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Welcome to Healthy Lumpkin Community Partnership!

Healthy Lumpkin Community Partnership is a web site providing information on good health and healthy lifestyles to all of North Georgia. The areas of health include physical, environmental, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social well being. The resources here are provided through a consortium of North Georgia College & State University faculty and Lumpkin County social service agency employees as a free public service to the community.

Bird Flu Pandemic

What would happen if we had a major pandemic of the Bird Flu? A lot of people have been asking that question. And how would we plan for such an event? Here is a list of the presumptions being made by the US Government on this subject:

  1. Susceptibility to the pandemic influenza virus will be universal.
  2. Efficient and sustained person-to-person transmission signals an imminent pandemic.
  3. The clinical disease attack rate will likely be 30% or higher in the overall population during the pandemic. Illness rates will be highest among school-aged children (about 40%) and decline with age. Among working adults, an average of 20% will become ill during a community outbreak.
  4. Of those who become ill with influenza, 50% will seek outpatient medical care.
  5. The number of hospitalizations and deaths will depend on the virulence of the pandemic virus. Estimates differ about 10-fold between more and less severe scenarios. Two scenarios are available based on extrapolation of past pandemic experience. Planning should include the more severe scenario.
  6. Rates of absenteeism will depend on the severity of the pandemic.
  7. The typical incubation period (interval between infection and onset of symptoms) for influenza is approximately 2 days.
  8. Persons who become ill may shed virus and can transmit infection for up to one day before the onset of illness. Viral shedding and the risk of transmission will be greatest during the first 2 days of illness. Children usually shed the greatest amount of virus and therefore are likely to post the greatest risk for transmission.
  9. On average, infected persons will transmit infection to approximately two other people.
  10. In an affected community, a pandemic outbreak will last about 6 to 8 weeks.
  11. Multiple waves (periods during which community outbreaks occur across the country) of illness could occur with each wave lasting 2-3 months. Historically, the largest waves have occurred in the fall and winter, but the seasonality of a pandemic cannot be predicted with certainty.

"Pandemic Flu Assumptions." PandemicFlu.gov. 2007. HHS Interagency Public Affairs Group on Influenza Preparedness and Response. 11 May 2007 <http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/pandplan.html>.

Heart News

Earlier this year a summit conference was held on the problem of heart disease in Appalachia. In the Appalachian region, 20 percent are more likely to die from heart disease than the general US population. For more information, see the article entitled West Virginia Hosts Heart Disease Summit.

Blood Pressure

Everyone who already has high blood pressure knows the importance of checking your pressure on a regular basis. But High Blood Pressure often appears without any warning signs. It can be a silent killer, resulting in a stroke or worse. That's why there are free blood pressure screening clinics set up all over the area. To find one near you, contact your Public Health Department at (770)535-5743.

Cancer Prescreening

The importance of cancer prescreening lies in the fact that most cancers, when caught early, can be cured. For more information on this subject:

  1. Talk to your Health Care Provider about any cancer that runs in your family.
  2. Take advantage of free screenings.
  3. If you're over 50, don't put off getting a colonoscopy.

When caught early, cancer is a very manageable disease. For more information, see the American Cancer Society.