12 or older and eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, that’s something you could do right now to protect the health of you, your family and your community.

If you are eligible to get a COVID vaccine and haven’t yet, why? They are free and you can get them by making an appointment at Monongalia County Health Department’s Clinical Services at 304-598-5119 or at one of our community events.

We’re happy to report that there has been a huge increase in COVID testing during the last few weeks as cases surge because of the more infectious Delta variant. And there has been an uptick in individuals getting COVID vaccines too.

That’s given us the opportunity to find out why some had put it off for so long. Many of them said they had just been lazy and hadn’t gotten around to it until then. 

Or that they were concerned because the vaccines were created and granted emergency use authorization so quickly, although the messenger RNA technology used to make the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines has been around for a while and the vaccines’ efficacy have exceeded expectations at around 95% after both doses have been administered.

But it’s not surprising to hear that others had been misinformed about the vaccine and had been pressured by friends or relatives not to get the vaccine.

The numbers, however, speak for themselves. Hospitals in under-vaccinated areas are becoming overwhelmed with patients, similar to what we saw earlier in the pandemic. Except this time, the patients are often younger and had been healthier compared to those being admitted before.

Clearly, the vaccination has done its job in helping to prevent the spread among its recipients and also mitigating symptoms and hospitalizations of those who do get breakthrough illnesses.

It’s hard to address all the reasons why individuals have waited or refused to get the vaccine. But the science is clear: Vaccination is the way out of the pandemic. 
We’ve heard of the ill-advised chickenpox parties of yore, in which parents would take their sick kids to hang out with other children so they could catch the virus and get over it, even after it became a vaccine-preventable disease.

We know that’s not a great idea. Plus, have you ever heard of a polio party? No. For the most part, people seemed to know not to mess around with polio, which could commit someone to a life in an iron lung or a wheelchair if it was survived. Now the United States has been polio-free since 1979.

And we know that COVID isn’t to be taken lightly either. Story after story hits the media about patients who opposed getting the vaccine only to change their tune after they were gasping for breath in a hospital bed, maybe hooked up to a respirator. 

As fall approaches, expect to see some changes. It might get worse before it gets better, especially as students return to school.

But it’s anticipated that soon, the Food & Drug Administration will give COVID-19 vaccines full approval, instead of just the current emergency use authorization. 

And that the age of vaccination will be lowered again so that another group of kids under the age of 12 can be inoculated.

Hopefully, those developments, in addition to the third dose just approved for immunocompromised individuals, as well as boosters due to begin in late September for anyone eight months post-vaccine, will be game changers that will expand the country’s vaccination rates and quell the COVID surges that are taking place.

​If you haven’t yet, please do your part by calling MCHD Clinical Services at 304-598-5119 to make an appointment to get the inoculation that will put us one step closer to getting vaxxed to normal.

Want to learn how to use naloxone and be prepared if someone you know — or someone you don’t — needs this lifesaving medication?

Or would you like to help others learn how to use naloxone for the same reason?

If so, please consider participating in Save a Life Day. Held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 at 13 locations around Monongalia County, it will give area residents the opportunity to go to a station and have volunteers show anyone how to administer naloxone — which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose — in just a few minutes.

“The idea is to educate as many people on overdose,” said Jon Dower, director of operations of West Virginia Sober Living and a member of the Monongalia County Quick Response Team (QRT), which is coordinating the event. “There is the potential that lay people can come to a site where someone is misusing a substance and literally save a life by administering naloxone.”

But that’s not the only scenario in which naloxone access and knowing how to use it can come in handy, Dower noted.

“We’ve seen a large prevalence in the geriatric community who, because of cognitive dysfunction or dementia, take too much of their medication,” he said. “And we’ve also seen children get into a medicine cabinet.”

One of Dower’s elderly relatives died from an accidental overdose, so he has firsthand knowledge of not only the grief it can cause but also how easily this can be prevented.

“I believe naloxone should be in every first aid kit and every medicine cabinet,” Dower added. “Individuals should know the warning signs of what an opiate overdose looks like and know how to respond to an overdose.”

Added PRC Russell Wyatt: “That’s what’s going to give somebody the opportunity to live another day, to change their lives for the better and to continue relationships with their loved ones.” 

QRT member Dan McCawley of WV PEERS, a network of certified peer recovery coaches (PRCs) with lived addiction experience, said individuals can be trained one-on-one or as small groups of people based on whoever shows up at a location.

