Newspaper Page Text
10A
APRIL 3,1997 . AUGUSTA FOCUS
Vaccination added to list
of school requirements
ATLANTA
(AP) Children need to be immu
nized against hepatitis B because
it often is undetectable until they
become adults with liver disease, a
Georgia public health official said.
Georgia is requiring children in
kindergarten, pre-kindergarten or
day care be immunized against
the blood-borne disease by Sep
tember although only 47 people,
none under 15, were reported as
diagnosed with it in the state last
year.
Hepatitis B requires three immu
nizations that take at least four
New drug research targets asthma
By Larry Lucas
Columnist
Asthmaisontheincrease. Luck
ily, so is pharmaceutical research
on this chronic and sometimes
deadly disease.
About 14 million Americans have
asthma—and hospitalizationsand
deaths from this disease areonthe
rise. Asthma accounted for about
half a million hospitalizations in
1990, a 10 percent increase over
the 1987 figure. And between 1980
and 1993, asthma deaths increased
by 66 percent. More than 4,000
people die of asthma each year.
Asthma is a particular problem
in the African-American commu
nity. According to the American
Lung Association, 22 percent more
African Americans suffer from
asthma than white Americans.
What, exactly, is asthma?
INTRODUCING ,
SM F :
THE PUBLIX BABY CLUB g 3
Gl [ 8 g
St .f» iy *-n; }jé "é{:‘ ‘«
NOW THESE LITTLE PIGGIES = - by
£ “‘ifi & I've heard a lot of new mothers talk about Apgar scores for newborn
< § infants. What are Apgar scores and why will my baby be given these
g ® scores?
As soon as your baby is born, a delivery nurse will set one timer for one
minute and another for five minutes. When each of these time periods is up,
anurse or physician will give your baby his first tests, called Apgars.
A The scoring system is named after Virginia Apgar, its creator, and helps
/ @ ® the physician measure your baby's general condition at birth. The test
™ . measures your baby's heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflex response
&5 @ andcolor. It cannot predict how healthy he will be as he grows up or how
he will develop; nor does it indicate how bright he is or what his personality
islike. Butit does alert the hospital staffif he is sleepier or slower to respond
thannormal andmay beinneedof assistance as he adapts tohis newworld
outside thewomb. Eachcharacteristicinthetestis givenanindividual score
between zero and two, and then the scores are totaled. About nine out of
ten newborns in the country have a total score in the eight to 10 range.
Because their hands and feet remain blue until they are quite warm, few
- score a perfect 10.
If your baby’s Apgar score is between five and seven at one minute, he
may have experienced some problems during birth which lowered the
oxygen in his blood. In this case, the staff will probably dry him vigorously
withatowelandhold oxygenunder his nose. This should starthimbreathing
deeply andimprove his oxygen supply sothat his five-minute Apgar scores
total between eight and 10.
. A small percentage of newbomns (primarily premature babies or C
sectionbabies) havescoresoflessthanfive. These scoresreflectdifficulties
the baby experienced during labor, or problermns with his heartor respiratory
system.
Information provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics, from the book,
Caring for Your Baby and Young Child. :
Expect a lot from PUBLIX. Is there a baby in your house—or in your future? P
Join the PUBLIX Baby Club and you can start expecting '
all kinds of wonderful things, all for FREE! : . .
When it comes to babies, PUBLIX delivers. Bt
Oubil:
Where shopping is a pleasure SUPER MARKET!
monthstogive. Aboutonein 20 Ameri
cans has or has had the disease.
“You have to be very careful
when you talk about reporting
because many children are not
reported,” said Peggy Monkus, the
coordinator for the hepatitis pro
gram for the Department of Hu
‘man Resources Division of Public
Health. “They’re supposed to be
reported but they often are not.”
Children often acquire the dis
ease from infected mothersat birth
typically show only mild symp
toms for years. It can lead to liver
disease, often for people in their
It'salungdisease characterized
by wheezing, coughing and short
ness of breath caused by obstruc
tion or narrowing of the patient’s
airways. Asthma attacks are often
triggered by smoke, pollen, air pol
lutants and other irritants.
If you think you or someone in
your family has asthma, check it
out with a doctor right away. Your
doctor can help you manage this
disease and avoid acute attacks
that could send you to the emer
gency room. The National Asthma
Educationand Prevention Program
recently issued new guidelines to
help patients take control of their
asthmatreatment. The guidelines
call for patients to work with their
doctorsto develop written personal
plans to control the illness. An
individual plan would include daily
medication and instructions on
what to do in case of a breathing
Livingßetter
20s or 30s.
