Georgia PH week [Jan. 6, 2014]

PHWEEK 1-6-2014: Widespread Flu Targets Young Adults, Middle-Aged Georgians

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Widespread Flu Targets Young Adults, Middle-Aged Georgians

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As the cold is settling in to Georgia, so is the flu. The state is reporting widespread flu activity for the first time in the 2013-2014 flu season, including more than 400 hospitalizations and nine confirmed flu-related deaths.


In This Issue
Widespread Flu Targets Young Adults, Middle-Aged Georgians
DPH Reviews Progress, Sets Initiatives for New Year
Georgia Sets Standard in Stroke Response
CDC Warns Caribbean Travelers about Mosquito Virus
PHEVENTS

Georgia is not alone. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that flu activity increased by 23 percent across Southeastern states as the new year began.
The increase is not uncommon for this time of year. Flu season typically picks up steam in January and runs through late February or early March. What makes this flu season unique is that the virus seems to be hitting the hardest for a different age group: young adults.


DPH Reviews Progress, Sets Initiatives
Looking for DPH events?
Visit the Events Schedule on our for New Year
website.

PHTRAINING
Two for Tuesdays
Join the Office of Human Resources on the second Tuesday of each
month from 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. for the learning series Two for
Tuesdays. This series provides an opportunity for programs to explore
new ideas, share knowledge and highlight teams and their work. On
Jan. 14, staff from the Georgia Tobacco Use Prevention Program will
present about the tobacco prevention and cessation program, Breatheasy Georgia. To learn more
and to register, click here.
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Tues., Jan. 7 2:00- 4:00 p.m.

2013 was a year of considerable progress for public health in Georgia, particularly on some of the key priorities identified by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). But the state still faces many challenges for the new year. As 2014 begins, DPH looks back at the year gone by to evaluate our progress while looking forward to see where we need to go next.
Here are four of DPH's bests from 2013:
Premature birth rate drops. Fewer Georgia babies were born prematurely than at any time in the past. According to the March of Dimes, the state's preterm birth rate fell from 13.8 percent in 2010 to 12.7 percent in 2012, although DPH data suggest that the rate is even lower. The drop led the March of Dimes to give Georgia its first-ever passing grade on the Prematurity Report Card, released in November.

Georgia Sets Standard in Stroke Response

Word Styles and Themes Fri., Jan. 10
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Word Automatic Features Fri., Jan. 10 1:30-3:30 p.m.
Word Tables and Forms Wed., Jan. 29
10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

If the U.S.'s stroke belt was an actual belt, then Georgia would sit squarely on the buckle. The state has the ninth-highest stroke death rate in the nation and nearly 3,800 Georgians died from a stroke in 2008 alone.

Word Columns and Graphics Wed., Jan. 29 1:30-4:30 p.m.
PowerPoint Intermediate Fri., Jan. 31
10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Look for Access classes in February and Excel classes in March.
For employees not at 2 Peachtree, classes can be attended remotely -however, remote attendees must be registered 48 hours prior to class. Register for all classes through SABA (2 Peachtree attendees register for
"Instructor-Led" and remote attendees register for "Virtual" classes). Contact Lisa Miller if you
have questions.
Free Online Courses Available from Lynda.com
DPH has purchased a limited number of licenses for Lynda.com, an online library of high-quality, easy-to-use
instructional videos on the latest software, creative and business skills. Licenses are available for check out on a first come, first served basis. To check out a license, simply email Lisa Miller from your
public health email account.
Submit Calendar Entries to communications@dhr.state.ga.us
PHNEWS
E -Cigarettes:
Separating Fiction from Fact
Cleaning the Mobile Germ
Warehouse

But even as Georgia sits high in national rankings for strokes, the state's system of care for people who have strokes is also attracting national attention and praise. The Georgia Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry program focuses on improving care for stroke patients both in Georgia hospitals and before they get there.
Michael Frankel, chief of neurology and medical director of the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center, who created the program at Atlanta's Grady hospital in 2001, said the registry has vastly improved how stroke patients receive care in the state by emphasizing that treating strokes takes a team effort.



CDC Warns Caribbean Travelers about

Mosquito Virus



Beachgoers aren't the only thing

coming and going in the

Caribbean these days. A

mosquito-borne virus typically

found in Asia and Africa has

made its way to a handful of

islands in the region, and U.S.

health officials are concerned

that it could spread even farther

in the Western hemisphere. In

December, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Aedes aegypti is one of the mosquitos that can transmit

(CDC) issued a warning for U.S.

chikungunya, a painful virus.

travelers to St. Martin and

Martinique about the risk for chikungunya, a viral disease that causes

extreme muscle and joint pain, fever, fatigue and a rash.

Rabid Cat Bites Two GA Residents On Dec. 22, the World Health Organization reported 27 confirmed

cases of chikungunya in St. Martin and two cases in Martinique. On Dec.

Make Fitness a Family Affair in 2014 28, the European Centre for Disease Control reported the number of

cases had jumped to 66 on the French side of St. Martin. Health

PHRECIPE

officials are also investigating hundreds of suspected cases on St. Martin, Martinique and the island of St. Barthelemy. This is the firstever outbreak of chikungunya in the Americas.

Travelers have actually brought chikungunya to the U.S. in recent years, but so far the virus hasn't spread. But Rosmarie Kelly, Ph.D., public health entomologist at the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), said the CDC may be concerned because the virus' patterns are similar to those of another viral newcomer in the U.S.: West Nile Virus.



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Georgia Public Health Observances | January 2014

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