On the La County Public Health Officer, Kim Miller is with us today.
Good morning, Kim.
Good morning, Bob.
So we got a couple of things we wanted to talk to you about.
One of the first is it's National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week.
Maybe you could tell us a little bit about how lead can affect our health, and particularly with children.
Yeah, so having it lead poisoning prevention week, great opportunity for us to make awareness of it and talk about it a little bit.
So that's just what we're here to do today.
So I'm gonna start off by saying many people assume lead poisoning is a problem of the past because lead was removed from many products decades ago, but lead hazards are still present, particularly in our older homes.
And that's kind of Bob where we see it.
We get all results of kid lead testing that is elevated, where we would maybe need to contact that family, talk with them, and try to make sure that they're aware of how they can make sure they get the lead levels in their children down.
And so with that being said, most of the time when we are kind of assessing kids' lead levels that are a little high, we find that about 90% of the time it is in children that were exposed to lead-based paint.
And so when we're talking about lead-based paint, just in general, residential use of lead-based paint was banned in 1978.
Homes built before that contain lead-based paint, especially if the paint was deteriorating or renovations disturbed that painted surfaces, that's where we end up finding where kids are exposed to that lead-based paint.
So people that are most at risk, young children, particularly those under the age of six, are especially vulnerable because their brains and nervous systems are still developing.
And also they frequently put their hands and objects in their mouth.
And so if that object or their hands have touched lead-based paint objects or maybe deteriorating paint from a windowsill, for example, they put that in their mouth and that's how they get that lead-based paint in their system.
Well, you know, some folks will probably go, well, my home isn't that old, so how are they going to get exposed to lead?
You could pick up an item at a garage sale that has lead-based paint.
You could.
The other thing that we need to consider is where is that child spending most of their time?
Your house might be fairly new, but where do they go to daycare?
A lot of in-home daycares have kids there all day long.
They spend more time at that daycare that they do at their own home.
So how old is that daycare home?
you know, that might be where they're picking up the high lead levels if that's what's happening.
And so let's say there are high lead levels in children.
It can be easily reversed.
You just need to be aware of where that source is, understand how they're getting that lead in their system, and then work to remove that.
And so that is something that our public health nurses
in our lead program.
That's how we work with parents and families to ensure that we get that lead level down.
Because the longer they're exposed, the more chances they have of longer term effects where it can affect how a child's body grows and their brain develops.
And so that's our big concern is, okay, we identify somebody has a high lead level.
Okay.
Awareness is key.
Now we got to figure out where it's coming from so we can get that lead level down as quickly as possible.
Well another potential source though is water because I know the state and the cities have have invested quite a bit in replacing old lead line pipes that provide water to their homes.
Yeah that definitely can be but we always
and how we assess where that lead source is coming from, we always start with the lead-based paint in a home and identify what that looks like.
And like I said, about 90% of the time that is the source and it isn't the water here in Fond du
Lac.
Okay, who knew back in the day, you know, but anyway,
it's still
a problem.
Maybe we can talk to you a little bit, Kim, about flu vaccine.
Is the health department still doing those shots?
We do.
So we offer free flu vaccine for children through our Vaccines for Children program.
This year we've given an opportunity for all of our school districts.
The majority of them took us up on the opportunity.
So the last couple weeks we've been in the school districts except the final act school district.
So if you do belong with the final act school district, we were not in your school, but it doesn't mean you can't take up the opportunity to get a free flu vaccine if you wanted one.
So we went into the schools, Bob, the last couple of weeks and offered it to any parents that wanted to, you know, take up this opportunity.
It was free of cost and great opportunity to get it done.
And where a parent doesn't need to take them to a provider's office, you know, after school, for example.
And the providers also appreciate that too.
So if you are in the final act school district and you have not gotten your child vaccinated,
for influenza, you can call our office and schedule a quick appointment.
I mean, it would take probably five minutes or less.
But I just, you know, you could walk in, but I do ask just to make sure that you're not waiting in any way.
I would just ask that you call ahead.
We can schedule an appointment and you can get here very quickly.
So we still have vaccine here from the vaccine that we gave during our flu clinics with the schools.
We have enough vaccine where if somebody needed one and you are a child with Fond du Lac County, we can offer that for your child.
Okay.
So Medicare, Medicaid, pick up those costs and some insurance companies will also pay for them.
Yes.
If you're talking in general terms, the seasonal influenza, yes.
If you go to, you know, a local pharmacy or your provider, typically that will be free of cost.
You know, you just need to schedule that appointment.
We don't have paying flu vaccine, so Bob, if you wanted to come here and get a flu vaccine, I don't have flu vaccine for you as an adult, but we do for children, free of cost.
Okay.
Kim, we just wanted to check with you.
We know, for the most part, measles has been an issue in some Wisconsin counties, but not Fond du Lac County.
No, not yet, but again, it's just a car ride away.
you know, talking about measles provides an opportunity for us just to share that awareness that it is in many counties surrounding Final Act County, more in the southern area.
Most of these cases are related to outbreaks in Pennsylvania in our plain community, but you know, there are a couple cases.
Rich Lynn County.
And I want to say Rock County, Marathon County.
These cases are not related to the Southwest Wisconsin outbreak, but again, related to travel where they picked it up somewhere else.
They were not vaccinated and they were exposed and now they're infectious.
Yeah, we're coming up on the holidays when you see more relatives.
So you could be exposed to it by someone from a different part of the state or a different state entirely.
Yeah, so the biggest piece here is that the vaccine is extremely protective.
It is effective and protective.
So if you in any way are concerned with picking up measles somewhere, you need to ask yourself, are you fully vaccinated?
And if you're not sure if you're vaccinated, you can call the health department or your primary care provider.
We can look up your records to see if you are vaccinated.
And if not, you know, work with your primary care provider to get fully vaccinated.
We can vaccinate, you know, just that small population of individuals that are on medical assistance and are not fully vaccinated, specifically children.
But if you are an adult or you have a peer source, call your primary care provider and get fully vaccinated.
It's as simple as that.
Okay.
Kim, we're coming up on a time change.
Does that have a physical impact on some people?
Yeah, can you repeat that?
We're coming up on daylight saving time ending.
Does
that time
change affect people's health?
Yeah, you know, I definitely think it does.
You know, I think our body gets in such a rhythm with the light.
um outside that we see and so when we change that um you know our body is is definitely affected you can do things to help improve that you know go to sleep you know even just a half an hour earlier or wake up you know a half an hour earlier you know just to kind of like tweak that a little bit um to help your body um transition um before it does happen but
Again, I would say, you know, in general terms, you know, everybody kind of goes through the, you know, oh, it just, it feels a lot later than really what it is or it feels a lot earlier than when, you know, what it is, you know, just based on, you know, when the time change is and are we falling back or are we, you know, springing forward?
Kim, thank you so much for your time to this morning.
Thank you, Bob.