Orange County Health Department

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Orange County Health Department is a unit of The Florida Department of Health,[1] charged with protecting the health and safety of visitors and residents of Orange County, FL.[2] The estimated daytime population of Orange County is 1.5 million people. Orange County has an estimated 51 million visitors per year including the major theme parks of Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Sea World. The County seat is Orlando, Florida.

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[edit] History

The Florida Board of Health began in Jacksonville in 1889. Dr. C.Y. Porter was the first leader of public health in the State of Florida. The oldest county health department in Florida was in Pensacola and dated from 1825. Orange County was a fairly rural county in the late 19th and early 20th Century. It was the sixth leading county in the US in agricultural production as recently as 1965. Orange County was originally a part of a much larger county known as "Mosquito County", when the state was added to the Union in 1824. Local county health departments were formed to help track and abate mosquito-borne diseases, organize local sanitation efforts, and provide basic immunizations and maternal and child health services. During the 1920s, tuberculosis was a leading cause of death in this community. The Orange County Health Department began during the Great Depression, in 1937, in the Old County Courthouse in downtown Orlando. There were also several outlying clinics which provided prenatal care, and well child care. Today the Orange County Health Department is the fifth largest county health department in the State of Florida.

[edit] Orange County Health Department

The Orange County Health Department is responsible for a single county jurisdiction that is larger in population than 8 US States and the District of Columbia. The Florida Department of Health's responsibilities include epidemiology, investigating foodborne, zoonotic and water-borne diseases, emergency preparedness and bioterrorism, controlling communicable disease, health promotion and education, school health, women's health, public health dentistry and oral health, WIC and nutrition, vaccine preventable diseases, eliminating health disparities, provision of vital records, and protecting the public's environmental health. In 2006, the Department opened a first in the U.S., hospital based vital records office, at Winter Park Memorial Hospital Florida Hospital. Publications by staff have included CDC MMWR investigations of food borne, water-borne, zoonotic, and other infectious diseases. "Storyboards" have been published, with graphics in toolkits, by the Public Health Foundation in Washington DC demonstrating that quality improvement efforts improved STD and HIV public health outcomes.[3] WIC and nutrition program staff collaborated with the Department of Health and published "The Whole Grain Choo-Choo Train" , a children's book which teaches small children about proper eating habits and nutrition.[4]

[edit] Ameoba deaths

In 2007, the death of three children in or near Orange County, due to a rare, deadly infection, Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, also known as PAM, has prompted a public health investigation in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control.[1] PAM is a water-borne infection caused by the amoebic organism, "Naglearia Fowlerii", that enters the brain through the nose, usually resulting in death. PAM is associated with swimming and water sports in fresh water bodies and inadequately chlorinated swimming pools. An increase of Naegleria Fowlerii may be seen with global climate change, given that PAM is more likely in warm water. [5] Orange County, FL has had 16 cases of Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, in 45 years, of 31 PAM cases recorded in the State of Florida. As of 1990, about 200 cases of PAM, Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, had been reported worldwide, and as of 2007, 132 cases in the U.S. PAM occurs throughout the world including colder climates, such as, the UK and Belgium. In 2007, PAM cases were also reported in Texas and Arizona. Water-borne diseases investigated by the Orange County Health Department, the Florida Department of Health and the CDC here, have also included Giardia, Cyclosporiasis and Cryptosporidiosis. Techniques for identifying Cyclosporiasis were first developed in central Florida. The Orange County Health Department, the Florida Department of Health and the CDC advises swimmers and water sports enthusiasts to wear nose plugs when the ambient temperatures exceed 80 degrees, when choosing to participate in fresh water activities. However these have not been shown to prevent the disease. Avoiding fresh water during the hot season appears to be the safest practice.[2][3] [4][5]

[edit] Legionnaire's outbreak

On March 14, 2008, a legionella outbreak involving two guests of a hotel in Orlando was epidemiologically traced to possible inadequate chlorination of the pool spa. On March 20 a third guest was confirmed to have had the disease. On April 4th, a fourth guest was confirmed to have had the disease. The Orange County Health Department worked with management to assess guest rooms, indoor air quality (IAQ), heating, ventilation and A/C (HVAC) systems, and other variables. The hotel was partially closed for a weekend while individual room assessments took place. The rooms and air conditioning systems tested negative for the disease. The Jacuzzi was the most likely source, though the first set of cultures, weeks after the possible exposures, was also negative.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Public health. Florida Department of Health. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  2. ^ OrangeCountyFL.net. Orange County Government, Florida. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  3. ^ "Storyboards, Orange County Health Department". Public Health Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-10-03.
  4. ^ Bowden, Diane. "The Whole Gain Choo-Choo Train". Florida Department of Health. 
  5. ^ "Toxicology in the New Century, Opportunities and Challenges - Proceedings of the 5th Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries  ; Volume 198, Issues 1-3, 20". 

[edit] External links