“Physicians don’t know to treat
children for hepatitis B unless
there is something else they check
for and find it,” she said.
Many children have received the
shots under routine pediatric care,
state health officials said, but as
many as 80 percent in the targeted
age group may not have received
the complete series. The shots are
given along with other childhood
vaccinations, the first often admin
istered at birth in the hospital.
“Families with new babies won’t
have any problem,” said Michael
Crisis.
There are a variety of prescrip
tiondrugsavailabletotreatasthma.
Theseinclude: bronchodilator medi
cines torelax constricted bronchial
airways and medications such as
cromolyn sodium and steroids to
prevent attacks. Just last year, a
new approach to asthma treatment
became available. The Food and
Drug Administration approved two
new medicines that block the effect
of natural substances in the body
that can contribute to symptoms.
I'recently met a 17-year-old boy
from Texas who told me how one of
these new medicines, Accolate®,
has changed hislife. Paul Watrous
was diagnosed with asthma when
he was three, and he spent a lot of
time in hospitals when he was
growing up. One year, he was hos
pitalized 15 times. He missed a lot
of school and so did his mother, a
Chaney, director of the public
health division.
Ninety percent of 2-year-olds
seen at public health clinics in
Georgia last year were fully im
munized against hepatitis B,
health officials said, adding that
side eifects are rare.
State Public Health Director
Patrick J. Meehan said requiring
theimmunization for the first time
for school entry ensures the popu
lation is widely protected.
“It’sasafeand cost-effective way
to prevent a serious disease,”
Meehan said.
teacher. He started taking this
new drug four years ago, as a part
of a clinical trial. Since then, he
hasn’t spent one night in the hospi
tal. He’s graduating from high
school early, and will go on to col
lege next year.
There’s still no cure for asthma,
but pharmaceutical companiesare
looking for one. Meanwhile, people
with asthma can lead full lives by
consulting a doctor and developing
a treatment plan that’s right for
them.
For more information about
asthma, write to the Asthma and
Allergy Network/Mothers of Asth
matics, Inc., 3554 Chain Bridge
Road, Suite 200, Fairfax, VA 22030-
2709, or call 1-800-878-4403.
Larry Lucas is Associate Vice
President of the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of
American (PhRMA).
'§ i %
Synergic
‘h yo T gIC
' % presents
5 ¥ . b Wit ¥
o "y )‘»%. ol
. - S‘e‘-?’« . 3 4 : #
} o e "L -
: g X '-’) e "" by .
o, ¥ ty) &5 é,-’)'.
4. Yo -
i LR % 2. Are
Y W e br S
oy s TSR eI
s B 8 Q‘- }&n\,“ % ‘ §
s a T o A g
A R Ty ~
3 W eit e ?
N En, P " Y ‘
3 O i ; vi) S A Ty
Sl @ ol
i N Ly g ; - %
W LT R TR ;
&3 - 13 »'“‘ W# b g %@ £ " v
T ¢ R el .
P - fimx .- e S
o Al bt » T .
S [ 524 : ': " "T >{ v »
TR BT ."A l :
‘f:gf’ ~:f' R} ) 1 . W
:Re - »
a sl LA . ® g™
ke ‘? ; e N 3
(‘ Re 4 - ) e 4 .
: JN}I OF % 3 ,
»o%i‘* 4"‘ ;'rw" “!‘-:‘ ‘_ i
4 . - . 9 1'
“«a ) PAVNINe . 4 , "‘";f:‘« b
i " e Ry 4 w4OO 1
b W M'”; ' CHER N,’ ‘
I"“, rt';|.”'l " 4 " P
& YoaE & \‘; .“.3- 4& R P
B oo Ny AR e
¥ gt , i o e
e Therapy amd "
SpinCrapy o
R a i f-“"
.. Herbal Therapy i
crapy QR
% . oy . b 4
fiom aJohre | R,
. B .. anr. o o
o Troma Johee . i
j a 8 . N : Y + ™
k% DREY ¥eadx DMec pres o
By TN, o . b Ao e PUBONE i
NG T e iot
: ® T 4
e SR i R’ i Bllas '
.' u 3 " - \“. R a . '
L ™ oy Hosptl i v
&-4 R i glic De. O believes that sl
A 4 W L s My, et 1c
PR T R oo o
a T~ B
Learn while you’re on hold
Walton Rehabilitation Hospital
(Walton) handles approximately
5,600 phone calls a day—nearly
twomillion calls a year! With this
volume of calls, many callers are
invariably put on hold while they
wait for requested information.
