Child Passenger Safety Week

The leading cause of death for children in the U.S. are road injuries. Having a child in a proper car seat and buckled properly can reduce infant fatality in a crash by 71%. September 19th-25th is national child passenger safety week so there is no better time to make sure your children are riding safe every time they are in a car! Experts estimate that over half of car seats are installed incorrectly.

Checking your car seats:

  • Take advantage of car seat safety checks

  • If you are pregnant, have your seat installed by a certified tech and have them show you how to properly install the seat.

  • The life of most car seats are about 6 to 10 years. Always check for the expiration date on the seat. Get rid of any that are past that date.

  • Ensure your seat is not under recall. That can be done by visiting  https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/childseat.cfm or by registering your seat, so all recalls come straight to you.

  • Always refer to care seat manufacturer instructions and your vehicles instructions on how to position seats and secure children properly.

  • The harness straps should be snug enough that excess cannot be pinched between your fingers

  • Always make sure the chest clip is at armpit level

  • NEVER use items in, on, or around a car seat that do not come from the car seat manufacturer. They may prevent the seat from working properly in a crash

  • Make sure your child is not wearing a coat or other bulky clothing when buckled into their seat. These items may prevent the harness from working properly in a crash

  • ALWAYS replace car seats after a crash of any kind

Ensure all passengers are safe:

  • All children, 12 and under, should ride in the back seat especially if they are in any kind of child restraint.

  • Don’t negotiate seat belts or car seat restraints with your child; don’t drive until they are buckled properly

  • Wear your own seat belt to model to children that buckling up is important

  • Air bags can be life saving to adults and older children but can be deadly to young children

    • Make sure young children don’t sit in the front seat

    • NEVER install a rear-facing car seat in a front seat near an airbag.

 

Follow Missouri laws:

  • Children less than 4 OR less than 40 pounds should be in an appropriate child safety seat

  • Children ages 4-7 who are at least 40 pounds must be in an appropriate child safety seat or booster seat UNLESS they are 80 pounds OR 4’9”

  • Children 8 and older OR weighing 80 pounds OR 4’9” should be secured with a lab and should seat belt or booster seat

  • ALWAYS check the height and weight of car seat and booster seats to ensure the seat is still appropriate for the child.

Protecting children in a car doesn’t have to be difficult! If you would like a certified tech to check your car seat or help you install a new car seat please call 636-797-3737. If you are struggling to afford a proper seat please visit https://www.jeffcohealth.org/community-health and fill out the form. A tech will reach out to you for more information and help find a seat that is right for you!

For more information on when to change seats, how to install a seat, or how to find the right fit please visit https://ucsg.safekids.org/

About the Author: Megan Winkelmann has been a Community Health Educator with the Jefferson County Health Department for just over two years. She attended Truman State University earning a bachelor’s degree in Health Science with a minor in Biology. While working for JCHD she attended A.T. Still University to earn her master’s degree in Public Health. Megan was born and raised in Jefferson County and enjoys creating programs that encourage healthy habits in the place she was raised. Megan likes to spend her free in time in the presence of family and friends.

Jefferson County Health Department Reports Bat Tests Positive for Rabies

On September 14, 2021, Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) was notified by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) state lab that the presence of rabies was found in a bat tested from Jefferson County.  The bat was collected from the Festus area after a dog discovered the bat. There was no human contact associated with the case. The City of Festus Animal Control is monitoring/overseeing the health of the exposed dog.

This is the second bat in Jefferson County to test positive for rabies this year. In late August, a bat from the Hillsboro area, discovered by a cat, also tested positive for rabies. In the United States, rabies is mostly found in wild animals like bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes. Although relatively uncommon, rabies is always considered to be present or endemic within the bat population of Missouri.

Rabies is a fatal but preventable viral disease. It can spread to people and pets if they are bitten or scratched by a rabid animal. Rabies can be prevented by vaccinating pets, staying away from wildlife, and seeking medical care after potential exposures before symptoms start. There is no cure for rabies. Timely administration of rabies post-exposure vaccinations can protect those that may have been exposed to the virus. For more information on rabies, visit the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/index.html.

The health department does not regularly collect bats or other animals for rabies testing. Only bats that have had contact, or significant potential for contact, with humans may be submitted for testing. If a bat is found, use precaution to dispose of it in a way to avoid all exposure and apply the necessary protective equipment.

Jefferson County Week 35 COVID Update

RED Status | Total new cases per 100,000 persons in past 7 days: 293.78 | Positivity Rate: 14.7%

Copy of Weekly Guidance Color Graphic (31).png

CDC Week 35 Epidemiological Analysis: (from JCHD Epidemiologist, Sara Wilton)

This week the county remains in the RED/highest transmission level with a weekly case count of 661 confirmed and probable cases and a positivity rate of 14.7%. This week our highest percent increase in cases came from our 0-9- and 10-19-year age groups.

The highest ever weekly case count for the 0-19 group occurred back in November 2020, in which 217 cases occurred within a single week. This week is not far off from that total with a weekly case count of 196 new cases during week 35.

Our youth population experienced an 83.1% increase in cases from week 34 to 35. This was during the first week of school. The only other time we saw this many youth cases in one week was the week of 11/8/2020, which was also the same week we had our highest ever weekly case count as a whole in the county at 1,537 cases.

Our youth cases made up 29.7% of our total weekly cases during week 35. Not once in 2020 did our youth cases account for this much of our weekly case count. In fact, during the entire 2020 year, the youth cases never made up more than 16% of the weekly cases. Within the past 3 months, the youth cases have consistently been accounting for 17% or more of our weekly cases.  

