Latest News

Super Bowl Provides Giant Opportunity for New Food Ideas

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:01:26 +0000

At Super Bowl parties, the food can be as much fun as the game.

As a celebration, Super Bowl Sunday has become another national feast day, and there will be parties featuring plenty of food, which is not always the best thing for your health.

So try something New and take a Giant step in the right direction by looking at the snacks you’ll serve.

“In addition to other snacks, you could serve apple slices and fresh vegetables,” Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour said. “Just consider offering a healthy option to pizza and wings. You may also find the price of those healthy options is very much to your liking.”

Menu planning also helps party hosts prepare for guests who may have diabetes or require other special diets. Another key to hosting a successful, healthy party is to control alcohol use.

“Be sure to have some alcohol-free drinks available and designate a non-drinking driver before the game,” Dr. Pour said. “Think about this – consuming one drink per quarter with one during halftime puts a person in the binge-drinking category.”

Healthy also means safe, so please remember these Five Rules of Food Safety:

· Be clean – use soap and water to clean your hands before you handle foods and clean surfaces before using them for food preparation.

· Remember to separate – keep cooked foods separate from ready-to-eat foods. Never use utensils on cooked food that were used earlier on raw foods. Don’t put cooked foods on plates that were used for raw foods without thoroughly cleaning the plates first.

· Always cook thoroughly– food should be cooked to a safe internal temperature and use a meat thermometer to make sure that has been done. Color does not tell you if something is done.

· Definitely chill – food should be chilled promptly after serving and when food is being transported from one place to another. Your refrigerator should be set at 40 degrees or lower.

· You should remember to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

One final recommendation from Dr. Pour: “Enjoy the game.”

Douglas County Health Department Reports Season’s First Flu Death

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:32:25 +0000

A woman in her 80s from Douglas County died this week at a local hospital of complications from the seasonal flu, according to the Douglas County Health Department.

She is thought to be the first flu-related death in Nebraska this season.

“The family of this individual has our sympathies,” Dr. Pour said. “We have known the flu is in our community, and elderly people are at a greater risk of becoming seriously ill.”

Several simple things can help prevent the spread of seasonal influenza:

· Cover your cough with a tissue or cough into your sleeve.

· Wash your hands and keep your hands away from your face.

· Avoid close contact with people who are coughing or appear ill.

· Stay home if you are sick or keep family members home if they are sick.

· If you haven’t done it already, consider protecting yourself with a flu vaccination.

Other basic good health practices should be followed, such as making sure you eat right and get enough rest. Children under 5 years of age, adults 65 and older and pregnant women are especially at risk of complications from the flu.

“The number of flu cases has slowly been increasing in Douglas County, but we still have a relatively small number of confirmed cases,” Dr. Pour said. “I hope everyone realizes that we are still early in the flu season and may not see the peak for several weeks, so it is important for people to take the appropriate precautions.”

Health Department Tabbed for One of Six National Health Grants

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:20:33 +0000

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has selected the Douglas County Health Department to receive one of six grants awarded across the country to use in better incorporating health considerations on major community projects.

“This is another step forward in building a healthier community,” said Mary Balluff, Division Chief for Community Health and Nutrition with the DCHD. “This will bring us further into discussions with our partners on issues that affect public health.”

The department will conduct at least three Health Impact Assessments per year for three years on Housing and Land Use, Parks and Public Property, and Transportation. DCHD also will provide training and help on proposed projects and policies to communities around Nebraska.

“We hope to establish procedures that include an assessment of the health impact on our communities when developing major projects,” said Rick Cunningham, City of Omaha Planning Director. “We also know that by getting in on the start of these projects, we can help keep them on schedule and create a healthier community.”

Partners in the application included the City of Omaha; including the Mayor’s Office and the departments of Planning, Public Works and Parks, Recreation & Public Property; the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services; the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency; and Omaha by Design.

Douglas County Health Department Holiday Concern: Food Safety

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:34:29 +0000

As the holiday season continues, food tends to be an increasingly featured attraction at social gatherings. The Douglas County Health Department wants you to remember that this can lead to an increased risk of food borne illness.

Here are some simple reminders to help protect you and your family from these risks. Please note that all temperatures are in Fahrenheit:

· Clean – use warm water, hand soap and paper towels for hands and hot soapy water for utensils. Also clean fresh fruits and vegetables under cold running water.

· Separate – do not cross contaminate foods and utensils. Keep raw and cooked foods separate and don’t reuse the same utensils between raw and cooked foods.

· Cook - foods completely and use a food probe thermometer to test final internal cooking temperature (ground beef 160 degrees or higher, whole cuts of beef 145 degrees or higher, poultry 180 degrees or higher and pork 160 degrees or higher).

· Reheat - leftovers to 165 degrees or higher. Store uneaten food leftovers within two hours.

· Maintain – proper food temperatures. Keep cold foods at 41 degrees or less. Keep cooked foods above 140 degrees until eaten. Discard any foods held between these temperatures for longer than two hours.

