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Healthy Happenings: Your voice matters
BY DOROTHY DILLON We need your voice, Martin County. Your input matters. Help shape the future of health and well-being in our community by completing the Community Health Assessment Survey. Not only will you make a difference, but you will also have a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card. Simply enter your name…
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New data show millions more people exposed to ‘forever’ chemicals
BY NADIA RAMLAGAN KY NEWS CONNECTION The latest Environmental Protection Agency data show over 11 million more people than in earlier estimates have the chemicals known as PFAS in their drinking water. This brings the total number exposed to toxic so-called forever chemicals to more than 143 million nationwide. Julia Finch, director of the Sierra…
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Kentucky reports rare human rabies death
CITIZEN STAFF REPORT FRANKFORT — A Northern Kentucky resident has died from rabies, state health officials announced Friday, marking a rare human fatality from the virus in the United States. The source of the individual’s rabies exposure remains unclear and may have occurred during international travel, officials said. The person who received medical care in…
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Every household can get four free COVID-19 tests through the mail starting in late September
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Starting in late September, the federal government will relaunch its at-home COVID-19 test program that makes every U.S. household eligible for four free COVID-19 tests to be sent directly to their home. The test, which can be ordered from COVIDTests.gov at the end of September, will detect the current…
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Martin County Public Health board ends meeting abruptly, leaves agenda unfinished
BY LISA STAYTON MOUNTAIN CITIZEN INEZ — The Martin County Public Health District board’s quarterly meeting on June 18 ended after 8 minutes and 45 seconds, leaving agenda items unfinished. Board member Ed Daniels left the meeting early to attend an Inez City special meeting, resulting in the lack of a quorum. Before Daniels departed,…
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UK hosts national meeting to raise immunization rate for vaccine against cervical and other HPV cancers, in which Kentucky leads U.S.
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Kentucky leads the nation in the rate of cases of and deaths from cervical cancer, a disease that is largely preventable by a vaccine. The vaccine targets the human papillomavirus, which can cause cancers of the cervix, genitals, anus, neck and head. Kentucky also leads the nation in cancers…
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State’s health chief urges parents to get kids vaccinated against measles
BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS A highly contagious childhood disease that was declared eliminated in the United States in the year 2000 is making a comeback, largely driven by a declining vaccination rate in the country. “Unfortunately, as the measles vaccination rate has decreased, it’s just one of those things where folks are opting…
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Seasonal respiratory illness in Kentucky declined for three weeks
Numbers still considered elevated BY MELISSA PATRICK KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Emergency department visits and hospital admissions for respiratory disease in Kentucky have dropped for three weeks in a row, but the Kentucky Department for Public Health still considers the rate of respiratory virus activity to be elevated and the number of hospitalizations to be high.…
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Federal government relaunches free, at-home COVID-19 tests, available Sept. 25
KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing $600 million to make new at-home tests for COVID-19 and relaunch the program that allows Americans to order up to four free tests per household through the mail. The Department of Health and Human Services says in a news release that orders can…
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New vaccines for COVID-19, flu, RSV expected to curb ever-mutating respiratory viruses
KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS Americans will have access to several vaccines this fall to protect them against respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), but effectively deploying them is expected to be challenging and confusing. With the latest major mutation of the COVID-19 virus, “We have to have a lot of humility .…
Tag: Public Health
