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CONGRATULATIONS!
HEPATITIS OUTBREAK INFORMATION
Jackie Provost, has been named the
"Employee of the Quarter" at Chemawa
Indian Health Service. Jackie was
nominated by her fellow employees for
the recognition, with the final selec
tion made by Jim Edge, Service Unit Di
rector. Jackie's name will be engraved on a
plaque which will be placed in the
waiting room, and a letter of accomoda
tion will go . into her personnel file,
according to Edge.
Jackie is the first employee to be rec
ognized under the new "Employee of the
Quarter" program.
NURSING PROGRAM
The Northwest Portland Area Indian
Health Board is now taking applications
for their 1987 NW Indian Nursing Re
cruitment Program's six-week Sumer En
richment Program (SEP) . The Program
will' once again be held at Clark Col
lege in Vancouver, Washington from Au
gust 1 to September 12, 1987. Ten
slots are available. Applicants must
be Indian, reside in Oregon, Idaho, or
Washington, and be acepted at a college
in Oregon, Idaho or Washington. Appli
cants will be judged on academic per
formance, knowledge of current Indian
health issues and commitment to the
inprovement of Indian health, and on a
letter of recommendation.
The NW Indian Nursing Recruitment Pro
gram provides for transportation to and
from the training site, room and board,
instructional fees and supplies and a
small stipend for living expenses.
The students will be involved in an
intense six-week program of academics,
nursing skills, and career exploration
that is designed to prepare them for
the rigors of nursing education. Each
student spends one day per week with a
nurse in a hospital, clinic, or private
practice setting. Last year all but
one student was able to view the birth
of a baby.
Prospective students may write to Tina
Baldomaro, Secretary NW Indian Nursing
Recruitment Program 123 2nd Ave., Suite
321 Portland, Oregon 97209 or call
(503) 228-4185 for application packets.
Completed application packets are due
back no later than May 31, 1987. Se
lection of 10 candidates and 5 alter
nates will be made June 3. They will
be notified June 5.
The program is funded by: Health and
Human Services Nursing Special Projects
Grant and a supplemental grant from the
Portland Area Office - Indian Health
Service.
WHAT IS HEPATITIS "A"?
Hepatitis A (previously known as infec
tious hepatitis) is an infection of the
liver caused by a virus. Most cases
are quite mild and may go unrecognized,
especially in children. Adults con
tract the disease less frequently but
are more often ill. Death from hepati
tis A is very rare, but disability in
adults is common: In 1979, the average
cost of an attack of hepatitis A in
adults was about $1,000 for medical
care and lost salary.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS?
If symptoms occur they may begin 2-6
weeks after exposure (the average time
is 4 weeks) . Symptoms include fever,
chills, loss of appetite, nausea, vom
iting, fatigue, pain in right upper
abdomen, dark urine, light-colored
stool, jaundice (yellowing of the skin
and whites of the eyes) . In people who
have no symptoms at all; the presence
of the disease-producing virus is de
tectable only by specific blood tests.
HOW IS IT SPREAD?
Hepatitis A is spread primarily through
the fecal-oral route: exposure to the
virus in an infected person's stool di-
illness. Because individuals may be
more or less severely affected with the
disease, medical advice may not be the
same for each patient.
5. To protect their own health, persons
with hepatitis A should resume activity
only after being cleared by their phy
sician. rectly (as a parent or day care worker
diapering an infected infant) or
through uncooked foods contaminated by
the patient after inadequate hand-washing.
Open water can be contaminated
with sewage, depositing virus on shell
fish. Occasionally, improperly con
structed or maintained water supply
systems may become contaminated and
spread the virus widely. Hepatitis A
may also be sexually transmitted.
HOW LONG IS A PERSON WITH HEPATITIS A
INFECTIOUS?
The infectious period of a hepatitis A
patient is from two weeks before symp
toms appear to two weeks after. A pa
tient is most infectious just before
-symptoms appear.
WHAT IS. THE TREATMENT?
1. The disease must be allowed to run
its course, . since no medicine can cure
hepatitis A.
i
2. Most patients recover completely
without hospitalizations, but convales
cence may take several weeks.
3. Some of the symptoms, such as vomit
ing, itching, and pain can be relieved
with medicine. Consult your physician
for advice on medication which you can
safely take when you have hepatitis.
4. Most physicians advise persons with
hepatitis to eat a balanced diet or a
high carbohydrate diet, to rest, and to
avoid alcohol until recovered from the
HOW IS HEPATITIS A PREVENTED?
1. Immune globulin should be given to
household contacts, sexual contacts,
and those for whom the patient prepared
meals while heshe was infectious. Im
mune globulin is not 100 effective
when given after exposure but even if
the person receiving it develops hepa
titis A, the disease is usually less
severe and less infectious.
2. As there are several kinds of hepa
titis with different recommendations
for each, many health departments re
quest that a specific test to identify
the virus be done in order to take ap
propriate preventive steps.
3. Persons with hepatitis A should not
handle or prepare food for others, work
in day care centers, or health care
facilities.
4. Sexual intercourse should be avoided
with a patient while heshe is infec
tious. 5. Good hand-washing should be prac
ticed after using the toilet, diapering
children, emptying bed pans, cleaning
toilets, providing personal care, or
before preparing food.
6. Persons in contact with hepatitis A
cases will not be able to donate blood
for at least 6 months by American Red
Cross regulations.
CAUTION!!!
NO HONEY DURING YOUR BABY'S FIRST
YEAR1 1 !
Infant Botulism is a special form of
botulism that affects the nervous sys
tems of only young babies. The disease
is caused by spores of the botulism
bacteria that may be contained in
honey, and the main symptoms are those
of muscle paralysis.
CALL YOUR DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY IF:
1) Your healthy baby is too weak to
suck, has a feeble cry, or shallow
breathing.
2) The baby's arms and legs become
weak.
3) The baby's head becomes floppy be
cause the neck is weak.
If a baby is thought to have Infant
Botulism it will have to be hospital
ized, often in an intensive care unit.
The average cost per day is approxi
mately $1,500.00.
To be safe, rather than sorry:
DO NOT add honey to your baby's
food, water, or formula.
DO NOT dip your baby's pacifier in
honey.
DO NOT give your baby honey as a
sweetener or medicine.
Remember, honey is OK for older chil
dren and adults but NOT for infants
under one year of age.