Possible overspray checked by health department in Wahluke Schools area
The Royal Register News
EPHRATA - At its April meeting, the Grant County Board of Health heard from Grant County Health District staff that Wahluke School District Schools in Mattawa shut down outdoor activities on March 19 because of possible over-spraying of agricultural fields.
The Wahluke school nurse contacted the GCHD about the matter, and the GCHD notified the proper authorities. Testing was done, GCHD staff said, and the area was being monitored afterward.
Healthy Communities Manager Theresa Adkinson told the board that the Health District is working with the Big Bend Community College (BBCC) nursing program regarding sexually transmitted diseases.
Interns are working with BBCC and Moses Lake Community Health Center with an informational booth that includes condoms and other items to help educate the public regarding STD.
The Health District tries to contact all reported cases, Adkinson said. But if they're not reachable by phone, the nurse tries to contact the afflicted at home. She said Public Health Nurses Swenson and Tyler are working with physicians on the sexual history reports.
Administrator Jeff Ketchel reported that the state House and Senate have kept public health funding at the same level even though in 2008 Grant County Health District received $8 per capita and now receives only $4.
Dr. Alexander Brzezny presented the monthly notifiable communicable disease report. There were 12 confirmed cases of Pertussis in March that presented in a cluster. There have been more than 300 contacts made as a result of the cases.
Chlamydia and gonorrhea rates remain high, Brzezny said. The flu season is waning even though eastern and western Washington still have cases being reported. There have been eight cases of measles in Washington State. None have been reported in Grant County.
The board received a copy of a letter from the Superintendent of Public Instruction to school districts.
The letter encouraged school districts to develop policies regarding staff immunizations and to know the status of their immunizations or immunity.