“We’ll just train them as they arrive, however it works best,” he added. “If just one person rolls up, we’ll teach them too.”

In addition to naloxone, attendees can also pick up a swag bag of promotional items from Monongalia County QRT members, such as MCHD WIC and Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center, McCawley said.

The Monongalia County QRT is made up of members representing Monongalia County Health Department, which secured grant funding to establish the group; WV PEERS; other addiction specialists; law enforcement; EMS; health care workers; social agencies; faith groups and more.

When MECCA 911, EMS or a police department get a report of an individual who has overdosed, it is shared to a HIPAA-compliant Dropbox account. WV PEERS members check reports frequently and try to make contact with the individual within 24 to 72 hours of the incident. 

The main goal is to get the person into treatment. However, whether or not the individual is ready to commit to recovery, PRCs can also help with connections to health and social services as well as naloxone. 

Wyatt, also a member of the QRT, has been organizing locations, volunteers, donors and sponsors for Save a Life Day.

Here are the 13 locations where the QRT and volunteers will be stationed to provide naloxone training: Morgantown’s six McDonald’s locations in Sabraton, Star City, Westover, Suncrest Towne Centre, Pierpont Center and on University Avenue near the Evansdale campus; the green space at the West Virginia University Mountainlair and also at the WVU Rec Center; Star City Fire & EMS; Pierpont Landing Pharmacy; 7-Eleven in Blacksville; Woodlawn United Methodist Church on the Mileground and Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church on Kingwood Pike.

While the locations have been set, we’re still looking for volunteers and donations. Volunteers will be trained how to administer naloxone; donations will go toward food and water for the volunters, T-shirts and swag bags for participants. 

So far, donors include the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Association, Jacob’s Ladder, Ascension Recovery Services, Waterfront Med Express and MUSHROOM, the WVU School of Medicine’s Multidisciplinary UnSheltered Homeless Relief Outreach Of Morgantown.

Sponsors who donate at least $200 will get their logo on a T-shirt, Wyatt noted. And while Pepsi, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks have offered water, coffee and doughnuts, additional food and beverages for volunteers also would be welcome, he added.

Between members of WV PEERS and Joe Klass, MCHD Threat Preparedness specialist and paramedic, about 1,500 naloxone trainings have been held in Monongalia County since the QRT’s inception, with a mix of participants ranging from one or two per class up to more than 100.

“The training is fast, easy and, more importantly, it will give participants the knowledge, skills and confidence to save a life,” Klass said. “In medicine, it’s rare to have a drug that is easy to administer, highly effective and that works quickly. Naloxone is all three of these things, and it’s important that we promote its use and give access to this lifesaving drug in all populations.”

Added Dower: “I think from watching TV, people think administering naloxone is difficult, but it’s not. Naloxone is a single-use package that goes up one nostril and then it’s pressed. It’s as simple as that. We’re not asking individuals to engage in interactions that involve bodily fluids. It’s a quick administration of medication and the goal is to get 911 involved to get more help.”

And when Dower has saved someone’s life by using naloxone, he realizes it’s not just that individual he has helped.

“I’m impacting mothers, fathers, children and siblings, all the loved ones of that person,” Dower said. “Spending five seconds saving one person’s life is saving pain from many lives.”

Anyone who wants to donate a location, time or funds can call WV PEERS at 304-602-3305. And you can learn more about the Monongalia County QRT at our website and Facebook page.

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.

Even though vaccinations have drastically lowered COVID cases and deaths and the country has been opening up again, the Breastfeeding Awareness Walk, organized by Monongalia County Health Department’s Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) program and the Monongalia County Breastfeeding Task Force, will not be held again this year as we work to welcome new participants, a process that started on Aug. 1. 

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, an MCHD 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, which can be viewed at monchd.org/wic-eligibilty-guidelines.html. 

Typically, MCHD WIC has conducted 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.

As we open, those breastfeeding classes are resuming but will have limited space at first as we wait for COVID rates to decline more.

But, “We are still doing prenatal breastfeeding education by phone and can mail the education materials which are usually handed out in class,” Ryan said.

Participants also can use the Pacify app that coincidentally was introduced in 2019 but which really came 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 that is, unfortunately, still necessary 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 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.

​We hope to see our MCHD WIC families during next year’s Breastfeeding Awareness Walk and that new mothers will be even freer to feed their babies even when they are out and about on the go.