Happy Halloween. Have you gotten your flu shot yet? If not, what’s holding you back?

Public health nurses in Monongalia County Health Department’s Clinical Services program advise people to aim to get vaccinated against influenza by the end of October. Today, obviously, is the last day of October—but it’s still not too late to get your vaccine. It takes about 10 days for the vaccine to become fully effective, and with cold weather setting in and the holidays approaching, it’s a good time to be immunized.

After all, many people gather with extended family at Thanksgiving, a perfect time not only to exchange warm greetings but also germs.

As Dr. Diane K. Gross, MCHD’s regional epidemiologist, recently told a class at West Virginia University’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, the effects of the flu vaccine do not last from year to year. “You may have some antibody protection” from last year’s shot, but the boost generally waxes and then wanes within about six months. Because of the approaching weather and holiday season, as well as that flu usually is winding down by or in April, that makes October the most logical time to get vaccinated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that flu activity is low right now but is expected to pick up in coming weeks. It is recommended that everyone 6 months and older get the vaccine. Children, older people and those with conditions that compromise their immune system are especially vulnerable to flu and should be inoculated.

Also, pregnant women should vaccinate for two—not only for themselves but also for their babies, who cannot get inoculated during their first six months. And, people 65 years old and older might want to consider the Fluzone high-dose vaccine that offers four times the antigen of the standard dose.

In addition to getting a flu shot, there are other actions to incorporate into your life to help you avoid getting sick. These are commonsense habits that people should practice anyway. Wash your hands often and thoroughly with warm water and soap, for about the length of time that it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice. Keep surfaces in your home and office clean. Avoid people who are sick.

If you do come down with flu, ask your doctor about antivirals, especially if you are elderly or have underlying health conditions that could put you at increased risk of severe disease. Administered quickly enough, they can help lessen the length and severity of a bout with flu.

Also, stay home from work. If you really need to seek medical attention, do so, either to get antivirals or if you develop a secondary infection that could require antibiotics. But otherwise, the cure for flu without complications is generally rest, fluids and time. Antibiotics do not help you recover from flu.

If you haven’t gotten a vaccine yet, there is still time. While we don’t encourage people to put it off, we want to make sure they know that we’ll keep giving them for as long as we have them in. Flu season is unpredictable. Sometimes it’s underway by now; other times, it hasn’t hit yet. It can peak in February or March and last into spring.

So strongly consider scheduling your flu vaccine now. But if you don’t and end up regretting it as flu season progresses, give MCHD Clinical Services a call at 304-598-5119.

By Jacob Comer

When I was a kid going out trick-or-treating, my parents always made sure that my siblings and I were safe. They usually gave us costumes that didn’t have masks so we could see clearly. The one year I wore a ninja mask, I couldn’t see out of it very well at all. We learned from that experience.
 
My parents also stayed with us all night while we were out and they always looked through our candy to make sure nothing was tampered with. I was always saddened when they threw out the popcorn balls and other homemade treats we got, but I understood it was for our safety.

This Halloween, roughly 41 million children are expected to go trick-or-treating, according to the United States Census Bureau, and 65 percent of parents don’t discuss Halloween safety with their kids. There are several things that could cause a Halloween night to turn sour: food allergies, lost children, traffic accidents and many more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website features several articles on different ways to be safe on Halloween. Monongalia County Health Department’s Environmental Health program heartily endorses these measures.

About 1 in 13 children have a food allergy, and many popular candies contain some of these allergens, like peanuts and chocolate. To avoid incidents with food allergens, check your child’s candy when you get home and don’t let them eat anything when you’re still out and about. As well, if you are distributing candy, try to include several types of candy that don’t have common allergens. Fun-size Snicker bars are awesome, but they do contain peanuts.

Also, when your kids are out for the night, try to stay with them if they are young. If you believe they are old enough to go out alone or with friends, give them a flashlight so they can easily find their way around if it gets too dark. A flashlight also lets motorists see them more easily. Put reflective tape on your kid’s costumes so they can be easily seen. Plan a specific route to take for trick-or-treating; being lost is not something you want on your Halloween night.

One of the most important factors to be wary about on Halloween is the expected motorist and pedestrian traffic. With millions of children going out on the same night and all at around the same time, foot traffic can get pretty intense, and children are twice as likely to be involved in a motor vehicle accident on Halloween. Be cautious when driving and watch out for children trying to cross the street. As kids go to various houses for trick-or-treating, they’ll be crossing roads often.

Also, 52 percent of motor vehicle deaths on Halloween involve alcohol. Halloween parties are common and so is alcohol at those parties. Be sure to drive responsibly to avoid accidents and to never drink and drive.

Managing both safety and fun on Halloween is easily doable as long as you plan accordingly. Make sure any candy your kids get is safe for them to eat, keep track of your kids and make sure they don’t get lost especially if they are young and be careful to avoid traffic incidents. If you take all these factors into account, then Halloween is much more likely to go wickedly well.

