RCAHD Health Updates Newsletter 10.12.22

Welcome to the

Roanoke City & Alleghany

Health Districts

Newsletter

10.12.22

Health updates for residents of the

Roanoke City & Alleghany Health Districts (RCAHD)

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Meet

DASH!

Delivering

Accessible

and

Sustainable

Health

New RV delivers health services to RCAHD residents

To better serve its 277,000 residents in both rural and urban communities, RCAHD is deploying a new RV. The RV was made possible thanks to federal COVID relief funding intended to improve access to health information and services. Equipped with a generator, restroom, and toilet, the RV will allow public health staff to better deliver mobile education, clinic and outreach services in the community.

Find a list of our upcoming mobile outreach clinics on our website.

At a recent outreach event, Vicent and Ilawyn Beckner of Vinton (below) and Henry and Kelley Shell of Roanoke (left) visited the DASH mobile clinic at the Vinton Library for the new COVID bivalent booster doses. Shell said that even though recent trends seemed to point to fewer people getting seriously sick from COVID, she was motivated to get boosted because "I don't want one of those few people to be either of us!"

Now Hiring: RCAHD Maternal & Child Health Engagement Specialist

Are you a hardworking individual passionate to improve maternal and child health in the community? Use your passion to commit to a cause that could have a positive impact on the overall health of our Roanoke and Alleghany area communities.

Apply for our Maternal & Child Health Engagement Specialist position to identify opportunities for partnership development, outreach, and health education, and to assist with providing outreach and education for family planning services, breastfeeding support, and teen pregnancy and prevention.

Read the full job description and use this link to apply! Deadline is October 26.

October is Substance Abuse Prevention Month

Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts are committed to supporting community health through the prevention and treatment of substance abuse. REVIVE! Lay Rescuer trainings are offered for community members or groups to recognize and respond to an opioid overdose emergency with the administration of naloxone. The training covers opioids, how opioid overdoses happen, risk factors for opioid overdoses, and how to respond to an overdose emergency.

Upcoming Trainings - Register HERE:

In-Person - Thu, 10/13, Roanoke Health Department, 5:30-7pm

Virtual - Tue, 10/18, 12-1:30pm

NEW- Monkeypox Update:

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) recently expanded eligibility guidelines for receiving the JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine to now include anyone living with HIV/AIDS and anyone who has been diagnosed with any sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the past three months.

Visit our website for more information or to schedule an appointment.

For assistance scheduling an appointment, call the VDH Hotline at 877-829-4682. To learn more about the monkeypox virus, visit the VDH Monkeypox website.

Populations eligible to receive a monkeypox vaccination have now expanded to include any individual who meets one or more of the following criteria:

Any person, of any sexual orientation or gender, who have had anonymous or multiple (more than one) sexual partners in the past two weeks; OR
Sex workers of any sexual orientation or gender; OR
Staff, of any sexual orientation or gender, at establishments or events where sexual activity occurs; OR
Any person, of any sexual orientation or gender, who is living with HIV/AIDS; OR
Any person, of any sexual orientation or gender, diagnosed with any sexually transmitted infection in the past three months.

RCAHD COVID-19 Situation Update

10/11/22

More dashboards at vdh.gov

COVID-19 activity continues to remain present in the community, but at relatively lower levels compared to recent months. The newly reformulated boosters for people above the age of 12 are available at pharmacies, and at local health department clinics. They are strongly encouraged for those over age 50 and for those who are immune-compromised.

Despite nearly a month with no new reports of cases, unfortunately this week we have had two new local cases of hepatitis A reported to us. (We continue to offer free doses of hepatitis A vaccine at all of our health department locations by appointment.)