RECENT NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Buckle Up Right, Every Trip, Every Time
Dalton (GA) – County health departments in North Georgia Health District 1-2, based in Dalton, were awarded the 2014 Car Seat Mini-Grant by the Georgia Department of Public Health, Office of Injury Prevention. Through the Mini-Grant, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield County Health Departments will educate parents and caregivers on how to properly install and use car seats, offer car seat inspections and provide car seats and booster seats to financially eligible families.
The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and the Maternal and Child Health Program fund the Car Seat Mini-Grant to help ensure Georgia’s children are safe while riding in motor vehicles.
As a result, since 2007, at least 262 children in Georgia who were involved in crashes were saved from serious injury or death by car seats, booster seats, and education provided through the Mini-Grant. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car seats reduce fatal injuries by 71 percent among infants and by 54 percent among children ages 1 to 4 years in passenger cars. Car seats offer the best protection for children in the event of a crash, and they are most effective when installed and used correctly. Nearly three out of every four car seats are not used properly, placing children at unnecessary risk.
Keeping children safe is paramount and the Car Seat Mini-Grant is a great opportunity to work with communities in protecting children from serious injuries or death in motor vehicle crashes.
Through the Car Seat Mini-Grant, agencies supporting more than 130 counties are working to keep Georgia’s children safe. These programs help families get their children buckled up right, every trip, every time.
For more information about the 2014 Car Seat Mini-Grant in Georgia, please contact the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Child Occupant Safety Project via email at
Dalton (GA) – It is time for all Georgia women to say, “Cervical Cancer? Not On My Watch!”
Only through routine screenings can cervical cancer be detected early. Close to 100% of women diagnosed in a pre-cancerous stage will survive this disease. However, an estimated 134 women in Georgia will still die this year from cervical cancer. Therefore, during January, Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, the North Georgia Health District has joined the Georgia Department of Public Health Office of Cancer Screening & Treatment and the American Cancer Society in asking everyone to help fight against cervical cancer by spreading information about the importance of getting a Pap test.
Cervical cancer is a concern for all women. Even though white women are diagnosed more frequently with cervical cancer, black and Latina women have a higher risk of dying from the disease due to later detection. Women who live in rural areas and women who have economic challenges also tend to have a high mortality rate due to their lack of resources.
Early detection through routine screenings in the United States has reduced cervical cancer to less than one percent of cancer deaths since the introduction of the Pap test in 1943. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Georgia Breast & Cervical Cancer Program – commonly known as BreasTEST & MORE – and the American Cancer Society recommend women to start having Pap tests at age 21.
Dalton (GA) – The Georgia Department of Public Health has confirmed two flu-related deaths in North Georgia. Of the current 20 confirmed flu-related deaths in Georgia, these are the only two that have been reported thus far for the North Georgia Health District, comprised of Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield Counties.
Both of the deceased were middle-aged, and there is no evidence in the Georgia Registry of Immunization Transactions and Services that either of them had received an influenza vaccination.
Health officials continue to stress the importance of getting a flu shot and that anyone 6 months and older who has not yet gotten a flu vaccination this season should get one now at their local health department, through their healthcare provider or at a pharmacy that provides flu shots.
Symptoms of the flu come on quickly and often include a fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue and some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.
Also to prevent flu and to prevent spreading viruses, use good, common sense hygiene practices such as avoiding people who are sick, stay home if experiencing flu-like symptoms, cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue then throw the tissue in the trash, wash your hands often and thoroughly with warm, soapy water, avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with your hands, and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with germs like the flu.
For more information about the flu and flu prevention, log onto to the CDC’s website at www.cdc.gov/flu.
What are YOUR New Year's resolutions? The Georgia Tobacco Quit Line can help you with one of them -- Call 1-877-270-STOP today!
What is the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line?
