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- Live News
Conference - Alabama Governor Robert Bentley
will be holding a news conference on Tuesday, May 3 at
6:00 p.m. (CT) to provide an update on the impact of
the April 27, 2011 severe weather outbreak. Links for
the webcast will not be active until 5:45 p.m. Learn
more>>
- 2011 Alabama
Tornadoes - Alabama and surrounding states
experienced a severe weather outbreak on April 27. In
response, ADPH is offering information on federal
disaster assistance, volunteer opportunities, as well
as health and safety concerns and resources regarding
the aftermath of tornadoes. Learn
more>>
- Postponement of 5K
Run and Mother-Daughter Walk - The 5K Run and
Mother-Daughter Walk scheduled for April 30 has been
postponed until May 14. The devastation in Birmingham
and other areas of Alabama and the need to assist
those in need following the tornadoes has changed the
focus of sponsors' efforts to assisting displaced
women and families in need of shelter and massive
cleanup efforts. Learn
more>>
- Medicare EHR
Incentive Program Attestation - The Medicare
Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program began
April 19, 2011. Eligible professionals (EPs), eligible
hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) can
now attest through the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid (CMS) web-based attestation system and be on
their way to receiving Medicare EHR incentive
payments. Learn
more>>
- Personal
Responsibility Education Funding - The Alabama
Personal Responsibility Education Program (APREP)
seeks to provide funding to agencies to educate
adolescents on abstinence and contraception to prevent
pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Learn
more>>
- Imported Drywall
Advisory - Approximately six percent of the
3,810 Chinese drywall incident reports received by the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, as of March
14, 2011, were filed by Alabama homeowners. Learn
more>>
- Perinatal Loss
Bereavement Conference - The Montgomery Region
Community Action Team is pleased to offer an
opportunity for health professionals, social workers,
counselors, law enforcement, coroners or anyone who
may deal with perinatal and infant death issues to
participate in a conference on July 29. Learn
more>>
- Newborn Screening
Conference - The Alabama Newborn Screening
Program is pleased to offer an opportunity for health
professionals across the state to participate in the
Newborn Screening Conference on August 19. Learn
more>>
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Silence the Sounds of
Pertussis: Immunize to Help Vanquish Vaccine-Preventable
Diseases
In 2011 children still suffer
long-term complications and even death from pertussis,
also known as whooping cough. According to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, pertussis causes 10
to 20 deaths each year in the U.S. Pertussis is
currently circulating in Alabama, and immunization is
the best protection.
This highly contagious
bacterial infection can strike at any age, but pertussis
is particularly dangerous for babies who are too young
to be fully vaccinated. Its common name comes from the
classic "whoop" sound made when kids gasp for breath
after a severe coughing attack.
Vaccines offer
the best-known protection against pertussis and many
other infectious illnesses. Since the start of
widespread vaccinations in the United States, cases of
once common childhood illnesses such as measles and
diphtheria have declined dramatically.
Measles is
one of the most infectious diseases in the world, and
Alabama has enjoyed a marked improvement in its
incidence. In 1971, for example, 2,000 cases of measles
and two deaths were recorded in Alabama. The state has
seen no indigenous measles cases since 2002. Smallpox
has been eliminated worldwide, and cases of other
communicable diseases such as polio, diphtheria, and Hib
(Haemophilus influenzae type b) are at all-time lows.
The incidence of varicella (chicken pox) has decreased
markedly since a vaccine became available, but it is
also now circulating in Alabama.
April is an
excellent time of year for parents to prepare their
children and adolescents for the upcoming school year by
making sure their immunizations are current. Properly
timed immunizations provide protection both for your
children and for others who come into contact with
unvaccinated individuals.
Continued
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