Public health isn’t the most glamorous topic. But it’s something you might appreciate when you eat at a restaurant that has passed its safety inspection. Or drink potable water from your tap. Or live in a world in which smallpox has been declared eradicated.

We haven’t cured influenza yet, but we can help keep you from getting it. That also makes it a great time to remind you to get your flu vaccine if you haven’t done so already; call Monongalia County Health Department’s Clinical Services at 304-598-5119 to make an appointment.

In general, we prevent the spread of other diseases, promote health, protect the public and generally make the world a safer and more pleasant place to live.

National Health Education Week, presented by the Society for Public Health Education, began on Monday. The observation focuses on a different health topic each weekday. These issues are just a drop in the bucket of challenges facing people in today’s world, and they are the ones that the SOPHE leaders have decided deserve your attention in 2018. Here we go:

Monday, Oct. 15—The public health impact of gun violence. In this instance, the focus is on guns kept in the home that children can access. It’s estimated that there are firearms in one-third of United States households with kids 18 and under. Tips include keeping guns and ammunition locked in separate, out-of-the-way locations, with the keys or combinations also hidden. When a gun is not locked up, adult handlers should keep it in their sights. All firearms also should have child-resistant gun locks.

Tuesday, Oct. 16—Health equity and how the impact of inequality impacts us all. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines health equity as every person having the ability to achieve their greatest health potential regardless of socially determined conditions.

This is one of many areas in which MCHD can help. Ways we can do this include our Clinical Services program that provides vaccinations, Pap smears and breast exams, free testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, free and low-cost birth control options and more.

And MCHD Dentistry, our full-service dental practice, takes Medicaid and CHIP, in addition to private insurance and other forms of payment. Patients can also pay on a sliding-scale fee. Also, MCHD Smile Express, our mobile dental unit, just hit the road last month, visiting schools to treat students who do not have a dentist. Avoiding tooth decay also helps combat chronic conditions that negatively impact health.

Wednesday, Oct. 17—Emerging trends in school health. When it comes to school health, SOPHE’s focus is on tobacco use and vaping. In 2015, according to the CDC, 40 percent of West Virginia high school students reported using a tobacco product, while 18.8 percent of them reported smoking cigarettes.

This is a really important topic in West Virginia, where smoking rates tend to top the charts in the U.S. Not only that, some teens have also taken up vaping. E-cigarettes are just another method to deliver nicotine, and the CDC does not consider them safe.

Thursday, Oct. 18—Technology’s impact on health and the emergence of mHealth. This is referring to technological devices that people can wear to detect and monitor certain conditions, such as heart problems, as well as fitness trackers that let users count their steps and monitor their activity. This is a new field that offers a lot of promise. Look for this trend to improve and make a bigger impact in the future.

Friday, Oct. 19—The impact on environmental health. Poor air and water quality can make us sick. This can include asthma, and according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the prevalence of asthma in low-income and minority children in the U.S. is disproportionately higher. Also, there is growing concern that new cases are also arising in adults, particularly in the elderly. Clean air and good medical care are key here.

These topics are just a drop in the bucket compared to all the factors that impact our health. You can learn more at SOPHE.

MCHD Smile Express is riding around Monongalia County

If you see a blue, green and white RV driving around Morgantown, it’s probably MCHD Smile Express, Monongalia County Health Department’s dental office on wheels.

At 38 feet long and decorated with all those colors as well as the MCHD Smile Express map logo, it’s very noticeable. We started treating public school students in Braxton County in September.

And now, in October, we’re making the rounds in Morgantown. We had our Open House and "floss-cutting" last Friday, Oct. 5. Our staff was thrilled to show off this project—funded largely through a $150,000 Delta Dental grant—to members of the community.

It also happens to be National Dental Hygiene Month, so the timing is very fortuitous. Taking care of your teeth is a year-round job, but October is a great time to have a conversation about dental care. As part of National Dental Hygiene Month, the American Dental Hygienists Association (ADHA) emphasizes the daily four: Brush twice a day, floss daily, rinse with mouthwash and chew sugar-free gum.

And then of course, there is the annual two: See your dentist every six months. If you are looking for a dental home, MCHD Dentistry is a full-practice dental office that accepts many private insurances, Medicaid and CHIP. We also have a new patient special and a sliding-scale fee.

MCHD Dentistry also helps coordinate MCHD Smile Express. Tiffany Summerlin, an MCHD Dentistry registered dental hygienist, dreamed up the idea of a roving dental unit and wrote the grant to Delta Dental. She now serves as MCHD Smile Express coordinator as well as the on-board hygienist. She also drives it, a skill she perfected following her ultramarathoner husband, Jamie Summerlin, in an RV when he made a cross-country run.