For last minute thawing of your turkey, use cold water and allow approximately 30 minutes per pound. That breaks down to two to six hours for a 4-12 pound turkey, six to eight hours for a 12-16 pound turkey and eight to ten hours for a 16-20 pound turkey.

Wrap your turkey securely, making sure the water cannot leak through the wrapping. Submerge your wrapped turkey in cold tap water and change every 30 minutes. Cook the turkey immediately after it is thawed and don’t refreeze.

“Please take the proper steps to keep your food safe,” said Douglas County Health Director, Dr. Adi Pour. “Food borne illnesses can ruin your holiday.”

Douglas County Health Department Expands Free Radon Test Kit Offer

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:57:00 +0000

The Douglas County Health Department has expanded its free radon test kit offer through the end of the month. The kits were made available through a grant from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

Roughly 200 test kits will be distributed on a first come, first served basis through Girls Inc.’s locations in North and South Omaha, the Urban League of Nebraska, and the Latino Center of the Midlands. Kits also can be picked up at the Douglas County Health Department offices at 1111 South 41^st Street. Anyone who is interested needs only to show up at one of the agencies and ask for a kit and instructions.

The kits come with simple instructions and include a postage-paid mailer.

“The only way to know if your home has a radon problem is to have it tested,” said Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour. “Even if your neighbor’s home has been tested, you still need to test your house.”

Radon is a naturally occurring, invisible and odorless radioactive gas that originates from natural deposits of radium and uranium in the soil. The gas that is formed as those compounds decay can enter your home and cause cancer. It is the leading cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers and second only to smoking in causing lung cancer, responsible for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year.

While radon can be found throughout the United States, the EPA has recognized Eastern Nebraska as having some of the country’s most elevated radon levels.

Anyone not living in Douglas County is encouraged to contact the Nebraska Radon Program, 301 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, NE 68509 for information on radon testing.

New Douglas County Health Website Unveiled

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:18:39 +0000

A new on-line web portal Health Matters in Douglas County, Nebraska was unveiled Wednesday, Nov. 30, during the Live Well Omaha Health Summit.

“This new website is unique in that it combines the most current local Douglas County data (health, education, environment, economy, public safety, social environment, government & policies, and transportation) with the latest news and best practices, all organized by topic area,” said Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour. “This makes it easy for the user to connect a need with a possible solution.”

Health Matters in Douglas County, Nebraska can be found at www.douglascohealth.org and is sponsored by the Douglas County Health Department, Live Well Omaha and the three hospital systems, Alegent Health, Methodist and The Nebraska Medical Center.

The site provides:

· A dashboard with more than 100 health and quality of life indicators that shows trends, and breaks down some of the data by county region gender, age and other factors.

· More than 1,800 promising practices, which are programs that have proven to work around the nation, including contact information to make it easy to potentially discuss the practices further before adapting.

· National news articles related to important topics updated three times a week

· A link to other local reports

· Up-to-date air quality data and several other features.

“One of the cool tools is a walking score,” Dr. Pour said. “By putting in your home address it provides you a walking score between 0 – 100, based on if you require a car or if you live in ‘walker’s paradise’ (score 90 – 100) where the daily errands can be done without a car.”

This has importance for community planners, Dr. Pour said, since research tells us that the average resident of a walkable neighborhood weighs 6 – 10 lbs. less than one who lives in a sprawling neighborhood.

“I also should mention that feet are zero pollution transportation machines,” Dr. Pour pointed out. “Other communities have calculated that property values increase with higher walking scores.”

The website is updated by the Healthy Communities Institute which was started by the University of California at Berkley. Local data and reports will be added to the website by the Douglas County Health Department and Live Well Omaha.

“At the end of the day, I am urging residents to use Health Matters in Douglas County, Nebraska as a platform from which to gain knowledge and simultaneously encourage action” says Dr. Pour. “Informed residents are their own best health advocates and the best voices for a healthy community and more importantly, an engaged community becomes part of the solution to improve public health.”

Douglas County Health Department: "Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite"

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 14:28:37 +0000

It’s getting harder and harder to follow that bit of childhood advice: “Don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Bed bug infestations have been increasing for the past decade, and now they’re everywhere. From Times Square to Douglas County, people are scrambling to get rid of them.

“It can take a lot of work to get rid of a bed bug infestation,” Health Director Dr. Adi Pour said. “The best thing to do is keep them out of your home in the first place.”

Here are a few suggestions for dealing with bed bugs.

Start by thoroughly cleaning any infested rooms, including the furniture.
You need to make sure all stages of bed bugs are killed; so get the eggs, too.
Launder bedding and dry it thoroughly in a hot dryer. Dry-clean wool blankets.
Vacuum infested areas – especially mattresses, box springs, furniture and anywhere on the furniture bed bugs or their eggs might hide.
Get the vacuum cleaner bag out of the house as quickly as possible.
Reduce clutter in your home to eliminate bed bug hiding places.

