Representatives from the Deaf Action Center (DAC) in Abilene will be at the health department on Thursday, January 26 at 2 p.m. to talk about their services. The DAC serves people who are deaf and hard of hearing with a comprehensive range of services. They will educate and train people in coping and communication strategies, assistive devices and Relay Texas Service and more. DAC assists the hard of hearing, deaf, deaf/blind, vision impaired, speech impaired and mobility impaired, in receiving free communication devices from the State of Texas. Come and learn about the services that DAC offers. Hearing Loss Resource Specialist and Deafness Resource Specialists Programs are funded by DARS office for Deaf & hard of hearing Services (DHHS).

Quick Tips for Preventing Salmonella

Cook poultry, ground beef, and eggs thoroughly. Do not eat or drink foods containing raw eggs, or raw (unpasteurized) milk.
If you are served undercooked meat, poultry or eggs in a restaurant, don't hesitate to send it back to the kitchen for further cooking.
Wash hands, kitchen work surfaces, and utensils with soap and water immediately after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry.
Be particularly careful with foods prepared for infants, the elderly, and the immunocompromised.
Wash hands with soap after handling reptiles, birds, or baby chicks, and after contact with pet feces.
Avoid direct or even indirect contact between reptiles (turtles, iguanas, other lizards, snakes) and infants or immunocompromised persons.
Don't work with raw poultry or meat, and an infant (e.g., feed, change diaper) at the same time.
Mother's milk is the safest food for young infants. Breastfeeding prevents salmonellosis and many other health problems.

More About Prevention

There is no vaccine to prevent salmonellosis. Because foods of animal origin may be contaminated with Salmonella, people should not eat raw or undercooked eggs, poultry, or meat. Raw eggs may be unrecognized in some foods, such as homemade Hollandaise sauce, Caesar and other homemade salad dressings, tiramisu, homemade ice cream, homemade mayonnaise, cookie dough, and frostings. Poultry and meat, including hamburgers, should be well-cooked, not pink in the middle. Persons also should not consume raw or unpasteurized milk or other dairy products. Produce should be thoroughly washed.

Cross-contamination of foods should be avoided. Uncooked meats should be kept separate from produce, cooked foods, and ready-to-eat foods. Hands, cutting boards, counters, knives, and other utensils should be washed thoroughly after touching uncooked foods. Hand should be washed before handling food, and between handling different food items.

People who have salmonellosis should not prepare food or pour water for others until their diarrhea has resolved. Many health departments require that restaurant workers with Salmonella infection have a stool test showing that they are no longer carrying the Salmonella bacterium before they return to work.

People should wash their hands after contact with animal feces. Because reptiles are particularly likely to have Salmonella, and it can contaminate their skin, everyone should immediately wash their hands after handling reptiles. Reptiles (including turtles) are not appropriate pets for small children and should not be in the same house as an infant. Salmonella carried in the intestines of chicks and ducklings contaminates their environment and the entire surface of the animal. Children can be exposed to the bacteria by simply holding, cuddling, or kissing the birds. Children should not handle baby chicks or other young birds. Everyone should immediately wash their hands after touching birds, including baby chicks and ducklings, or their environment.

Some prevention steps occur everyday without you thinking about it. Pasteurization of milk and treatment of municipal water supplies are highly effective prevention measures that have been in place for decades. In the 1970s, small pet turtles were a common source of salmonellosis in the United States, so in 1975, the sale of small turtles was banned in this country. However, in 2008, they were still being sold, and cases of Salmonella associated with pet turtles have been reported. Improvements in farm animal hygiene, in slaughter plant practices, and in vegetable and fruit harvesting and packing operations may help prevent salmonellosis caused by contaminated foods. Better education of food industry workers in basic food safety and restaurant inspection procedures may prevent cross-contamination and other food handling errors that can lead to outbreaks. Wider use of pasteurized egg in restaurants, hospitals, and nursing homes is an important prevention measure. In the future, irradiation or other treatments may greatly reduce contamination of raw meat.

