County Health Department Reminds Community of Pertussis Risk
The St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment’s Division of Public Health would like to remind the community of the dangers and consequences of pertussis.
Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory disease. It begins with mild upper respiratory symptoms including runny nose and mild cough. A severe chronic cough can develop producing episodes of coughing accompanied by a whooping sound. The cough spasm can be so severe that it causes vomiting. Fever may or may not be present. While pertussis is most often considered a young child’s disease, it can occur at any age.
Younger children who have not been immunized have the most severe symptoms. Adults and older children may have the persistent cough but no whoop. Incubation time for this illness, the time from exposure to actual disease, is 7 to 20 days from the date of exposure. Pertussis is treated with antibiotics to help reduce the spread of infection and, if given during the early stage of illness, may help shorten the illness. If left untreated, the severe cough could last one to two months or longer. Pertussis is not usually life-threatening in adults or adolescents. However, it can be extremely serious in younger children and infants.
While a widespread outbreak of pertussis is not expected in the community, the county has had an increasing incidence of the disease. St. Charles County has had 54 reported cases of pertussis so far this year after only 9 reported in 2004. One explanation for the increase in cases may be because of an increased awareness of the disease and better reporting measures.
Children should be kept up-to-date on their immunizations. The vaccine for pertussis is typically given in combination with diphtheria and tetanus and is recommended to be given in several doses between the ages of 2 months and 6 years. Older children and adults may be more at risk of infection since immunity tends to wane with age; therefore it is very important to keep infants and children vaccinated against this easily preventable illness.
Adults and adolescents who have been previously vaccinated can receive a newly licensed booster vaccine. This vaccine is not available at the St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment. Check with your physician for availability.
Additional Information about pertussis can be found on the St. Charles County Department of Community Health and the Environment website at www.scchealth.org.
St. Charles Resident Wins Grand Prize In First Community Credit Union Promotion
First Community Credit Union awarded a $500 Visa gift card to Jane Shelnutt, of St. Charles Missouri, as a result of the credit union’s Kick Off campaign.
In a recent promotion, First Community current and new members were automatically entered into a prize drawing when they opened a checking or money management account or applied for a loan. Anyone could enter the contest through the mail or by dropping their name in a drawing box. Jane Shelnutt visited First Community’s St. Charles branch and was the lucky winner of the $500 prize!
First Community is state chartered to serve all persons living or working in the city of St. Louis and a 16-county region in the metropolitan St. Louis area and the Illinois counties of Monroe, St. Clair and Madison. They also serve employees and retirees of over 250 select employee groups and their immediate family members.
Hundreds of Native American children will have a Merry Christmas Due to Efforts of Joyce Smith
Last Friday morning members of the Metro West SWA Team and other volunteers packed a large semi-trailer with Christmas gifts bound for Lakota Sioux Children at the Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Bluff, South Dakota.
Joyce Smith of St. Charles has been collecting toys and gifts for the Indian children for the past nine years. Smith’s husband, a former assistant superintendent of the Fort Zumwalt School District, passed away in 1997 and this has been her project ever since.
Each year Joyce Smith receives hundreds of letters to Santa written by the Native American children. She and a group of volunteers then start to work to answer the requests of the children. In addition to answering the requests in the letters, Smith’s group also obtained beds for an entire family and a washer and dryer for another.” We had one child who wanted a saddle and tackle. One of our volunteers drove many miles to get the saddle and the items needed to fulfill that Christmas wish. She was so excited and it reminded her of when she was a child with her first horse,” Smith told the First Capitol News.
While camping in South Dakota with her late husband, Ms. Smith met Julie Garreau who started the youth camp for the Indian children in 1988. After learning about the plight of the Indian children Joyce Smith started her annual Christmas project. Erv Emerling, a local businessman, provides storage for the toys and gifts while they are being packed and awaiting shipment to the children. This year the gifts filled a large five room house along with the garage and basement.
More flu shots available at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital
Have you not received your flu shot yet? It’s not too late. With all the holiday rush and upcoming family gatherings, it’s the perfect time to get your immunization. Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital will have one more clinic. The CDC recommends flu shots for all individuals 50 years of age and older, especially those with chronic illness.
WHAT: Flu Shots
WHEN: Monday, December 19 from 1 to 4 p.m.
WHERE: 6 Jungermann Circle, Suite 117, professional building #1 on the Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital campus
COST: $20, Medicare part B covers the fee for eligible participants.