Adult bed bugs are about a quarter-inch long and may be light brown or yellowish in their early stages of development. They turn reddish brown as they mature, and are darker after feeding on human blood, their favourite treat. Bed bugs also can go into hiding, and may live for six to 12 months without feeding. A bed bug bite leaves a small red mark, but they can become inflamed, and while the little pests may not carry disease, they sure can make life unpleasant. Warm bodies attract bed bugs.

Remember, bed bugs can’t fly, so someone has to move them from place to place. It could be they arrive in your home on a friend or in some luggage. Used furniture can be a source of infestation. When you travel, immediately check your hotel room for brown spots (liquid feces) on linens, mattresses and carpets. Avoid headboards and places where wood framing may provide small cracks where bed bugs can live.

“You may need to throw out an infested mattress, or you can enclose it in a zippered cover to contain the bed bugs,” Dr. Pour said. “Sometimes pesticides are needed, and if that’s the case, the best thing to do is hire a professional.”

For more information on managing bed bugs, please click on this link:

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/263bedbg.pdf

Safe Thanksgiving Dinners Require Planning

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:30:30 +0000

Don’t let the featured attraction of your Thanksgiving dinner ruin the holiday with illness. The Douglas County Health Department is encouraging everyone to follow a few basic rules in preparing your holiday meal.

· Wash your hands before and after handling food.

· Always wash utensils, kitchen sinks, and anything else that comes in contact with raw turkey and meat juices with soap and water. Washing the turkey before cooking only spreads bacteria around the kitchen.

· Decide in advance if you want a fresh or frozen turkey and how big a bird you need.

· If you buy a frozen turkey, make sure you have the freezer space to store it.

· Buy fresh turkeys only 1-2 days before cooking.

· To thaw a frozen turkey, place the bird in the original wrapper in the refrigerator, at or below 40 degrees F, in a container to hold dripping blood and juices.

· Allow about 24 hours of thawing time for each 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. Thawed turkeys can be kept in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.

· There are some things you can do if you forget to thaw your turkey. Submerge the turkey in cold water and change that water every 30 minutes, allowing about 30 minutes defrosting time per pound of turkey. Then cook it immediately.

· It is safe to cook a turkey from the frozen state. The cooking time will take at least 50 percent longer than recommended for a fully thawed turkey. Remember to remove the giblet packages during the cooking time.

Roast the turkey at 325 degrees F until it is cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees F in all parts (including stuffing) as measured with a food thermometer. Even turkeys with pop-out thermometers should be tested under the wings and thighs to make sure they are thoroughly cooked. It also is important to remove all the stuffing from the bird for storing leftovers.

See http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Lets_Talk_Turkey/index.asp for USDA suggested cooking times based upon bird weight.

Remember, your turkey will slice more easily if you let it stand for 20 minutes and the juices are allowed to settle. It also is important that you refrigerate leftovers within the first couple of hours after your dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Douglas County Health Department!

FREE Diabetes Screenings in November

Michae.Feaster@douglascounty-ne.gov (Michael Feaster) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 20:40:51 +0000

The Creighton University Pharmacy Students in collaboration with Diabetes Prevention Alliance are performing free diabetes screenings on the following dates and at the listed locations as displayed on the calendar:

November 2011 Free Diabetes Screenings Calendar

Season’s First Case of Influenza A Confirmed in Douglas County

phillip.rooney@douglascounty-ne.gov (Phillip Rooney) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:18:10 +0000

A man in his 30s who traveled outside the United States has been confirmed as Douglas County and Nebraska’s first case of influenza A for this flu season, according to Dr. Adi Pour, director of the Douglas County Health Department. The man first reported flu-like symptoms last week and has recovered after seeking medical treatment.

“This is about eight weeks earlier than our first case of the last flu season,” Dr. Pour said. “The Health Department is encouraging anyone who has not received this year’s flu shot to do so as soon as possible, since we now have a confirmed case of flu in the community.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages everyone over six months of age to get vaccinated as soon as possible against the seasonal influenza. Vaccination is especially encouraged for pregnant women.

“This is the time to remember basic good health practices, like handwashing, covering your cough and staying home when you are sick,” Dr. Pour said. “All of those will help slow the spread of the flu.”

The new 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine is available from a variety of sources. That includes private healthcare providers and pharmacies. Your health insurance or Medicare may cover the cost, while many employers offer flu clinics at little or no expense to their workers.

Remember, if you choose to get a flu shot, it is advisable to do so as soon as possible, since it takes up to two weeks before the vaccine can provide any immunity. The vaccine protects against three strains of influenza including the strain of H1N1 that caused the 2009 pandemic.

It is never easy to predict what will happen during the flu season, but the results can be severe. According to the CDC, during a period of 30 years between 1976 and 2006, estimates of flu-associated deaths in the United States ranged from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people.