Erie Family Health Center

Beats this week: 

1) Before you know it the kids are going to be back in school and you will be thinking: ‘where did the summer go?’ But before sending the kiddies off to school you should be sure to get them their required school physicals and vaccinations in honor of National Immunization Awareness Month, which is celebrated in August!  

2) This week an incredibly insightful study was released on the social and economic impact of long-term obesity. The study, which used national data for 5,000 high school students over two decades, found that those individuals that had been overweight in high school and continued at that weight were less likely to advance their education and more likely to live at lower income levels than their classmates who were a healthier weight at age 18.

3) Well blogosphere, it just got a little bit easier to access dental care in the state of Illinois. In the last few months Governor Quinn has signed three bills making dental care more accessible; one of the most recent bills allows 10-day permits to out of state dentists that wish to cross the border to volunteer at dental clinics. The Chicago Dental Society’s blog, Open Wide, has a great rundown of the bills here.

4) As the city of Chicago heats up, so has the violence throughout the city. Painting a gloomy picture, overall crime is down in the city but murder rates are up. Just this past week, nine people were shot while walking near a bus terminal on Chicago’s south side.

5) Good news for women who have previously had c-sections: if you have another child you may not be required to have another c-section. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released new guidelines this week that allow most women to forego having another c-section.

Beats this week:

1) Did you know that this week is National Infant Immunization Week? Well, it is! Illinois public health officials took this week to remind everyone to get their infants vaccinated. In Illinois, approximately 80% of children receive the recommended vaccinations by age two.

2) Reports and sex education experts have drawn one conclusion about the sexual health of Illinois residents: sexual transmitted infections remain high (and have increased) while sexual health knowledge continues to decrease. For example, Illinois currently ranks 8th out of 50 states for highest rate of gonorrhea infections. A 2009 survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy seeks to explain these alarming rates of STIs and points to a variety of misconceptions people have about sex, pregnancy and preventing STIs.

3) A  free clinic in Los Angeles treated 1,200 people on the opening day of the clinic. The clinic, which is a temporary clinic set up for one week in the Memorial Sports Arena, utilized around 300 medical volunteers to provide health, dental and eye care.

4) A study released this week reported that parental involvement is key in maintaining the health status of adolescents with Type I diabetes. The study found that when parents did not closely follow their child’s condition, the child often experienced complications related to their disease.

5) Governor Quinn and other Illinois legislators are working to move thousands of people with mental illnesses out of nursing homes and into community settings in order to provide them with better quality of care. This move would provide these individuals with the intensive counseling and other treatment they need in order to lead more independent lives.

Beats this week:

1)  Today, the Chicago Tribune covered health care reform and its potential impact on low-income individuals in Chicago. Erie Family Health Center and other community health agencies were featured in the story by Judith Graham.

2) Four community health centers in Milwaukee received $1 million from GE to increase primary care services to uninsured and underinsured individuals. This is the second city to receive GE Developing Health funding – a three-year program providing funding to health centers.

3) According to a new report, one in four Californians under the age of 65 are without health insurance.  In the last two years, the state’s number of uninsured individuals has increased by nearly 2 million. Despite these alarming statistics, California does not actually have the highest rate of uninsured but follows closely behind Texas.

4) The story of health care reform continues to unfold. Currently, the Obama administration is putting the pressure on for House Democrats to give the green light on health care. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is the most recent Democrat to ‘flip’ their vote from ‘no’ to ‘yes.’

5) Public Health Officials in Lake County (northern Illinois) have partnered with local churches to make a final push for H1N1 vaccination. Read Beats Per Minute’s coverage on why it is still important to get vaccinated this late in the flu season.

For many, it feels like the flu has gone away. Away from the headlines on TV, the web, radio.  Away from the ERs and health clinics.  After H1N1 influenza ravished an unprepared America in the late spring 2009, and again in the fall and early winter, it has basically disappeared.  But should we let down our guard and stop worrying?

It’s true that most areas of the country are reporting either no or only sporadic (Illinois) flu activity. The most activity is in the South and in Maine.  All of it is well below epidemic levels and it’s all H1N1, not other strains of flu virus that we sometimes call the “seasonal flu.”

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