August is National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM). It’s a time to celebrate the lives saved by immunization and check in on what vaccines you and your loved ones may still need. We know the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all aspects of life, including your ability to attend important appointments and receive routine vaccinations. During NIAM, we encourage you to talk to your doctor, nurse, or healthcare professional to ensure you and your family are protected against serious diseases by getting caught up on routine vaccination.

Navigating the pandemic has been a lot like building a plane while you fly it. Leaders and officials had to make decisions and put together plans as the world was learning about how this new virus even works. We had to learn from our mistakes quickly and move on to the next challenge. We’ve come a long way since the beginning, however, there is still new information every day that changes the way we understand and respond to the pandemic.

It’s World Breastfeeding Week! This is a week we can all celebrate, because it impacts our whole community. Many people may think of breastfeeding as a “mom thing,” but breastfeeding is a public health issue that deserves recognition and investment on all levels.

July 28 is World Hepatitis Day. We hear about hepatitis, and we know it’s bad, but do we know what it is? Do we know how it is spread and do we know enough to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe? Let’s start with some basics. Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. The liver processes nutrients, filters the blood and fights infections, so if it is inflamed, these things can be affected. Things such as alcohol use, some medications and certain medical conditions can cause hepatitis. However, it is usually caused by a virus. In the United States, we classify the most common types of viral hepatitis as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.

A lot of information and data flows in and out of the Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD). This information both reflects and helps us shape our community. It’s important to have a dedicated team who can help others understand what information is important, how to evaluate it, and how it can be used to guide public health. One member of that team is Sara Rodgers.

Ok, Spokane, we have some fun events coming up. Yes, we missed out on a lot of them last year, so let’s do all we can to make sure they continue. We also want to make sure that anybody who wants to get out and enjoy the fun can. It’s not a community event without the community.

Healthcare providers, healthcare facilities and laboratories each have a duty to report notifiable conditions to public health. The reportable conditions and responsibilities overlap in most cases between these three groups. Often it is assumed that the laboratory will report a condition or disease to public health, but that is not always the case. Here are the areas where you, as a healthcare provider, must take on the primary responsibility for reporting to public health.