A Matter of Public Health

Rachel Stiening, Supervising Sanitarian at the Kent County Health Department, joins host Steve Kelso to talk about food safety. She gives tips for keeping you backyard Bar-B-Q as worry free as possible.

Mosquito and Tick season is upon us. There is strong evidence that the populations of these unwelcome insects is on the rise in Michigan. Paul Bellamy, Public Health Epidemiologist and Vector Surveillance Program Manager with the Kent County Health Department joins host Steve Kelso to talk about the increase and protecting yourself while you are outdoors this summer.

The Vaccine Queen of Kent County may be passing on her crown but before she goes, A Matter of Public Health podcast host Steve Kelso sits down with her one last time to talk about where we have been and where we are going. It is an effort to take advantage of Mary's knowledge one last time since begging her to stay has not yielded the desired results.

After a rabid fox bit a US Representative and 8 other people in Washington DC, A Matter of Public Health is exploring rabies in West Michigan and what you can do to protect yourself, your family, and your pets.

"There is no where to from here ." April Hight of KCHD's Personal Health Services says we are running out of treatments for gonorrhea. Worse yet, cases have doubled in the last decade and the pandemic has not made things any better. In this episdeo we talk about what you can do, what services the Kent County Health Deprtment provides and how you can access them.

This week Dr. Adam London, Director of the Kent County Health Deaprtment, discusses the recent changes to mask guidance by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. This episode was recorded on February 17, 2022.

Kent County Health Department Communications Manager and Host Steve Kelso sits down with KCHD Director, Dr. Adam London to discuss the latest numbers in Kent County. Dr. Nirali Bora, KCHD Medical Director joins by phone to talk about Pfizer's announcement that it is seeking approval for a vaccine for kids younger than 5.

Dr. Adam London, Director of the Kent County Health Department sits down with Communications Manager Steve Kelso to discuss the latest on COVID-19 in Kent County

Hello Kent County, I'm Dr. Adam London, Director of the Kent County Health Department. I want to wish you and everyone in our community a very Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and an amazing new year. I also wish you a healthy and a safe holiday season. We've come a long way in the past 12 months. Sadly, we've lost hundreds of people who were dear to us. Some of whom were young, healthy, and they were robbed of decades of life. And everyone we've lost was a precious and sacred part of our community. We're going to miss them all dearly and we're going to feel their absence during this holiday season. I think it is important to remember that the case mortality rate here in Kent County is approximately 1%, that's half of the state, national, and international case mortality rate. This is due to your good work and the good work of amazing people who have made sacrifices small and large for the protection of all of us. I'm proud of everyone who has helped roll out safe and effective vaccines to hundreds of thousands of residents. It's been an undertaking like nothing else in American history. I think of the massive testing efforts, the many vaccine clinics that have been set up – including the West Michigan Vaccine Clinic at DeVos Place which operated last winter and spring, and the many that are operating right now at clinics, health departments, and pharmacies in neighborhoods throughout west Michigan. And I think of all who have done the right things to reduce risk such as wearing facial coverings in indoor public places. To those of you who have helped in these efforts, you are truly heroic and you are great Americans. The hard truth, however, is that we have a had a very bad month. As a community, we've done a lot to decrease the severity of the Delta wave of COVID19 cases. However, our hospitals have been at capacity or over capacity for quite some time now. We have been losing Kent County residents every day. And as I mentioned, some of them have been very young. It breaks my heart to know that we're going to lose some more people before the holidays…maybe even someone who's watching this video right now. If you are unvaccinated, we need your help and more importantly we need you. The vast majority of the people that we losing at this moment were unvaccinated. You may disagree with me and you may dislike me, but please know: I do not want anything bad to happen to you. I've seen far too many people and far too many families find out far too late that COVID is a very bad thing. Lives that could have been saved by a proven, tested, and safe medicine: vaccine. For more information about the vaccine, please go to vaccinatewestmi.com or simply contact any of the countless locations where it is available right now. And again, I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Sadly, we've now lost 1,000 Kent County residents to COVID-19, we're still seeing many hundreds of new cases daily. Our local hospitals have well over 400 people hospitalized at this moment and about 100 in intensive care – nearly all of those people were unvaccinated.

The United States is experiencing a blood shortage due to a lack of donors.In West Michigan the situation is described as critical. Hear what you can do to help and why this is happening now on this edition of A Matter of Public Health

Dr. Adam London director of the Kent County Health Department talks with Dr. Andrew Jameson, Division Chief of Infectious Diseases at Mercy Health.

In this episode we learn how radon levels can be dealt with through mitigation. Guests on this episode include Brendan Earl of the KCHD. He underscores the importance of testing. Aaron Berndt, the Indoor Radon Specialist for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, will us through the steps you need to take after you have discovered radon in your home. Nancy Bredhoff, President of the National Radon Safety Board (NRSB). The NRSB offers independent certification and accreditation for radon mitigation specialists. Bredhoff shares valuable information about choosing a contractor and the costs of mitigation. Communications Manager for the Western Michigan Better Business Bureau, Troy Baker has information for consumers to avoid hiring the wrong contractor.

Flu season 2019-2020 is upon us but there are other upper respiratory illnesses that are “going around.” So much so, that area hospitals are asking people who are sick to refrain from visiting loved ones and friends who are hospitalized. Guests on this episode from KCHD are Epidemiologist Briand Hartl and Immunizations Supervisor Mary Wisinski. Do you want to do your part to stop the spread of disease? You will hear from Dr. Kristi Artz from Spectrum Health who says, there's an APP for that. For more information about the flu: www.cdc.gov/flu/

What is radon and why do you need to be concerned about it? Do have radon in my home? You will be surprised when you learn the answers to these and many more questions. Guests on this episode include Dr. Adam London, Administrative Health Officer at the Kent County Health Department, Brendan Earl, KCHD Supervising Sanitarian and Aaron Berndt who is the Indoor Radon Specialist for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. For more information about Radon: www.cdc.gov/features/protect-home-radon/ www.epa.gov/radon

Kent County Health Department Epidemiologist Brian Hartl separates the fact from the fiction when it comes to getting your flu shot. Hartl talks about the difficult science of predicting the flu season and why the vaccine is more effective some years than others. For more information about the flu vaccine: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/vaccinations.htm