News

  • Health Advisory: Increased lead screening needed in Kitsap

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    Ground cinnamon alert highlights new risks for lead exposure.  ACTIONS REQUESTED ADVISE PATIENTS TO: CONSIDER TESTING children for lead exposure from these and other sources. If you believe one of your patients is at high risk for lead exposure, a venous blood draw is the most accurate form of specimen collection.  LEAD TEST REPORTING AND CASE MANAGEMENT: CONTACTING…

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  • Hepatitis A Fact Sheet

    Hepatitis A Fact Sheet

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    Overview Transmission: Fecal-oral. Incubation Period: Average 28-30 days (range 15-50 days). Symptoms: Anorexia, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, followed by jaundice. Severity of illness increases with age. Infectious Period: 14 days prior to onset of jaundice to seven days after onset of jaundice. Infants can excrete virus in the stool for longer periods of time. Epidemiology:…

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  • Health Advisory: Zika Testing

    Health Advisory: Zika Testing

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    Action Requested Know how to order appropriate Zika virus testing through commercial laboratories. Background Because testing for Zika virus is now widely available through commercial laboratories, testing for Zika virus at Washington State Public Health Laboratories is now limited to: Patients for whom cost is a barrier to testing. Infants with possible congenital exposure to…

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  • Lice in Schools

    Lice in Schools

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    What procedures should our school follow if a student has head lice? Head lice are tiny parasites that can live on the human head. They survive by sucking blood from the scalp. Lice eggs (called “nits”) can attach to strands of head hair. Lice can cause the head to itch, but have not been proven…

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  • Meningococcal Disease Fact Sheet

    Meningococcal Disease Fact Sheet

    Meningococcal disease is a sudden, severe illness caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. The disease manifests most commonly as meningitis and/or meningococcemia, but may also cause pneumonia, arthritis or pericarditis. The symptoms include sudden high fever, chills, severe headache, stiff neck and back, nausea, vomiting, purpural rash, decreased level of consciousness, difficulty breathing and seizures.…

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  • Perinatal Hepatitis B

    Perinatal Hepatitis B

    Guidelines for Prenatal Care Screen every pregnant woman for HBsAg early in each pregnancy according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommendations. HbsAg testing should be repeated late in pregnancy if the woman is HBsAg negative and is at high risk of hepatitis B infection (e.g., injection…

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  • Hepatitis B Immunization and Healthcare Workers

    Hepatitis B Immunization and Healthcare Workers

    Healthcare Worker Immunization Pre-exposure evaluation for healthcare personnel previously vaccinated with complete, ≥ three dose hepatitis B vaccine series who have not had post-vaccination serologic testing* Source: CDC—MMWR December 20, 2013. * Should be performed one to two months after the last dose of vaccine using a quantitative method that allows detection of the protective…

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  • Latent Tuberculosis Infection Treatment Guidelines

    Latent Tuberculosis Infection Treatment Guidelines

    High-Priority Candidates for Latent Treatment Infection (LTBI) Treatment Positive QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT) (>0.35 IU) Tuberculosis Skin Test (TST) ≥5 mm HIV-positive people. Recent contacts of person with infectious tuberculosis (TB). People with fibrotic changes on chest x-ray (CXR) suggestive of previous TB; or inadequate treatment. People with organ transplants or immunosuppression therapy. TST ≥10 mm…

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  • Infection Control Guidelines

    Infection Control Guidelines

    Standard, Contact, Airborne and Droplet Precautions Standard Precaution When to Use Standard Precautions During all patient encounters—prevents the spread of bloodborne pathogens such as HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. Reason to Use Standard Precautions Protects the healthcare worker from patient’s potentially contaminated body fluids and prevents the spread of disease to others. Components of…

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  • Controlling Norovirus

    Controlling Norovirus

    You may hear norovirus called “the stomach flu.” Some viral illnesses that cause vomiting and diarrhea are caused by norovirus. You can become infected with norovirus many times in your life. Norovirus Is very contagious. Norovirus can spread quickly in places like daycare centers, nursing homes, schools, restaurants and cruise ships. Causes diarrhea and vomiting,…

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  • Tdap and Pregnancy

    Tdap and Pregnancy

    Pertussis is a serious disease for young infants. Pertussis epidemics occur in the United States every three to five years. Even though we have a vaccine, pertussis is a common infectious disease. There are 10,000 to 40,000 cases and 10 to 20 deaths per year.[1] Pertussis is most serious in infants younger than six months.…

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  • Chlamydia Diagnosis Follow-up

    Chlamydia Diagnosis Follow-up

    Provider Checklist Patient treatment for chlamydia is not complete without partner treatment. After receiving a positive chlamydia result, check the following steps to help stop the spread of chlamydia and to protect your patient from reinfection: Provide patient education on essential points: Take medications as prescribed. Do not have sex for seven days after treatment,…

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  • Hand Hygiene In Healthcare Settings

    Hand Hygiene In Healthcare Settings

    What is hand hygiene? Hand hygiene refers to the use of hand washing with soap and water or alcohol hand sanitizer (60% alcohol or greater) in order to reduce infection rates, reduce transmission of antimicrobial resistant organisms and stop outbreaks of communicable disease. Why is hand hygiene important? When should I use hand hygiene? How…

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