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RCAHD Health Updates Newsletter
01.08.25
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Health updates for residents of the
Roanoke City & Alleghany Health Districts (RCAHD)
Alleghany, Botetourt, Covington, Craig, Roanoke City, Roanoke County, Salem
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How $4 Can Protect Your Home This Winter | |
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With doors and windows shut tight against the cold, levels of cancer-causing radon gas can build up in homes during the winter months, posing a health risk to Virginians. You can’t see, smell or taste radon, but as cold weather has us spending more time indoors, now is the time to test or retest your home for radon.
Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer deaths among non-smokers, claiming about 21,000 American lives each year. Breathing air with radon can increase your risk of getting lung cancer. Smoking increases the risk of the cancer-causing effects from radon exposure even more.
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What is radon? Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes from rocks and dirt in the ground and escapes into the air everywhere. Radon is normally reduced to very low levels in outdoor air, but in certain circumstances it can reach much higher concentrations indoors.
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Who is at risk? Radon exposure doesn’t cause immediate symptoms, so it is very easy for people to be unaware that they are being exposed inside their homes. Current and former smokers are much more vulnerable to radon exposure than people who have never smoked. Because radon is a colorless, odorless gas that cannot be detected with your senses, testing the indoor air is the only way to know if you have high radon levels in your home.
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Nearly half of all homes in Southwestern Virginia are vulnerable to high levels of radon. In fact, VDH has found high levels of radon in homes in every Virginia county. Homes in the same neighborhood can have different levels of radon indoors, so the U.S. Surgeon General encourages every household to have their home tested regardless of geographic location or type of foundation of your home.
Why are colder weather months preferred for testing for radon?
How can I obtain $4 radon home test kits from VDH?
Visit VDHRadon.org to learn more
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RCAHD Haiku Contest:
New Year’s Resolutions
As we ring out the old and ring in the new, we asked to see your health-related New Year’s resolutions in haiku format. Many thanks to all who entered! Here are some of our favorites:
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Mindset vision goals
no doubt some challenges may
set me back, I RISE
-Sophilia H., Roanoke
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I.
Give in or give out,
Give way, give pause, give it time,
Just never give up.
II.
Think of all the good
outcomes first and then you can
Think of the bad ones.
-Al C., Roanoke
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I.
Release, ground, restore
Broth feast, fast, carnivore
Strength, endure, play more
II.
Meditate, calm mind
Deep breaths, set it all aside
Center, forward, thrive
-Marlena C., Roanoke
Medical wonder
body of transformation
I become myself
-Charlie R., Roanoke
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RCAHD Health Situation Update - By The Numbers (as of 12.31.24)
Your Roanoke & Alleghany Health Districts public health team has been monitoring an increase in local cases of several illnesses, above the typical numbers for recent years:
Foodborne
An uptick in foodborne illnesses began in late spring 2024, and we have continued to see more cases than usual. No single reason so far has been determined for the increase in cases. Following steps for home kitchen food safety also aids prevention.
· 62 cases of campylobacter (average yearly total: 25-30)
· 40 cases of salmonella (average yearly total: 20-25)
Pertussis (whooping cough)
Cases of pertussis have increased here and across the country. We strongly encourage parents to make certain their children are up-to-date on their routine immunizations. Pregnant women, infants, and people with underlying conditions are also at greater risk of severe illness.
· 28 cases of pertussis (average yearly total: 3-4)
(Cumulative cases since January 2024)
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Respiratory Illness
VDH's respiratory illness surveillance tracks the number of emergency department visits for viral illnesses such as covid, flu, and RSV and other respiratory illnesses such as cough and pneumonia.
Respiratory activity continues to be on the rise. It is not too late to get vaccinated with updated doses- visit your pharmacy or call your local health department for an appointment!
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According to VDH, respiratory illness activity in Southwestern Virginia remains elevated at high levels, as of 01.04.24.
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Feeling Sick?
As respiratory illnesses in circulation are on the rise, use this chart to compare symptoms of common respiratory ailments.
To protect against the worst effects of illness, stay up-to-date with the latest immunizations, and:
- Cover coughs and sneezes
- Wash hands often
- Bring as much fresh air into your home as possible by opening doors and windows and/or using exhaust fans
- Use a portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) cleaner
- When you have symptoms of a respiratory virus, stay home and away from others
Learn more from VDH Respiratory Guidance
(link to full size image)
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Public Health in the News
With the Dec. 29 death of former President Jimmy Carter, remembrances were recently shared about his involvement in public health efforts to rid the world of Guinea worm disease, spread through contaminated drinking water.