Walton, however, has turned this
negative experience into a positive
one, with the use of creative on
hold messages that provide callers
with useful information about
health care and the hospital’s pro
grams and services.
As a member of Carondelet
Health System, Walton has
partnered with Sound Care, an At
lanta-based health data distribu
tor that researches, writes and
produces the on-hold messages.
House Bill 512 undecided at
Assembly session end
ATLANTA
Many issues are unresolved for
Georgians with disabilities as the
State General Assembly drawstoa
close. While housing accessibility
and the closing of Brook Run have
attracted attention throughout the
session, several pieces of legisla
tion will not be addressed until
next year.
The closing of Brook Run has
been a priority issue in discussions
about the budget, which has been
passed by the House. Although
disability rights activists support
ing home and community-based
care options are encouraged that
Georgia will begin to rely less on
institutional care for people with
disabilities, they are concerned that
a bill addressing the funding of
home and community-based ser
vices never even went to vote.
House Bill 512, sponsored by
Buddy Childers (D-13), proposed
the Department of Human Re
sources and the Department of
Medical Assistance provide a full
range of personal support services
Scripts are customized to the
health care needs of Walton, such
as how to reduce computer key
board strain to prevent carpal tun
nel syndrome, staying fit over 50
and why rehabilitation programs
are key to postsurgical recovery.
Registered nurses on Sound Care’s
staffendures the clinical integrity
ofevery message.
Since Walton began using
SoundCare’sservices, call abandon
mentand complaintshavedecreased
because waits are perceived to be
shorter. Anotherbenefitisthat call
ers hearing messages about health
proceduresorhospital services while
they are on hold have asked for
follow-up information leadingtoan
increased use of services. .
to Georgians of all ages and diag
noses. The legislation would make
home and community-based care
available to those who cannot ac
cess it currently and would have
provided a buffer for residents of
Brook Run and their families. How
ever, HBsl2remained in the House
Health and Ecology committee
throughout the session.
While a bill creating a state
trust fund for Georgians with brain
and spinal cord injuries by placing
additional fines on DUI violators
was voted unanimously through
both the Senate and the House, it
will not move to a full vote this
year. As the bill is coupled with a
resolution that must be voted at
the polls, the trust fund legislation
isheld up in the Rules committee.
RachelJonesof Friends and Sur
vivors Standing Together, a sup
port organization for survivors of
neurotrauma, expects the bill to
pass a full vote and become law
next year. “Lots of people were
educated. This was not a wasted
year,” said Jones.
R R eg S A BOSRE
L W e »%vfi;}i"’&”k e ‘&"*% St
% R T ge TR T e A
gt e A ?«:"fi%{ o }if‘ i
P S S e S S T S e
es ol %}:’% S i R
BRI
CBEIRRE R L s e
Wb e T i R
R R e Ge B
5 ‘&»ssl‘? ‘“‘*’E oR R SR »,,; éc E
R 3 SEL oA
e ¢ LSRR N
RS RN TR e R i R A R
SRR G 5 & SN
i S Lok
R Yt
Addieie o Lo ae
Jt%‘gaiéz.,‘ ‘ NN
N Y R
s e g
& g
e e e
e ol o & :
Ree o e
B e
SRR R e T 1 % _:C\ 8
R PR ) B il AR
B e R s ket R g
e ‘9», oo e (‘,;;1 Sé*
Os: g 3 oua s ¢
Lo : | x
:
b
%
g
e
b, . 0
[ Y
Pl 13
" " ‘*q’i\
s k'
e » -
gl e oy & N
i dw 2
N
" g
? q .
*
.
A o :
k 1 l
& o
>e - .
R
S P BBt g i
P ki -
s R 3
. . 1
& N April 26, 1997 ¢
b p y .
. ¢
¢ 10am-2pm |
P b 2
§ Aiken, S.C !
i ooy g Wl i
| ot ;
& W SISOO Admissi
| .o s
& W SISOO Admission 3
| LRt 3 3
) SRSI e 3 i A
BB ETC.
jPe - o
| Bt (i) ,V L M A ,‘,v §
B 8 137 Laurens St. SW.
TR 1 % LK, 3 1
. Al il
B e g 00 LAY
o PRI ST BT g 400 Y O
:‘J:‘:A.{E,yx"\ RS g4O g G
L SUS M- 000 ot
| B N L T e R i 5 . A
Rt egl I R L ,Z‘., L 5
.4