|
In this update:
Nate Morse (left) being congratulated by his supervisor Troy Fullmer for being named DHHS Employee of the Year.
Nate Morse, a comprehensive health planner in Maine CDC’s Division of Population Health, was named the 2015 Employee of the Year for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
One example of how Nate’s work ethic, leadership and initiative is his work establishing the U.S. CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) in Maine. Adults in Maine with prediabetes are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The NDPP is an evidence-based lifestyle change program. Data show that individuals completing the program reduce the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent. The NDPP is currently being offered statewide through 21 agencies. In 2014, more than 815 adults in Maine completed the NDPP, significantly reducing their chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
The Clinical Microbiology
section at Maine CDC's Health and Environmental Testing Lab (HETL) validated 10 molecular biology assays in three infectious
disease categories in 2015. They include: vectorborne (anaplasma, ehrlichia, babesia, Powassan, deer tick), antibiotic resistance (VRE
genotyping, MRSA genotyping) and respiratory (adenovirus, RSV, rhinovirus).
These new tests complement HETL’s testing menu for such
as infectious agents as West Nile virus and Chikungunya, carbapenemase
genotyping, influenza and pertussis. U.S. CDC, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the World Health
Organization (WHO) have all stated in the past year that the fastest growing
threat to public health is the globalization of antibiotic resistance and
vectorborne disease. The addition of these tests to HETL’s menu
highlights these statements.
Laboratory Information Submission Sheets
(LSIS) are available on HETL’s website: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/public-health-systems/health-and-environmental-testing/index.htm
Winter weather has arrived in Maine. When temperatures drop significantly below normal, staying warm and safe can become a challenge.
The U.S. CDC has developed a communications toolkit with infographics, podcasts and videos to help people prepare for extreme winter weather. Topics range from winterizing your home and getting your car ready to the avoidance and
treatment of frostbite and hypothermia.
The toolkit is available at http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/toolkits/winterweather/default.html
Weekly updates on flu cases are
available online:
Maine CDC
reminds everyone to take everyday preventive measures against the flu:
- Wash your hands frequently.
- Cough and sneeze into your elbow or into a tissue.
Throw the tissue away.
- Stay home when you feel sick.
- Get vaccinated. To find a flu vaccine in your area,
search http://flushot.healthmap.org/ or contact
your health care provider or pharmacy.
If you
have the flu:
- Stay home if you are sick, until you are fever-free for
a full 24 hours without taking fever-reducing medicine.
- Cough and sneeze into your elbow or into a tissue.
Throw the tissue away.
- Contact your PCP if you have signs of the flu to
discuss possible treatment with antivirals. Although most people can stay
home to recover without seeing a health care provider, it is possible for
healthy people to develop severe illness from the flu. Anyone with the flu
should seek medical attention for:
o Dehydration
o Trouble breathing
o Getting better, then suddenly getting a lot worse
o Any major change in condition
For more information, go to www.maineflu.gov or http://www.cdc.gov/flu/
| 
