MOUNT VERNON — No one in the Knox County Health Department wants a repeat of what happened in 2014, which is why department leadership is keeping a close eye on measles cases in four states surrounding Ohio — Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania, as well as 22 other states with confirmed measles cases.
So far, Ohio has been lucky, Pam Palm, the department’s public information officer, told health board members Wednesday night. She is formulating a health advisory to send out warnings about the potential for a measles outbreak. So far, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the number of confirmed measles cases is nearing 1,000 in 26 states — and rising on a daily basis.
Palm said it will be especially important to discuss the potential spread of measles with the Amish community, as their members tend to travel often between Ohio and surrounding states. In 2014, she said, a group of local Amish residents visited the Philippines, and inadvertently brought back the measles with them. Before long, an outbreak had occurred with more than 200 people contracting the highly contagious viral illness — which can remain on hard surfaces for hours and is easily transmitted via airborne means such as sneezing. The Amish group at the time was helping Philippine citizens with building projects and so were immunized for tetanus, Palm said — but not for measles, which uses an inoculation known as MMR (Mumps, Measles and Rubella).
There has also been a trend in recent years of many children in Knox County’s public school districts not receiving the immunizations and vaccines they need, Palm informed the health board, such as a vaccine for meningitis and the DTaP (Diphtheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus) vaccine. The result has been small outbreaks of illnesses such as Pertussis.
For that reason, she said, one school district in Knox County — Mount Vernon City Schools — has decided to enforce immunization/vaccination requirements this coming school year for students in kindergarten and the seventh and 12th grades. The number of students who have been vaccinated as needed is somewhere above the 80th percentile when that number should be closer to the 95th percentile, she offered.
In other matters Wednesday, the board of health:
•Approved a trio of personnel policy changes, one of which will allow county health department employees to bring their infants to work, according to Joyce Frazee, the department’s human resources director. The policy, which would need a supervisor’s approval, will allow the parent to work with two other employees who can help tend to the infant if and when the child’s mother or father is performing duties. The policy will allow infants to be brought to work until the child starts crawling or is six months old — whichever comes first. Another policy change for “telecommuting” as an alternative work site will allow employees to work from their home or another location with permission. The third policy change, an influenza vaccination policy, asks for all employees to be vaccinated for the flu from November through March; those who are not will need to wear masks until they are vaccinated.
•Approved an memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kokosing River Productions for the production of social media videos at a cost of $5,000, paid for with Drug Free Communities grant funds. The 30-second videos are to filmed on site at the health department in June, and are being produced for the benefit of the Knox Substance Abuse Action Team, or KSAAT.
•Approved a pharmacy service agreement with Walmart Inc. for services to eligible Community Health Center patients. Agreements are already in place with Kroger, CVS and Conway’s Eastside Pharmacy.
•Approved a contract with Granicus to purchase Peak Agenda Management software for three years at a cost just under $6,000 per year, which organizes board meetings, agendas, and meeting minutes.
•Approved Lisa Dudgeon, RN, as the agency director of nursing.
•Approved the creation of, and hiring of a dental assistant 3 position, an “expanded function” position that would be the only dental assistant able, once hired, to perform fillings. That task is currently performed by the Community Health Center Dental Clinic’s new dentist, Dan Saale, DDS, and an oral hygienist, if needed.
