Immunization clinic
Immunization clinic
NILES
The Niles City Health Department, 34 W. State St., is offering a children’s immunization clinic on Wednesday by appointment only. Call 330-544-9000, ext. 3, to schedule an appointment.
The cost is $10 via cash or check, and Caresource, United Healthcare Community Plan and Medicaid are also accepted. Insurance cards are required.
Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian or a signed permission note if someone else brings the child. Participants must bring an up-to-date shot record, and children should be fever- and rash-free.
Help Hotline grant
YOUNGSTOWN
Help Hotline Crisis Center Inc. received a $5,000 grant from the Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation to help fund the 24/7 crisis hot line that works with senior citizens, a high-risk group for suicide in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Help Hotline is also funded by the Area Agency on Aging 11 Inc., the Mahoning County Mental Health and Recovery Board, the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board, United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley and United Way of Trumbull County.
For information on Help Hotline, call 211.
Fit-Friendly Worksite
YOUNGSTOWN
Mercy Health-Youngstown has been recognized as a Platinum-Level Fit-Friendly Worksite by the American Heart Association for helping employees eat better and move more.
Fit-friendly workplace amenities at Mercy Health-Youngstown include marked walking routes, on-site fitness centers at two of its hospitals, healthful meal options in the cafeterias, incentives for maintaining one’s health as determined by weight, blood pressure, waist circumference and blood sugar levels, and discounted memberships to fitness centers throughout the community.
Plea to baby boomers
COLUMBUS
The Ohio Department of Health is urging Ohio baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964, to get tested for hepatitis C.
In addition, ODH recommends that certain individuals be tested for hepatitis B, including anyone born in Asia or the Pacific Islands, except Australia and New Zealand; and anyone who lives with someone who has hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B is usually spread when blood, semen or another body fluid from a person infected with the hepatitis B virus enters the body of someone who is not infected. Hepatitis C is usually spread when blood from a person infected with the hepatitis C virus enters the body of someone who is not infected.
If left untreated, hepatitis B and hepatitis C can lead to serious liver problems, including liver cancer.
Preventable diseases
CHICAGO
Addressing the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States, a new policy adopted by the nation’s physicians at the American Medical Association’s annual meeting, seeks more-stringent state immunization requirements to allow exemptions only for medical reasons.
Immunization programs in the U. S. are credited with having controlled or eliminated the spread of epidemic diseases, including smallpox, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria and polio. Immunization requirements vary from state to state, but only two states bar non-medical exemptions based on personal beliefs, according to the AMA.
“When people are immunized, they also help prevent the spread of disease to others,” said AMA Board Member Dr. Patrice A. Harris.