Dalton (GA) August 29, 2012 — Flu shots are now available at health departments in Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Murray, Pickens and Whitfield Counties, according to North Georgia Health District officials; and, each county will soon conduct Drive-by Flu Shot Clinics: the quickest, most convenient method for immunization against the flu. 

In addition to doses of the regular seasonal flu vaccine, health departments in five of the six counties within the district are offering high dose flu vaccine for people ages 65 and older. These counties include  Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens and Whitfield. 

The regular seasonal flu vaccine is $20 and the high dose flu shot is $50. At the Drive-by Flu Shot Clinics, the health departments are accepting cash, checks, Medicare and Medicaid as well as State Cigna and State United  Healthcare Insurances.

image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

21 Confirmed Cases, Including Three Deaths of WNV in Georgia
 
ATLANTA - The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is calling on all Georgians to guard against exposure to mosquitoes. DPH has identified 21 confirmed cases of the West Nile Virus (WNV) in the state.  Three cases have been fatal.
 
Confirmed cases are in the following counties: 1 - Bartow, 3 - Cobb, 1 - Columbia, 7 - Dougherty (including 2 deaths), 1 - Fulton, 1 - Forsyth, 1 - Early (including 1 death), 1 - Lee, 1 - Mitchell, 2 - Muscogee, 1 - Richmond, and 1 - Worth.  
 
Mosquitoes from 54 West Nile Virus monitoring sites in metro Atlanta and another 20 in coastal and south Georgia have tested positive for the virus that can lead to brain or spinal cord swelling, or even death. DPH has deemed these areas at high risk for WNV transmission.  
 
“The problem of mosquitoes and West Nile Virus appears to be escalating in Georgia and across the country,” said J. Patrick O’Neal, M.D., DPH’s director of health protection. “More West Nile Virus cases have been confirmed by the third week in August than at any time in the last 10 years."
 
Dr. O’Neal urges residents to prevent water from standing in containers - where mosquitoes thrive - and to observe the “Five D’s of WNV Prevention.”
 

Cherokee County Board of Health Chairman Russ Flynn and Nancy Stackhouse, Georgia's CDC Childhood Immunization Champion for 2012
Woodstock (GA) August 2, 2012 - Cherokee County Board of Health Chairman Russ Flynn has presented a letter of congratulations to Cherokee County Health Immunization Outreach Coordinator Nancy Stackhouse, LPN, on being named Georgia's CDC Childhood Immunization Champion for 2012.

In the letter given to Stackhouse at the quarterly Cherokee County Board of Health meeting on August 1, Flynn stated, "The Cherokee County Board of Health appreciates your leadership promoting childhood immunization through vaccination, education, and recognition of children in Cherokee County."

Stackhouse is involved in daily community promotion and education of childhood immunizations in her role with the Cherokee County Health Department. During the past twenty-nine years in public health, she has been a community leader in immunization issues while collaborating with schools, churches, businesses, and other agencies to foster childhood immunizations.

The CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award is a new annual award that recognizes one champion from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia who makes a significant contribution toward improving public health through his or her work in childhood immunization.

Awardees for this inaugural year were announced in conjunction with National Infant Immunization Week last April.

For more information about the new CDC Childhood Immunization Award, log onto http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niiw/champions/childhood.html.