Finally, there have been 5 pediatric deaths in the St. Louis area due to Covid. This is very concerning seeing our youth cases increase so much, alongside the reminder that kids are not invincible and immune to this virus. CDC has a graph on their Covid hospitalization data website that shows underlying medical conditions for those cases reported during March 1, 2020-June 30, 2021. This data shows 46% of pediatric patients hospitalized for Covid had no known underlying health conditions. COVID-19 Hospitalizations (cdc.gov)

Due to the holiday and backlog of positive cases, our vaccine report for week 35 has not been published yet due to pending data. We will receive the rest of the information in the next day or two and will provide vaccination numbers for the county in an update email.

CDC Week 35 Epi Report:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57f035cc9f745646c52342b9/t/61392556321ef9720207f050/1631135062679/Binder1.pdf

COVID-19 Case Updates: (as of 9/8/2021)

  • Total Cases: 28,661

    • Active Cases: 866

  • Total Deaths: 283

    • 5 additional deaths to report, all community based

      • Female, 70’s

      • Male, 70’s

      • 2 Females, 80’s

      • Male, 90’s

 

Jefferson County Health Department Releases Modified Quarantine Guidance To Preserve In-Person Learning for Schools

Jefferson County Health Department (JCHD) met with county school districts earlier this week to discuss strategies to provide safe and supportive learning environments for students, retain teachers and other staff, and enable parents, guardians, and caregivers to work as schools transition back to in-person learning this fall. District superintendents and members of the JCHD Covid-19 planning team reviewed 2020-21 school isolation and quarantine data to assess modifications that could be made to enable the preservation of in-person learning while maintaining a safe learning environment. 

“The most important thing is to try to keep our students and teachers safely in the classroom for physical and mental health, but we also recognize that Delta variant is vastly different than the original strain of COVID-19,” states Public Health Preparedness Supervisor, Jeana Vidacak.  JCHD will continue to follow CDC guidance for isolation and quarantine but will also support data driven modifications that will allow students to return to classrooms in low-risk situations.

“As we start the new year, it is a delicate balance of meeting children’s educational, emotional, and health needs,” states Hillsboro School District Superintendent, Dr. Jon Isaacson. “We collectively feel it is vital to keep our kids safely in school after a year when so many days were missed due to contact related quarantine.”

JCHD continues to recommend universal masking and vaccination as the greatest level of protection against COVID-19. Additional mitigation strategies include social distancing, enhanced hygiene practices, improved ventilation and isolation and quarantine. The following guidance utilizes district data from all twelve public schools from 2020-21 to show the risk level for contacts to a home-based case or an in-school case.  Data show that home-based contacts (parent, child, sibling positive and others in home are considered contacts) are more likely to convert from a contact to a positive case.  Contacts to a positive case at school only had a 1-3% conversion rate and home-based contacts had a 3-24% conversion rate.

Based on this data, JCHD and the Jefferson County Schools are implementing a modified quarantine that would allow in-school contacts to continue in-person learning fully masked for the full 14-day quarantine. Schools must meet a case threshold in order to be eligible to implement the modified guidance. A school building with less than 4% of their population (students and staff) testing positive for COVID-19 will be eligible to implement the modified guidance. At 2% it is recommended that schools implement additional mitigation measures to reduce transmission rates. School buildings with 4% or higher cases are not eligible and will need to revert to the traditional in-home quarantine. This modification is intended as an additional mitigation strategy and is not a requirement. 

Modified Quarantine will allow students to remain in school during quarantine period if able to comply with following policy: 

  1. Letters will go home to parents to inform them of the potential risk and the modified quarantine guidelines that will be applicable for students 

  2. Masks MUST be worn on transportation 

  3. Exposed case WILL wear a properly fitting mask, consistently, during the 14-day period 

  4. All children and teachers in elementary classrooms will mask when there has been a positive case identified for the duration of the 14-day period. 

  5. Social Distancing will be maintained when possible 

  6. Lunch will be provided in a designated area for those on modified quarantine 

  7. This eliminates risk to others during a time when a mask cannot be worn. 

  8. Elementary will eat lunch in their classroom or other designated areas 

Modified quarantine will not apply to extracurricular activities: 

  1. Students who are fully vaccinated, have been diagnosed with Covid in the previous 90 days, or were confirmed to have had an “in-school” exposure where both students were properly wearing well-fitting masks and are exposures will not need to abstain from athletic competition or extracurricular activities.

  2. Students who do not meet the above-mentioned criteria will be required to abstain from extracurricular activities and athletic competition for the full 14-day quarantine period.

  3. Students will be allowed to OBSERVE activities while social distancing and wearing a mask.

Outside of school setting, all in-home quarantine requirements still apply.  

Release from Full Quarantine or CDC accepted methods to reduce in-home Quarantine

  • Complete 14-day period without developing symptoms for Full Release

  • If using reduced in-home quarantine protocol (7 or 10 day) Individuals MUST continue to wear masks, social distance, and monitor for symptoms for the full 14-day period

    • Complete 10-day period without developing symptoms for Reduced Quarantine

    • Complete 7-day period with a negative confirmatory test result AFTER day 5 for Reduced Quarantine

“JCHD has utilized data to guide our efforts over the last 18 months. As we learn more from the data, we are able to make adjustments to our strategies to make activities safer and more accessible for our communities,” states Jefferson County Health Department Executive Director, Kelley Vollmar. “The modified quarantine is a result of that data analysis. Schools and parents now have the option to utilize the data to guide their local district policies in order to ensure the optimal learning experience for children, safety for teachers and students and implement guidelines that meet their local needs.” 

JCHD will host a Facebook LIVE segment this evening, Thursday, September 2nd, at 6:30pm to review the guidance and address questions from the public.