Lake County Public Health - Prevent. Promote. Protect.

The United States is having a furious debate about how best to address the nation’s financial problems. A variety of proposals have been suggested, but we need to be careful. Making poor decisions now could result in even worse problems down the road.

This is the case with proposed cuts to federal funds for preventive health programs in Montana.

Do you remember Benjamin Franklin’s quote, “An ounce of prevention and worth a pound of cure?” This is precisely the case with preventive health. Any short-term savings gained by making cuts to prevention programs would be erased by much higher health care costs in the very near future.

It’s common sense: preventing serious illness costs less than treating it. Preventing disease outbreaks via immunizations costs less than treating hundreds or thousands of seriously ill people. Paying for public health programs and services is the smart solution.

Yet, some members of Congress have proposed cutting funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Prevention and Public Health Fund, all of which support vital prevention programs in Montana communities. 

In Montana, this funding helps pay for programs to immunize children; prevent and reduce cancer, heart disease and 

diabetes; prevent and screen for birth defects and developmental disabilities; 

prevent and prepare for disease outbreaks and disasters; reduce tobacco use; monitor cases of HIV/AIDS, and research and collect community health data.

As public health professionals working in Montana communities, we see daily the difference such funding makes in the lives of individuals and our communities. Our state is making great progress in reducing chronic disease such as cancer. And yet nearly everyone is touched by cancer — either personally or with a loved one. Can you imagine creating a budget that results in more cancer cases?

We don’t want to lose ground. In some respects, we have a long way to go. Montana ranks near the bottom of the nation when it comes to child immunizations, for example.

Cuts also will increase the economic toll disease takes on our state economy. Already, the cost of treating chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease in Montana is nearly $1 billion a year. These diseases also result in $3.1 billion in lost productivity annually in our state.

On the other hand, Benjamin Franklin was right: Prevention costs less than trying to cure people who are already sick. According to the Trust for America’s health, every $1 spent on prevention services saves $5.60. Every $1 spent on childhood vaccines saves $16.50.

It’s estimated that reducing type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure rates by 5 percent could save the U.S. more than $5 billion a year. Also reducing heart disease, kidney diseases and stroke by 5 percent would save $19 billion.

It’s important that Montana’s leaders in Congress remember these points when making decisions about the budget and deficit. Funding preventive health is smart. It saves lives and money. Deciding to fund public health prevention programs and services is a matter of common sense, and that’s something all Montanans can support.

Hillary Hanson, President Ellen Leahy, Health Officer, Montana Public Health Association; Missoula City-County Health Department Alicia Thompson, Health Officer Melanie Reynolds, Health Officer; Cascade City-County Health Department; Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department.

The Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribal Health and Lake County Public Health Departments advise residents to take caution when cleaning areas where rodent droppings are present. Now that the weather is getting warmer, people may be cleaning out sheds, attics, garages, and other areas where rodents may have nested for the winter.

 Hantavirus, which is carried primarily by the deer mouse, is shed through the feces, urine, and saliva of infected rodents. Hantavirus can cause “hantavirus pulmonary syndrome” (HPS) and can be transmitted to humans when dried materials contaminated with rodent excrement or saliva are disturbed (by sweeping, for example) and become aerosolized. Humans then breathe in the infectious aerosols putting them at risk for developing HPS. HPS is not transmitted from human to human.

 Symptoms of HPS include fever, deep muscle aches, and severe shortness of breath. If people get HPS, they will feel sick 1 to 5 weeks after they were around mice that carried a Hantavirus.

 When cleaning an area that has been infested with rodents. Please take the following precautions:

• Put on rubber, latex, vinyl or nitrile gloves.
• Do not stir up dust by vacuuming, sweeping, or any other means.
• Thoroughly wet contaminated areas with a bleach solution or household disinfectant.
  Hypochlorite (bleach) solution: Mix 1 and ½ cups of household bleach in 1 gallon of water.
• Once everything is wet, take up contaminated materials with damp towel and then mop or sponge the area with bleach solution or household disinfectant.
• Spray dead rodents with disinfectant and then double-bag along with all cleaning materials. Throw out rodent in appropriate waste disposal system. 
• Disinfect gloves with disinfectant or soap and water before taking them off.
• After taking off the clean gloves, thoroughly wash hands with soap and water (or use a waterless alcohol-based hand rub when soap is not available).