What Is Pertussis or Whooping Cough?

Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious disease marked by severe coughing. It is named after the "whoop" sound children and adults sometimes make when they try to breathe in during or after a severe coughing spell.

What are the Symptoms?

Whooping cough usually starts with cold- or flu-like symptoms, such as runny nose, sneezing, fever, and a mild cough. These symptoms can last up to 2 weeks and are followed by increasingly severe coughing spells. Fever, if present, is usually mild.
During a classic coughing spell:
- signature "whoop" is heard as the patient struggles to breathe
- coughs usually produce a thick, productive mucus
- vomiting may occur
- lips and nails may turn blue due to lack of oxygen
- patient is left exhausted after the coughing spell
Mild pertussis disease is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms mimic those of a cold. Usually a prolonged cough is present, but without the "whoop."
Milder symptoms usually affect all age groups, but are increasing among school children.
The coughing attacks may last for many months in the "classic illness" or just a few days in the mild form of the disease.

Symptoms appear between 6 to 21 days (average 7-10) after exposure to the bacteria.

What are Some Potential Complications?

Young infants are at highest risk for pertussis-related complications, including seizures, encephalopathy (swelling of the brain), otitis media (severe ear infection), anorexia (severe restriction of food intake) and dehydration.
In adolescents and adults, whooping cough can cause severe coughing that can make it hard to breathe, eat, or sleep, and can result in cracked ribs, pneumonia, or hospitalization.

How is it Spread?

Whooping cough is caused by a bacteria that is found in the mouth, nose and throat of an infected person, and is spread through close contact when an infected person talks, sneezes, or coughs.
It is most contagious during the first 2 to 3 weeks of infection, often before the beginning of severe coughing spells.
Vaccine protection against whooping cough does not last forever. The vaccination most people received as children wears off, typically by adolescence. Therefore, adolescents and adults are at risk for whooping cough and can spread the infection to infants and young children in the household.

Who Gets It?

Whooping cough (pertussis) can occur at any age, but infants and young children are at highest risk of life-threatening consequences.
Recent outbreaks have shown that adolescents and adults carry the disease, which in its milder form is hard to recognize. Undiagnosed mild disease contributes to the spread of the illness among infants and young children.
Persons with mild whooping cough can transmit the illness to un-immunized and partially immunized infants and young children who are more susceptible to severe illness and complications, such as pneumonia, encephalitis, and seizures.
Anyone - particularly infants and young children - who is un-immunized is at a higher risk for severe whooping cough.

How Do You Treat It?

Whooping cough is treated with antibiotics and patients are advised to take all prescribed medication and avoid contact with anyone, particularly small infants and children.
Ask your health care provider for treatment options if you think you or your child may have whooping cough.

How Do You Prevent It?

While there is no lifelong protection against whooping cough, immunization is the best preventive measure. There is a vaccine to help protect you and your child against whooping cough. The Sweetwater-Nolan County Health Department administers the Tdap vaccine, which protect a person from the whooping cough on Wednesdays from 8-11:30 & 1-4:30, second Wednesday of each month until 6 p.m. Click on Immunization tab for more information on immunizations.
Consult your health care provider to be sure you and your family have been vaccinated.

Please refer to the Center for Disease Control website at cdc.gov or pertussis.com for more information.

Take preventive action to avoid the flu

The health department wants to encourage residents to use preventive actions:

Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth, to avoid spreading germs.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
If you are sick with flu-like illness, CDC recommends that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone for 24 hours without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.)
While sick, limit contact with others as much as possible to keep from infecting them.
Get vaccinated for the flu

We will administer the seasonal flu vaccine to all ages on Wednesdays during regular immunization clinic. Immunization clinic is held every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. and the second Wednesday of each month until 6 p.m.

The Sweetwater-Nolan County Health Department does not discriminate against any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability or age.