Health

Elememtary, Middle, and Senior High Schools, and Waynesfield School.

“That is something to be celebrated, that is not a simple thing to get done. It’s very difficult,” said Longsworth.

Longsworth also gave a small update on the Operation and Maintenance survey that county residents have been filling out about their household sewage systems. To date, Longsworth said he has received 70 respondents who have filled out the survey about their systems, and how they would like the upcoming state-mandated licensing to work. Longsworth has made clear at multiple meetings that they want the public’s input on this, before moving forward.

“We still have a lot of time to get this rolling. Even the negative comments will do a lot more than the quiet, so I think we can use that to our benefit,” said Longsworth.

Director of Nursing Jessica Whetstone was next to give her report and noted that they had held 12 clinics and administered 518 total services for the month of March.

“That number is increased because of the school vaccination clinics,” said Whetstone. Whetstone also reported that for the month there were 23 detected cases of COVID,

22 suspected, as well as 31 other Class B infectious diseases for a total of 76 for the month. “Influenza-wise, we had 10 Influenza-associated hospitalizations for the month,” said Whetstone. Influenza A was the most prevalent with seven cases, while Influenza B accounted for three.

“Ages ranged from between age 4 to 101. Out of these cases, six were unvaccinated,” said Whetstone.

Whetstone also gave an update on their school based vaccinations.

“We went around to six schools that allowed us to participate and vaccinated sixth graders and eleventh graders to get ready for the upcoming school year and those required vaccines,” explained Whetstone. She said that some schools went up in participation rates while, two stayed the same, and two decreased.

“Overall we administered 243 vaccines. That was an increase compared to 213 total vaccines last year at the clinics,” said Whetstone.

The school-based vaccination program’s intent is to allow parents to save time and not have to schedule a special appointment to have vaccines administered. The school-based program allows students to receive vaccines at school. Whetstone did note that they are also encountering some hesitancy relating to vaccinations that they’re trying to work through.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there as well and a lot of times the general public doesn’t understand accredited articles vs something that is written and it’s inaccurate,” said Whetstone before continuing. “It’s hard, we’re working through that right now to clear the air and help with these vaccine numbers.”

Medical Director Dr. Juan Torres told the Board about an alert the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sent out about Avian Influenza.

“It has been spread to humans in the past. We have 2-3 cases going on. It doesn’t spread human to human, but there are some doubts on that,” said Torres. He noted that both the COVID and Inf luenza vaccines do not protect against Avian Influenza. The Board’s President Dan Harpster, DVM, also spoke about the disease.

“Typically AI, Avian Influenza, is a respiratory, air droplet kind of transmission,” said Harpster. He said that washing hands, just like with COVID, is an effective means of combating the spread.

“Again, it’s about treatment, prevention and sanitation. If you’re handling sick animals, wear gloves, and a mask, and wash your hands,” said Torres.