KCHD offers online Food Manager and Food Handler Safety Classes to food service employees through http://kchdwv.statefoodsafety.com.
Archives for July 2017
2017 National Boy Scout Jamboree
This Health Advisory serves as a reminder to all healthcare providers and laboratorians to report outbreaks, communicable diseases, and unusual conditions or emerging infectious diseases during the National Boy Scout Jamboree as required by the West Virginia Legislative Rule for Reportable Diseases, Events and Conditions (64CSR7). West Virginia will host the 2017 National Boy Scout Jamboree from July 19-28, 2017 at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in Mount Hope, West Virginia
HEALTH ADVISORY #137 Legionnaire’s Disease in West Virginia
During the months of May and June 2017, West Virginia experienced more cases than expected of Legionnaire’s Disease (Legionella pneumonia).
Patients Receiving Eculizumab (Soliris®) at High Risk for Invasive Meningococcal Disease Despite Vaccination
Summary
Eculizumab (Soliris®) recipients have a 1,000 to 2,000-fold greater risk of invasive meningococcal disease compared to the general U.S. population. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved prescribing information for eculizumab includes a black box warning for increased risk of meningococcal disease, and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends meningococcal vaccination for all patients receiving eculizumab. Recent data show that some patients receiving eculizumab who were vaccinated with the recommended meningococcal vaccines still developed meningococcal disease, most often from nongroupable Neisseria meningitidis, which rarely causes invasive disease in healthy individuals.
KCHD uses Sterilis device for syringe disposal
The Sterilis device is a safer, more sustainable, proven alternative to the decades-old method of hauling regulated medical waste, like the returned syringes, off-site to be incinerated. According to Dr. Michael Brumage, KCHD health officer, “The best way to treat medical waste is as close to the point of generation as possible.”