The Georgia Tobacco Quit Line is a public health service funded by the Georgia Department of Public Health through the Georgia Tobacco Use Prevention Program (GTUPP). GTUPP partners with a national tobacco cessation vendor to provide telephone and web-based counseling services in accordance with the United States Public Health Service Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence Clinical Practice Guideline.
Eligibility
- Professional assistance is available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
- Any tobacco user 13 years or older living in Georgia.
Who Should Call the Quit Line?
Anyone can call the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line; not only tobacco users. The general public, relatives, friends, as well as healthcare and public health professionals.
Health Improves Within 20 Minutes After Quitting
- 20 minutes after quitting, your heart rate drops.
- 2 weeks to 3 months, after quitting heart attack risk begins to drop. Lung functions begins to improve.
- 1 to 9 months, after quitting coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
- 1 year after quitting, added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.
- Within 5 years, of quitting risk of cancer of the month, throat and bladder is cut in half.
- 10 years, after quitting risk of dying from lung cancer drops by half.
Get more information at http://dph.georgia.gov/
Chatsworth (GA) - In response to a recent case of rabies in a cat on Old Federal Road South in Chatsworth (see story at http://nghd.org/Media-Releases/rabid-cat-bites-two-murray-county-residents-neighbors-urged-to-report-bites-scratches-from-strays.html), the Murray County Humane Society is hosting a rabies clinic this Saturday, January 4, from 10 A.M. until 3 P.M. at 5599 Old Federal Road South, the Sampler Home place. Cost is $10. For more information call 706-264-7739.
Jason Osgatharp, manager of Murray County Environmental Health, stated, “This is an excellent service the humane society is providing to the public, so we encourage everyone with pets that need to be vaccinated for rabies to please take advantage of this opportunity and get that done now.”
According to the North Georgia Health District, rabies is always present to one degree or another in wild animal populations such as raccoons, bats, foxes, skunks, etc., so pets must be vaccinated annually whether there has been a positive case in the area or not. An owner cannot know if their dog or cat may have been exposed to rabies.
Also, maintaining current rabies vaccinations in pets is required as a matter of public health law.
For more information about rabies and its prevention, log onto www.cdc.gov/rabies.
Dalton (GA) – The New Year is just beginning, and with the holidays behind us, many people think the time has also passed to get a flu shot. However, the peak of the flu season is still ahead and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu activity continues to increase across the nation (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/summary.htm).
The predominant strain of the flu virus that is now circulating in the U.S. is the influenza A (H1N1) virus that created a pandemic in 2009. Protection against that strain of the flu virus is included in this season’s influenza vaccine – the vaccine also protects against influenza A (H3N2) and influenza B viruses.
Influenza can cause mild to severe illness, and at times, it can lead to death. The flu is different from a cold. The flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have the flu often have a fever (but not always)
, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue and some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults.
Officials of the North Georgia Health District, part of the Georgia Department of Public Health, stated that getting a flu shot is the best defense against the flu, and anyone 6 months and older who has not yet gotten a flu vaccine this season should get one now at their local health department, through their healthcare provider or at a pharmacy that provides flu vaccine.
Chatsworth (GA) – Murray County Environmental Health officials announced today that on Tuesday, December 24, 2013, a stray cat bit and scratched two persons who live in the 5700 block of Old Federal Road South, Chatsworth, Georgia.
One of the persons bitten took the cat to Murray County Animal Control where Jason Osgatharp, environmental health county manager, made the determination to have the cat tested because it exhibited abnormal behavior.
The cat was submitted to the Georgia Public Health Laboratory and positive test results for rabies were received today.
According to the persons bitten, the cat would “show up” at their home about once a month.
The rabid cat was black with a white chin, weighed about ten pounds, and appeared otherwise healthy. Those living in or near the 5700 block of Old Federal Road South should report any bites or scratches from stray cats which occurred within the past month, especially if the stray fits this description. Call the Murray County Environmental Health Office at 706-695-0266, extension 8.
The persons who were bitten will start post-rabies exposure treatment today or tomorrow.
