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County health report notes disease increases
By Cheryl Scott
Daily News staff writer
Either people weren't washing their hands as well in 2007 or Wisconsin did a better job of reporting communicable diseases to Rock County because the number of gastrointestinal diseases went up last year.
Gastrointestinal diseases can start from bacteria on someone's hand that transfers to their mouth, and cause symptoms such as diarrhea, said Diane Nelson, nursing supervisor at the Rock County Health Department North Office, at the Rock County Board of Health meeting on Wednesday.
The diseases can be prevented through frequent hand washing, Nelson said.
Some of the increases in reported communicable diseases include cryptosporidium (an intestinal parasite that causes diarrhea) rising from 20 cases in 2006 to 33 in 2007, shigella (bacterial disease that can sometimes cause dysentery), which went up from 4 cases in 2006 to 25 cases in 2007, and salmonella increasing from 24 cases in 2006 to 37 cases in 2007, Nelson said.
Nelson went over the 2007 Communicable Disease Control report at the Board of Health meeting. Communicable diseases are tracked because the health department wants to be able to prevent the spread of diseases through immunization, tries to control the spread of diseases through prompt investigation and provides ongoing surveillance of diseases to the state, in order to control or eliminate the source of disease, Nelson said.
Sexually transmitted diseases also continued to be a problem for Rock County, although some of the numbers of reported STDs went down in 2007. Four-hundred eighty-one chlamydia cases were reported in 2006, which decreased to 449 in 2007. Gonorrhea was also down from 139 cases in 2006 to 120 cases in 2007. Yet herpes cases increased from 83 cases in 2006 to 106 cases in 2007, Nelson said.
Besides gastrointestinal diseases and STDs, lead poisoning was also up in 2007, which was probably due to increased testing in Beloit, Nelson said.
In 2006, 41 cases of lead poisoning were reported, whereas 2007 saw 56 cases - 18 in Beloit, 10 in Janesville and four in other municipalities.
Rock County implemented a birth certificate lead poisoning prevention program in Beloit recently, which has been going on in Janesville since 1993. Once children are six months old and start crawling, Rock County Health Department nurses meet with parents and explain how to prevent children from getting lead poisoning, Nelson said.
Beloit children are at a higher risk for lead poisoning because about 40 percent of the city's houses were built in the 1950s, said Tim Danwell, Rock County environmental health director, as he presented the Rock County Environmental Health Report Card for 2007. The lead content in paint began to drop after the 1950s, Danwell said.
Rock County's environmental staff now does half of their work in Beloit in an effort to prevent lead poisoning cases, Danwell said.
Another highlight of the Rock County Environmental Health Report Card was that the percent of homes with dangerous radon levels was down to 42 percent from about 47 percent last year, Danwell said.
Testing for radon is inexpensive - kits cost $12.66 through the health department - which might explain why dangerous radon levels in tested houses have dropped, Danwell said. Yet in 2007, only 43 radon tests were performed, which is less than in previous years, according to the report card.
€ The Board of Health also discussed writing a resolution in support of The Breathe Free Wisconsin Act and urging the Rock County Board of Supervisors to support the lobbying resolution, said Dr. Joseph Schurhammer, health officer for the Rock County Health Department.
€ Schurhammer said he received information that the flu activity in southern Wisconsin went from moderate to high.
“It's not at pandemic level, but is at its peak,” Schurhammer said.
€ The board also discussed plans for a prescription drug roundup that might take place in June or July in Beloit and Janesville. A committee has been formed to work out details of the roundup.
The Department of Agriculture offers grants to help pay for the roundup costs, but only if organizers bring the drugs to a licensed facility.
“There are no licensed facilities in Wisconsin to dispose of drugs, but it's being done,” Schurhammer said.
Organizers of the prescription drug roundup would therefore have to pay for a police officer to drive the drugs out of the state, to the nearest facilities in either St. Louis or Indianapolis.
Gastrointestinal diseases can start from bacteria on someone's hand that transfers to their mouth, and cause symptoms such as diarrhea, said Diane Nelson, nursing supervisor at the Rock County Health Department North Office, at the Rock County Board of Health meeting on Wednesday.
The diseases can be prevented through frequent hand washing, Nelson said.
Some of the increases in reported communicable diseases include cryptosporidium (an intestinal parasite that causes diarrhea) rising from 20 cases in 2006 to 33 in 2007, shigella (bacterial disease that can sometimes cause dysentery), which went up from 4 cases in 2006 to 25 cases in 2007, and salmonella increasing from 24 cases in 2006 to 37 cases in 2007, Nelson said.
Nelson went over the 2007 Communicable Disease Control report at the Board of Health meeting. Communicable diseases are tracked because the health department wants to be able to prevent the spread of diseases through immunization, tries to control the spread of diseases through prompt investigation and provides ongoing surveillance of diseases to the state, in order to control or eliminate the source of disease, Nelson said.
Sexually transmitted diseases also continued to be a problem for Rock County, although some of the numbers of reported STDs went down in 2007. Four-hundred eighty-one chlamydia cases were reported in 2006, which decreased to 449 in 2007. Gonorrhea was also down from 139 cases in 2006 to 120 cases in 2007. Yet herpes cases increased from 83 cases in 2006 to 106 cases in 2007, Nelson said.
Besides gastrointestinal diseases and STDs, lead poisoning was also up in 2007, which was probably due to increased testing in Beloit, Nelson said.
In 2006, 41 cases of lead poisoning were reported, whereas 2007 saw 56 cases - 18 in Beloit, 10 in Janesville and four in other municipalities.
Rock County implemented a birth certificate lead poisoning prevention program in Beloit recently, which has been going on in Janesville since 1993. Once children are six months old and start crawling, Rock County Health Department nurses meet with parents and explain how to prevent children from getting lead poisoning, Nelson said.
Beloit children are at a higher risk for lead poisoning because about 40 percent of the city's houses were built in the 1950s, said Tim Danwell, Rock County environmental health director, as he presented the Rock County Environmental Health Report Card for 2007. The lead content in paint began to drop after the 1950s, Danwell said.
Rock County's environmental staff now does half of their work in Beloit in an effort to prevent lead poisoning cases, Danwell said.
Another highlight of the Rock County Environmental Health Report Card was that the percent of homes with dangerous radon levels was down to 42 percent from about 47 percent last year, Danwell said.
Testing for radon is inexpensive - kits cost $12.66 through the health department - which might explain why dangerous radon levels in tested houses have dropped, Danwell said. Yet in 2007, only 43 radon tests were performed, which is less than in previous years, according to the report card.
€ The Board of Health also discussed writing a resolution in support of The Breathe Free Wisconsin Act and urging the Rock County Board of Supervisors to support the lobbying resolution, said Dr. Joseph Schurhammer, health officer for the Rock County Health Department.
€ Schurhammer said he received information that the flu activity in southern Wisconsin went from moderate to high.
“It's not at pandemic level, but is at its peak,” Schurhammer said.
€ The board also discussed plans for a prescription drug roundup that might take place in June or July in Beloit and Janesville. A committee has been formed to work out details of the roundup.
The Department of Agriculture offers grants to help pay for the roundup costs, but only if organizers bring the drugs to a licensed facility.
“There are no licensed facilities in Wisconsin to dispose of drugs, but it's being done,” Schurhammer said.
Organizers of the prescription drug roundup would therefore have to pay for a police officer to drive the drugs out of the state, to the nearest facilities in either St. Louis or Indianapolis.
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