BOH minutes 062310 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH June 23, 2010 Board of Health Minutes Transcription completed by Anne Miles Cassell 3 June 23, 2010 program at Orange County Health Department (OCHD) provided a retrospective report on communicable disease activities for CY 2009 and updated the Board of current on communicable disease issues being addressed in 2010. North Carolina has over 70 reportable diseases. She pointed out the number of Hepatitis B cases, the majority did not speak English. For those not familiar with the follow up procedures, it is very time consuming, especially when there is an interpreter required. Another big issue during the year was whooping cough (pertussis) cases. Over the school year we had 26 cases. A significant number were not vaccinated, however many were. It is now known that vaccination protection wanes with time and therefore protection is not guaranteed. Christopher Cooke asked if vaccination information is public information. Ms. Butler stated that vaccination information is on the school records and that information is not public. Steve Yuhasz noted that the pertussis outbreak was in SY 08-09 and that no cases have been reported to date, and asked for confirmation of his understanding that the outbreak was just an unusual situation. Ms. Butler replied that 2 or 3 cases a year is not unusual. What happened with the outbreak in 08-09 is that when the first reported case was received and staff began tracing back 6 weeks (the period of time that child was contagious with pertussis), it was discovered that there were 7 other children that were contagious in the schools and undiagnosed. These children had been to many social events and were in contact with many other children during this time. There were 10 schools with reported cases. She stated that the school nurses deserve a lot of credit and that Orange County is very lucky to have a nurse in every school. Any reported possible contact with a potentially rabid animal or suspected rabid animal is investigated. Since it is not always possible to locate or capture a suspected animal all contact with that animal must be treated as possible rabies. The department provides 24/7 call coverage for rabies consultations. The staff nurses work closely with animal control officers to receive reports of possible exposures. TB cases have decreased this year. It requires six to nine months treatment and is labor intensive for communicable disease staff that must personally administer and witness the patient take every dose of the antibiotic. The medical provider breakfast that was held at Southern Human Services Center in the spring highlighted the current outbreaks and was well received. Providers have expressed interest in repeating this event and found it useful and informative. There was a good turnout from the medical community and the department is planning to repeat this event in the fall. Anticipated challenges for the last half of 2010 are continued reduction in money for free vaccine from the state and not knowing what to expect for the next flu season. Mike Carstens asked where the one reported case of plague came from. Ms. Butler explained that the reported case was due to an accidental exposure in a research lab.