The Mason County Board of Health met Jan. 24 and talked about the rough flu season and a new strategic health plan for the county.
Public Health Officer Dr. Keri Gardner said it has been a rough season for the “tripledemic,” which includes influenza, COVID-19 and RSV. Gardner said this year’s influenza was mostly influenza A, and it is an H1N1 virus, similar to what caused the swine flu in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The flu vaccine does help, and she recommends people get their flu shot.
“I believe this is why people were sicker with influenza this year than usual,” Gardner said during the meeting.
Gardner reported serious cases of tuberculosis over the past few months in the county, including two deaths. She thanked partners in the county who helped with contact tracing positive cases, including the department of health and Mason Health.
Gardner also mentioned hepatitis C, stating that 50% of cases are in people 55 and older.
“One of the barriers to treatment is not the cost of treatment,” Gardner explained. “It’s a population that is largely insured one way or the other. The folks that came and did the presentation (at the November board of health meeting) told us that the rate of treatment in Mason County of people with hepatitis C is less than 10% and there are many barriers to getting treated, but the cost of the treatment is surprisingly not one of them. We, the public health department, come to the board of health to seek your assistance in helping us get patients to treatment. Hep C can be treated in most patients with simply a pill that is taken for eight weeks and when we treat hepatitis C, we avoid liver damage, liver cancer and then death from liver disease.”
Gardner also reported the state has lowered the age for getting vaccinated against human pamploma virus to age 9 instead of the current age 12. She also talked about substance abuse, stating a new drug on the streets is called Xylazine, which is a veterinary sedative muscle relaxant.
“It is both used intentionally and unintentionally when it is cut with other drugs,” Gardner said. “What’s unusual about this drug is two main points: one is that it causes severe wounds, in some cases, leading to amputation. The other thing that it does is because it’s a veterinary sedative, it leads to prolonged sedation. It is also addictive like other drugs in its class and it is being seen as a more common cause of death in the places where this drug is being used. It does not respond to Narcan. This is simply an informational message that I wanted to get out to the board of health and the community in general.”
Director of Community Services Dave Windom shared the Mason County Public Health & Human Services strategic plan draft from now through 2025. According to the plan, the seven core public health objectives are effective communication, responsive customer service, coordinated community planning, technology to improve outcomes, employ continuous quality improvement, standardize departmental policies and procedures and maintain competent workforce.
Windom said he prefers to do a work plan every year and review it in December. He said the work plans will be presented at the next board of health meeting.
The goals of the plan include transitioning from COVID, including redirecting COVID team efforts and seeking new sources of revenue. Another goal is to build and strengthen public health and engagement by building community understanding and investment in public health and reinforcing and supporting a skilled and informed workforce. The final goal is to promote healthful environments and lifestyles, including promoting developed and natural environments that protect the public’s health and safety and promoting behaviors that protect and improve lifestyles.
“The strategic plan has to align with the budget we’re projecting,” Windom said. “We have money for hep C so we have $104,000 set aside per year for hep C so we have the money to do it. Now is the time to step out of COVID a little bit and start working on these other things.”
Windom said Mason County is the fifth worst county in the state for hepatitis C.
The next Mason County Board of Health meeting is scheduled for March 28.
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