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Dec. 11, 2019 UPSP 213-200
Vol. 155, No. 29
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Missourian
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Spread cheer, not germs this season The total number of influenza cases in Missouri recently surpassed the 1,500 mark, and the state has received three reports of influenza-associated deaths this season. As preparations are made for holiday gatherings, getting the annual flu shot should be on the to-do list so that holiday cheer can be spread rather than influenza. The Daviess County Health Department still has flu shots available. Walk-in day is every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Dec. 24 when the health department will close at 12 noon. It is important to remember that flu is hard to predict, but anyone can help prevent the spread of the flu. The best way to prevent seasonal flu is to get vaccinated every year. “For those who haven’t already been vaccinated, it is important to know that it’s not too late,” said Dr. Randall Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. “We are approaching the peak of flu season, so now is still a great time to protect yourself and others around you by being vaccinated.” How can you prevent the flu? ●●Get a yearly flu vaccination. ●●Avoid close contact with sick people.
●●Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub. ●●Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it. ●●Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. ●●Clean and disinfect commonly touched surfaces.
●●Stay home while you’re sick and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. How does the flu spread? Flu viruses are thought to spread mainly from person to person through droplets made when people with flu cough, sneeze or talk. Flu viruses also may spread when people touch something with flu virus on it and then touch their mouth, eyes or nose. Many other viruses spread these ways, too. People infected with flu may be able to infect others begin-
ning one day before symptoms develop and up to 5-7 days after becoming sick. That means you may be able to spread the flu to someone else before you know you are sick as well as while you are sick. Young children, those who are severely ill, and those who have severely weakened immune systems may be able to infect others for longer than 5-7 days. How do I know I have the flu? The flu usually comes on suddenly. People who have the flu often feel some or all of these symptoms: Fever or feeling feverish/chills, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, fatigue (tiredness). Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea, though this is more common in children than adults. What do I do when I have flu? Most people with flu have mild illness and do not need medical care or antiviral drugs. If you get sick with flu symptoms, drink plenty of water and other clear liquids to prevent dehydration; get plenty of rest; and treat symptoms such as fever with over-the-counter medicines. In addition, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people except to get medical care. You should stay home
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Wendy Cannell earns IP certification Wendy Cannell recently became an Infection Preventionist (IP) - Board Certified in October of this year. She is a Registered Nurse at Redwood of Cameron Nursing and Rehab facility. Ms. Cannell’s job is to help prevent the spread of infections, bacteria and viruses in the healthcare environment, which targets a specific population of patients, staff and visitors. As an IP, she makes sure everyone is doing the right things to keep patients and other healthcare professionals and visitors safe. Patient safety is the number on priority.
She employs standard precautions used for all patient care. Standard precautions are measures that reduce the risk of transmission of infection from known and unknown sources. She makes use of common sense practices, such as: ●●hand washing hygiene, which is the most effective method to prevent transmission of pathogens (germs) associated with healthcare; ●●personal protective equipment; *needle stick and sharp instrument injury prevention; ●●cleaning and disinfection; *respiratory hygiene and cough
Wendy Cannell with her IP certification and Jodi Frazier, facility administrator at Redwood in Cameron
etiquette; *waste disposal; ●●*safe injection practices; and ●●transmission based precautions contact, droplet and airborne. Her job also involves investigating and reporting incidents of communicable disease to prevent, identify and control infectious outbreaks. Responsibilities include gathering, analyzing and presenting infection data, facts and trends to healthcare workers; providing training and education; identifying infection risk; and reinforcing the implementation of infection control practices. She is also responsible for the antibiotic stewardship program (ASP). ASP is a set of coordinated strategies to improve the use of antimicrobial medications with the goal of enhancing patient health outcomes, reducing resistance to antibiotics and decreasing unnecessary costs. ASP are designed to optimize the treatment of infections while reducing the adverse events, side effects, associated with antibiotic use. Since antimicrobial resistance is increasing and antimicrobial drug development is slowing, part of her job is to determine whether to treat and choose the right antibiotic. Wendy is a 1980 graduate of Winston R-6 High School. She has been a licensed nurse since 1986. She became a certified Director of Nursing in 2013. Her children are Bobbie Gray, Jessica Holcomb, Jared and Travis Holcomb, all of Gallatin.
Shown, from left, are Bob Parker, past ASCS director, Larry Belshe, Mandi Bird, current FSA director, and Kirby Payne, past FSA director.
Belshe retires from Daviess County’s Farm Service Agency committee This month, Larry Belshe is retiring from the Farm Service Agency County Committee after serving the producers of Daviess County for 24 years. Belshe began farming in 1971 after obtaining a degree from the University of Missouri in animal science and moving back to Gallatin. In 1984, he was elected by local producers to serve on the Daviess County Committee under the Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS). Over the next 35 years, he would serve a total of 24 years on the ASCS Committee including when it transitioned to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) Committee in 1995. County committees are made up of farmers and ranchers elected by other producers in their communities to guide the delivery of farm programs at the local level. Committee members play a critical role in the day-today operations of FSA. Committees meet to make important decisions on disaster and conservation programs, emergency programs, commodity price
support loan programs, county office employment and other agricultural issues. County Committee members are elected to three-year terms and can serve nine consecutive years before having to sit out for one term, and then if re-elected can serve another nine consecutive years and so on. Larry served on the committee under three different county executive directors. When he was first elected in 1984, Bob Parker was the director. After Bob became the district director, Larry served a total of 16 years for past director, Kirby Payne. Larry finished his last term with Mandi Bird as the director beginning in 2017. “On behalf of the Daviess County FSA staff and producers, we would like to thank Larry for his 24 years of service and dedication to agriculture and to this community,” said Mandi Bird. Wesley Gay of Gallatin was elected to serve on the County Committee on Dec. 5 and will take Larry’s place on the committee effective Jan. 1, 2020.
City flushes out plans for sewer plant clarifier Discussion regarding how to correct a clarifier at the wastewater treatment plant continued at the meeting of the City of Gallatin held Dec. 9. According to City Administrator Lance Rains, during the flooding on Memorial Day Weekend the clarifier was raised by nine inches on one side and two inches on the other side from the hydraulic pressure. The mayor was authorized to sign and execute the engineer agreement for professional services with Allstate Consultants. The contract is to perform a Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) that will be used to give the city some alternatives on how to correct the clarifier problem. The city has applied to State and Federal Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA/ FEMA) for declaration grant funds and have been told that the city “should” be granted up to $128,900 for the repairs, which
probably isn’t going to cover the cost of repairs. The contract with Allstate will also provide for an overall wastewater system evaluation. “We want to reduce the amount of infiltration and inflow water getting into our system that we have to treat,” Rains said. “By reducing the amount of wastewater that we have to treat we will also reduce the cost of treatment.” The city won’t have a cost for fixing the clarifier until after the PER is completed. For help with financing the project, the board approved an application for a Clean Water Small Community Engineering Assistance Grant. The grant is through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and for improvements related to new permit requirements and/or inflow and infiltration reduction. Rains has also been in contact with Community (continued on page 12)