Logan County Health Commissioner Travis Irvan provided updates at the Logan County District Board of Health’s Wednesday afternoon meeting, Feb. 12, regarding the nationwide surge in influenza cases this year that is also being felt locally.
Irvan referenced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s U.S. map of influenza activity for the most recent data for the week ending Feb. 1. The map shows Ohio as among the states with the highest flu activity, color-coded dark purple, along with about nine other states across the country. He noted that Ohio’s level of cases is the worst we’ve experienced in the past 15 years.
The CDC’s data takes into account the proportion of outpatient visits to healthcare providers for influenza-like illness to measure the activity level within a state.
Nursing Director Lee Watts also reported that Logan County recently had its first adult influenza death, an older adult who had sought medical treatment at an emergency room. Irvan said the health district receives statistics for individuals who are hospitalized for influenza, but otherwise doesn’t receive much other details about local cases.
The health commissioner noted that it’s not too late for people of all ages to receive their seasonal flu vaccination and the health district still has the vaccine available. He would especially recommend the flu vaccine for those ages 50 and older. For an immunization appointment, call (937) 651-6186 to schedule.
Symptoms of the flu such as a sore throat and a runny or stuffy nose are common and you may also get these symptoms with other illness such as a cold. But colds tend to start slowly, and the flu tends to come on quickly, within two or three days after you come in contact with the virus, the Mayo Clinic reports. And while a cold can be miserable, you usually feel much worse with the flu.
Other common flu symptoms include: fever, cough, headache, muscle aches, feeling very tired, sweating and chills.
In children, these flu symptoms may show up more generally as being fussy or irritable. Children also are more likely than adults to have ear pain, feel sick to the stomach, vomit or have diarrhea with the flu.
In administrative matters, Irvan reported that in April, he has the opportunity to present the health district’s response to the March 2024 tornado at the National Association of County and City Health Officials Preparedness’s Conference in San Antonio.
The agency’s grief support provided for staff during the tornado’s aftermath will be the focus of the session.
Irvan related that prior to staff members being sent out to the county to assist with the tornado’s cleanup and helping survivors, they first had to attend a grief support session that was helpful to process everything that was happening so quickly after the deadly natural disaster.
“We had staff members who were personally affected by the tornado at their own homes and had their own lived experiences, and we all needed to have a few moments to slow down a little bit before we could help others struggling through this traumatic event,” he said.
Also during his report, the health commissioner recognized sanitarian Arie Pequignot as the LCHD’s employee of the quarter, noting that he stepped in to fill in to lead the environmental health division when Environmental Health Director Matt Stonerock was out of the office due to a health issue.
During the community health report, Director of Community Outreach Megan Bailey said the ribbon cutting for the health district’s new vending machine with harm reduction items was well received.
Since the vending machine was installed in December, a total of 71 items have been vended, with COVID tests being the most frequently selected. About a dozen items in the machine are available for free and are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week by the front entrance to the Logan County Health District, 310 S. Main St.
Grant funding and donations to cover the entire cost of the project, including assistance received through COVID grant funds.
The next meeting is 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 12.