Five other cats at the residence, all of which are unvaccinated, will be euthanized.
For more information about rabies and its prevention, log onto the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website at http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/.
Dalton (GA) – During this joyous season of social gatherings and holiday cheer, it is easy to forget that hazards could happen at any moment. If a public health hazard such as a bioterrorism event or widespread disease outbreak were to happen in this area, delivery of vaccines, medications and antidotes to the public would be critical.
The North Georgia Health District, part of the Georgia Department of Public Health, has a public health hazard response plan for each county in the district.
David Huskey, health district Director of Emergency Preparedness, said, “In the event of a public health crisis that would require many people to rapidly receive preventive medication, our health departments in Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield Counties are prepared to open a temporary Point of Dispensing, also called a POD.”
For years, the health district and county health departments have planned with community partners, first responders and volunteers to operate temporary Points of Dispensing, and since 2007, these plans have been exercised each fall when the county health departments conduct their drive-by flu shot clinics. Plans include the possibility that supplies from the federal Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) may be requested and transported to the POD if local and state supplies become depleted. The SNS has large quantities of medicine and medical supplies to protect the American public if there is a public health emergency (terrorist attack, flu outbreak, earthquake) severe enough to cause local supplies to run out (http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/stockpile/stockpile.htm).
National Influenza Vaccination Week is December 8-14, 2013
Dalton (GA) – You have lots of holiday plans. Don’t let coughing, sneezing, fever, chills and nausea ruin them this flu season. National Influenza Vaccination Week is December 8-14 and the Georgia Department of Public Health, including the North Georgia Health District, encourages you to get your flu vaccine.
Preventive actions such as covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing, and frequently washing your hands can help guard you from the flu. But the best way to protect against influenza is to receive an 
annual flu vaccine.
Influenza can be a serious disease that leads to hospitalization and sometimes death. Regardless of race, age, gender or ethnicity, everyone can get sick from the flu. Those especially at risk are adults 65 years of age and older, children younger than 5, pregnant women, people with certain chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease or other long-term medical conditions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends everyone 6 months and older receive their flu vaccine – whether that’s through a flu shot or the nasal spray. Getting a flu vaccine is more convenient than ever before. Vaccines are available, for example, from your doctor or local health department, and at many retail pharmacies. Many employers, schools, colleges and universities also offer flu vaccines.
National Influenza Vaccination Week emphasizes the importance of receiving an annual flu vaccination. Even healthy children and adults can get very sick from the flu. So this winter, the Georgia Department of Public Health encourages you to call your doctor’s office, local health department or pharmacy and get immunized.
For more information on immunization, visit http://dph.georgia.gov/influenza-what-you-need-know.
Jasper (GA) — A Pickens County resident was exposed to rabies when bitten by a raccoon last Friday, November 29, according to Jan Stephens, Manager of Pickens County Environmental Health.
The incident occurred late that morning at a private residence just off E. Church Street in Jasper. The raccoon got into a fight with three dogs when it climbed into the dogs’ pen and then it bit the dog owner while the owner attempted to break up the fight.
Lonnie Waters of Jasper Animal Control was called to the scene. Waters euthanized the raccoon and, since it was a state holiday, the body was turned over to Stephens of environmental health the following Monday, December 2.
Stephens prepared the raccoon for shipment and sent it Monday to the Georgia Department of Public Health Laboratory for rabies testing. The lab reported the positive results late the next day on Tuesday, December 3.
The owner has received a tetanus shot and is receiving post exposure treatment for rabies.
Vaccination records for the three dogs are currently being evaluated and the dogs are being monitored by environmental health.
Health officials remind the public that the best way to prevent rabies exposure is to maintain rabies vaccinations in pets and avoid contact with all unfamiliar animals.
For more information about rabies and its prevention, please contact Pickens County Environmental Health at (706) 253-0900 or log onto www.cdc.gov.