As Tiffany noted during her remarks at the Open House, children from low-income families have more than twice as much untreated tooth decay—25 percent—than those from higher-income households at 11 percent. That’s according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The difference is linked to inadequate access to dental care, low rates of oral health literacy and the challenge of getting those children through the doors of a dental office,” she added.
Although Medicaid benefits for children ages 1 through 20 fully covers comprehensive dental services, she noted, fewer than half of those enrolled received a preventative dental service in 2014. “Further, only 16 percent of children ages 6 through 9 received a dental sealant on a permanent molar, one of the most effective methods for reducing dental disease in children.”

Services provided by MCHD Smile Express’ staff include an exam by the dentist, an assessment by a public health dental hygienist, cleanings, X-rays, sealants, fluoride treatment, oral health education and minor restorative services.

A converted Winnebago motorhome with three slide-outs, MCHD Smile Express features two dental operatories where patients can be treated, as well as a sterilization center, a waiting area complete with Nintendo for patients to play and a bathroom.

Also onboard is digital Panorex X-ray equipment, noted MCHD Dentistry’s Dr. Dan Carrier during his remarks. Thanks to new practice management software for the home office in Morgantown and on board MCHD Smile Express, as well as a Cradlepoint router, X-rays can be read on board the bus as well as by Dr. Carrier back in the Morgantown office.

“We have the technology in place where Tiffany can take an X-ray on a patient in Braxton County and see it on her computer right away,” he said. “As soon as she sees it, I can see it on my computer in Morgantown.”

As of last Friday, the number of students seen in Braxton and Monongalia counties by MCHD Smile Express was 128. That figure has grown since then and will continue to do so Tiffany, along with on-board dentist Dr. Mike Wiener and dental assistant Velvet Urgo, treat students not only in Braxton and Mon but also Lewis and Harrison, which are the next stops on the MCHD Smile Express.

And that means less tooth decay, healthier students and bigger smiles all around.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are great and provide everyone—especially growing kids—with a lot of different nutrients, including vitamin A, vitamin C and iron.

But fresh fruits and vegetables also can spoil easily. And sometimes busy families can’t make several return trips to the supermarket each week.

If you are a client of Monongalia County Health Department’s Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) program, you will be happy to know that as of Oct. 1—Monday—you will have more options when you are shopping for food with eWIC cards, which are similar to credit cards and include a family’s WIC credits for a month.

To help parents deal with the problem of fruits and vegetables that spoil before you get to them, the new WIC guidelines allow for the purchase of frozen and canned fruits and vegetables.

Other additions to the WIC Approved Shopping Guide include whole wheat pasta, corn tortillas, a wider variety of whole wheat tortillas and whole grain rice, as well as some new types of cereals, including Cinnamon Chex, Vanilla Chex and Blueberry Chex.

Many families also will be happy to hear that organic infant foods will now be covered by the eWIC card.

And a much-requested item—yogurt—also has been added.

The new approved foods come from the state WIC office, with a statement that says the list was updated to “better meet the nutrition needs of WIC clients, offer more varieties of food and encourage better eating habits.”

Parents, said MCHD WIC nutritionist Patty Jo Barlow, are especially excited about the yogurt. “Other states have done it and we’ve been talking about it for a long time,” she added.

And in addition to placing additional whole grains on the list, there are new approved sizes as well, Barlow pointed out. Currently, WIC clients must get the 16-ounce size of bread, but as of Monday, they can get a 20-ounce or a 24-ounce loaf. “It increases the options,” Barlow said.

Remaining on the list are other favorites such as cheese, peanut butter, eggs, dried and canned beans and cereals.

For those who are unfamiliar with WIC, its full name is Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, & Children. WIC is a federal program administered by the United States Department of Agriculture. MCHD WIC covers six counties—Monongalia, Preston, Marion, Harrison, Doddridge and Taylor.

Assistance is provided to pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women and babies and children up to the age of 5 who qualify. Income guidelines allow a family of four who make $46,435 or less to utilize the program; for a family of three, it’s $38,443. For each additional family member, add $7,992 to that income.

In addition to food eWIC Cards, the program has been updated in another way, with WIC Shopper App that clients can download. Using the app on their smartphones, they can scan items at the grocery store to see if it’s WIC-approved.

“Not only are the food choices expanding, but technology associated with the program is streamlining the grocery shopping experience for WIC clients,” said Anne MacBride, MCHD WIC program manager.

Clients also receive nutrition education, individualized nutrition counseling, breastfeeding counseling, nutrition assessment, health and social service referrals and immunizations.

We also offer free breastfeeding classes that can be attended by any mothers in the community, whether they are WIC clients or not. In Morgantown, those classes are the first and third Wednesday of the month at 4 p.m. and the second Wednesday at 10 a.m. In Preston County, the classes are held at 11 a.m. on the first and third Thursday of the month.
Even if your family doesn’t qualify or need WIC services, perhaps you know someone who could benefit. Feel free to have them call us at 304-598-5181.

Who knows, there could be some yogurt with their name on it at their local supermarket.