Some of Carter's colleagues recalled a local connection to employees at a fabrication plant in Vinton who played a pivotal role in the eradication of the dreaded parasitic disease:
"...In the early 1980s, after he left the presidency, one of [Carter's] former aides acquainted him with dracunculiasis, a waterborne disease carried by the Guinea worm, a vile little parasite that grows to 2 to 3 feet long within the human body and then tries to exit through whatever opening it can find. Some believe the Old Testament reference to “fiery serpents” killing the Israelites in the Book of Numbers is a reference to the Guinea worm. That aide, Dr. Peter Bourne, headed a United Nations program on safe drinking water and persuaded Carter to become the public face of a campaign to try to wipe out the Guinea worm. Carter agreed.
...[The purpose of Jimmy Carter's 1990] visit to Precision Fabrics was to thank workers for helping make water filters that would filter out the parasite. The Roanoke Times reported at the time: 'Precision uses a fine single-strand nylon yard made at Du Pont’s plant in Martinsville to weave a strong but lightweight and porous fabric on high-tech, air-jet looms in Vinton. The fabric is heat-set at a Precision plant in Greensboro, N.C., so it will maintain a tight weave. At another plant in Jamestown, N.C., it is cut into small squares that are used to filter drinking water that is drawn from rural lakes and ponds.'
In all, Precision and the E.I. du Pont Co. donated upwards of $3 million worth of materials to the Carter Center for distribution in Africa, India and Pakistan.
Dr. Donald Hopkins is the Carter Center’s special adviser for Guinea worm eradication and accompanied Carter on that visit to Vinton. “The workers on the factory floor who controlled the weaving machines were very proud that they were weaving material for use in the GWEP [Guinea Worm Eradication Program],” Hopkins said by email to Cardinal News. “They normally wove material for parachutes and bullet proof vests, but said that on the days when they were weaving filter material for the GWEP they were especially careful, since they knew that if they made a mistake, with a flaw in the material, ‘a child in Africa might get Guinea worm’...”
-"Jimmy Carter Came From a Different Time..." Cardinal News
(Photo courtesy of The Carter Center: A woman in Togo uses a specially fabricated filter to prevent larvae from contaminating drinking water.)
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We're Hiring!
Do you have a passion to help improve our local communities by helping residents improve their overall health and well-being?
Visit the RCAHD Employment Page to see a list of our current openings and how to apply. Recent positions include:
Community Engagement Specialist – Open until January 10
Are you a hardworking individual motivated to help improve the community’s health by engaging with adolescents and young adults? If this is you, we invite you to apply for the role of Community Engagement Specialist, a temporary, RCAHD contract position. Learn more and how to apply
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Calling Current & Recent College Students!
The VDH Internship Academy is a structured 10-week program that allows current or recent college students to explore careers at VDH. You’ll be immersed as part of the team working on projects within a program area or at a local health department.
The program is for students with a broad range of backgrounds, from accounting to graphic design to biology, and, of course, public health!
We’re looking for interns to work closely with public health programs such as finance/ accounting, human resources, communications, and technology. This is a paid experiential learning opportunity with interns earning $18.25/hour as wage (part-time) VDH employees.
The deadline to apply is Jan 31.
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CDC, 1min
Cervical cancer is preventable. Keeping up with routine tests to help detect cell changes on the cervix could help save lives.
Contact your healthcare provider to make an appointment for a routine screening.
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January is National Cervical Cancer Month
Cervical cell changes could lead to cancer if not detected and appropriately treated. The goal of cervical cancer screening—Pap tests and HPV tests—is to find cell changes so they can be treated before they turn into cancer. Knowledge is power and detection as early as possible is critical!
- In addition, recommended vaccines such as the HPV vaccine given to both males and females can protect against HPV infections.
Need a provider?
Routine exams with services such as breast exams and Pap smears are offered at our Roanoke & Alleghany Health Districts Family Planning Program clinics. We accept most insurances. Those without insurance can receive services based on ability to pay.
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In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr Day, all Virginia Department of Health and other state offices will be closed on
Monday, January 20, 2025.
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