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Baton Rouge – Through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, the Department of Health and Hospitals has awarded $1.6 million in funding to hospitals for the development of preparedness response plans to be implemented in the event of a bioterrorism event.
Baton Rouge --- Through its Office of Public Health, the Department of Health and Hospitals is reviewing 36 grant applications for funding for mosquito abatement programs. The opportunity for these grants was limited to parishes that do not currently have abatement districts or that did not begin one until after January 1, 2002.
Baton Rouge --- Two humans who exhibited possible symptoms of either West Nile virus or St. Louis Encephalitis both tested negative for the disease. The two individuals, one from Shreveport and one from Bossier Parish, submitted blood samples last month, which the Office of Public Health sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for extensive testing that revealed neither individual had either mosquito-borne illness.
Covington—The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals’ Office of Public Health, Region 9, in conjunction with the LSU Lallie Kemp Medical Center and the St. Tammany and Washington Parish Offices of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) will be hosting a full-scale bioterrorism preparedness drill in Mandeville on Wednesday at various locations throughout the region.
Baton Rouge – The Louisiana Departments of Health and Hospitals, Environmental Quality and Wildlife and Fisheries today issued a series of fish consumption advisories for 10 bodies of water. In addition, the agencies have revised four other existing advisories that either expand the current geographical boundaries of the waterways or add cautions about consuming other fish.
Baton Rouge – With summer approaching, the Department of Health and Hospitals reminds people there are health risks inherent to swimming in natural waterways. This is in spite of improvements to water quality in many Louisiana waterways over the past several years.
Baton Rouge --- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants 90 percent of the population to practice safety belt usage by the year 2005. To begin that goal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising state health departments to spend Buckle Up America Week, May 19 through 26, encouraging teens and young adults to fasten their belts.
Baton Rouge --- Four more birds tested positive for West Nile virus this week, bringing the year’s total to 52 positive birds in 34 parishes. Sabine Parish was the only new parish added to the list for this round of tests, with a blue jay testing positive for the virus. The three other new birds came from Caddo, Lafayette and Natchitoches parishes, which all previously had birds test positive for the virus.
Baton Rouge – David W. Hood, secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, today announced that Sharon G. Howard has been promoted to the position of assistant secretary for the Office of Public Health.
Baton Rouge -- Alcohol is the leading cause of brain damage in newborns, yet statistics show that half of all women of childbearing age drink alcohol. Most alarming is that about 20 percent of women who know they are pregnant continue to drink during their pregnancy.
Baton Rouge – State health officials have concluded laboratory testing to analyze the contents of two letters discovered Wednesday and Thursday in Lake Charles. In both instances, the green leafy material found in letters mailed to the Mayor’s Office and the Chamber of Commerce has tested negative for any bio-hazardous substance. Final confirmatory testing was completed over the weekend by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Baton Rouge – Medicaid recipients in several North Louisiana parishes will soon each be linked to a doctor who will coordinate their medical care. This change is a result of the Department of Health and Hospital’s CommunityCARE program, which creates a "medical home" for most Medicaid patients.