For more information about Hantavirus, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/HPS_Brochure.pdf

Bed bugs have re-emerged as a pest in the United States, including here in Lake County.  These creepy crawlers are spreading in hotels, apartments, college dormitories, health care facilities, child care centers, and even office buildings throughout the country.

Bed bugs are difficult to control because they are so skilled at hiding, which allows them to travel in your belongings (clothing items, luggage, furniture, electronics, etc.) without your knowledge. Most people do not even realize they have visited somewhere with an infestation, and bring the beg bugs back to their residence. Once established in a residence or unit in a building, the bed bugs can travel between rooms or apartments on their own or on people’s clothes or other belongings.

Bed Bug Facts:

• Bed Bugs are flat, brownish, wingless insects 
• They are about 1/8 of an inch long and are visible to the naked eye
• They feed on human blood
• Bed bugs have 6 legs, shiny reddish-brown but after feeding on blood, they appear dark brown and swollen
• They are active at night
• Bed bugs are not known to carry diseases
• They love to hide in places such as; mattress and sofa seams, cracks in bed frames and/or head boards, under chairs, couches, beds and dust covers, under rugs, edges of carpets, drawers, baseboards and window casings, behind light switches, electrical outlet plates and cracks in plaster, televisions, radio clocks and phones, backpacks, sleeping bags, clothes and behind wallpaper, picture frames and other dark areas.
• Bed bugs are NOT a sign of bad sanitation, any home can become infested regardless how clean or dirty it is.
• Bed bugs must be introducted into a dwelling and do not fly, jump, or live on people.
• Control of bed bugs requires patience and cooperation, along with a diligent management program implemented by a pest management professional.

Prevention:

• Vacuum your home regularly. If you do have bed bugs, make sure you close the vacuum bag tightly and dispose of it outside your home.
• Avoid picking up used mattresses or second hand upholstered furniture because it’s hard to see whether they harbored bed bugs.
• Other used furniture must be carefully inspected and cleaned before you bring it home.
• Second-hand clothing should be placed in a sealed, plastic bag and emptied directly into the washing machine. Wash in hot water and dry on hot setting to kill bed bugs and their eggs.
• When visiting hotels inspect the room for signs of bed bugs prior to unpacking luggage.

For more detailed information about Bed Bugs, visit the Michigan Department of Health and check out their great resources at~ http://www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases/0,1607,7-186-26346_25949_55522—,00.html

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ~ http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/bedbugs/

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) is recommending that all Montanans older than six months of age receive an influenza vaccination.

This is the first time the vaccine has been recommended for everyone over 6 months of age, and reflects Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance. This year’s influenza vaccine protects against three strains of influenza, including the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus which caused the 2009 pandemic.

Last year, because the 2009 H1N1 virus emerged after the seasonal vaccine production had begun, two separate vaccines were needed to protect against both seasonal flu and the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu virus. This year only one vaccine is necessary. Vaccination against influenza remains the best approach to preventing infection.

“A routine influenza vaccination is the best line of defense for protecting you and your family from this disease,” DPHHS Director Anna Whiting Sorrell said. “Every influenza season is different and even healthy people can get sick. Now is the perfect time to get vaccinated.”

Although everyone will benefit from the vaccine, DPHHS continues to emphasize the importance of vaccinating people in Montana who are considered to be at greater risk for severe illness if infected. Whiting Sorrell also said that local and tribal health departments have plenty of vaccine for everyone in Montana.

People most at risk for complications are women who are pregnant and individuals that have chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, asthma, or other conditions that reduce immunity to influenza. Other people that are at higher risk of infection or are likely to spread influenza viruses to vulnerable populations are health care workers and caregivers.

Children, too, are considered to be at higher risk in Montana. In 2008-2009, Montana’s children were less likely than their national counterparts to have been vaccinated for influenza. A national survey estimated that only 34% of the state’s children aged 6-23 months were vaccinated compared to the U.S. average of 42%. Children under two years of age are at high risk for complications and many end up hospitalized if infected by influenza. “Because influenza can cause substantial increases in death and hospitalizations, public health agencies will be making every effort to vaccinate Montana’s young children,” says DPHHS State Medical Officer Steve Helgerson.

In addition to getting vaccinated, health officials strongly recommend that people take very important, common sense steps to prevent infection. Those steps include covering coughs and sneezes, frequent hand washing, and staying home when sick to prevent infecting others. For more information on ways to protect yourself and others from becoming a victim of influenza contact the Lake County Health Department or visit the DPHHS website at http://www.dphhs.mt.gov.