Please register by calling 636-928-WELL (9355) to make an appointment. Visit the hospital online at www.bjsph.org
FIRST BANK WRAPS UP HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF EFFORTS
Bank, employees and community team up to raise $82,000 for victims
By accepting and encouraging community and customer donations at all First Bank locations, First Bank helped raise $82,000 for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
“Hurricane Katrina was one of the most catastrophic events in our nation’s history,” said Terry McCarthy, chairman, president and chief executive officer for First Bank. “We want to thank everyone for their generation donations to raise badly needed funds for the victims in Louisiana and Mississippi.”
To assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina, First Bank supported and matched First Bank employee donations through a Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund Drive. The bank also accepted community donations. All donations went to American Red Cross Hurricane Relief.
“Our Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund Drive was a very important cause and the efforts on behalf of the victims were really outstanding,” said McCarthy. “We can all be proud.”
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION HOLIDAY CARDS AVAILABLE AT FIRST BANK
Proceeds from 2005 Landmark Holiday Cards will help fight heart disease in St. Louis
Those looking to get into the holiday spirit while helping out a good cause can now purchase the American Heart Association’s 2005 Landmark Holiday Cards at 44 First Bank locations in metro St. Louis and metro Illinois.
“Sleigh Bells Ring” is the card available for purchase from award winning artist Billyo O’Donnell, a Missouri native who has produced the American Heart Association cards for the past four years. Nationally recognized, O’Donnell is known for his impressionistic painting style of landscapes created in a single on-site setting.
The “Sleigh Bells Ring” card features a snowy, holiday scene of downtown St. Louis, complete with a horse and carriage, the Old Courthouse, and a view of the Arch.
Proceeds from the holiday cards will be used locally in the American Heart Association’s fight against cardiovascular disease and stroke. To order the 2005 Landmark Holiday Cards stop by any Metro St. Louis First Bank office, visit our Web site at firstbanks.com, or contact Sharon Loberg from the American Heart Association at 314-692-5625.
MEET LIBERTY THE BALD EAGLE
Christmas shopping getting you down? Take a break from the bustle to enjoy some of the region’s best eagle viewing opportunities, right here at the confluence of the mighty Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
The confluence attracts hundreds of bald eagles during the cold winter months, becoming an eagle watcher’s paradise. Eagle watchers are invited to oogle their favorite bird from the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary along Riverlands Way near West Alton, MO. Managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and located along the western edge of the Mississippi River just above Melvin Price Locks and Dam, this area is a favorite fishing spot for the Bald Eagle. From late December to late February dozens of eagles scan the waters of Ellis Bay for a bite to eat. Visitors are also welcome to stop in at the Rivers Project Office to pick up information, use the restrooms, or view the eagles from the comfort of the indoors. The Rivers Project Office will also be open on weekends from January 7th to February 5th from 11 AM to 3 PM for your viewing pleasure.
Another way to learn more about these majestic birds is to attend a program sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Meeting of the Rivers Foundation, presented by the World Bird Sanctuary.
Free public programs will be held at the National Great Rivers Museum on the following Sundays: January 22, February 5 and February 12 from noon to 3 p.m. Attendees will get to meet Liberty, a rescued bald eagle, whose handler will discuss eagle lifestyles and habitats.
Liberty arrived at the Florida Rehabilitation Center in 1992 with a fractured collarbone. He received medical attention and was then released back into the wild. Three weeks later he was found again, this time with a dislocated shoulder and eye damage. Soon after, Liberty was transferred to the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Mo., where he resides today and helps tell the story of these great birds through the education programs he participates in.
The National Great Rivers Museum will also host a “Masters of the Sky” program February 18-20. Daily program times will be 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. The World Bird Sanctuary will demonstrate several different kinds of birds of prey including hawks, owls, and eagles. There will be a charge of $4 for adults and $2 for children 12 and under. Children under the age of 3 will be free. Please call the museum at 1-877-462-6979 for more information.
The World Bird Sanctuary was founded in 1977 by renowned ornithologist Walter C. Crawford. The sanctuary’s mission is to preserve the earth’s biological diversity and to secure the future of threatened bird species. Environmental education is the primary focus of the organization, and the programs are a wealth of interesting details concerning the natural history of raptors, some problems they face, and what people can do to insure their survival.
The National Great Rivers Museum is located at the foot of the Melvin Price Locks and Dam on the Illinois side of the river. From the Clark Bridge, go 2 miles South on Illinois Route 143 to Lock and Dam Way, and turn right.
O’Fallon Board approves ordinance on requirement for signs advertising public hearings
The O’Fallon Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance at their last meeting which requires developers to post signs advertising public hearings on development issues including zoning, conditional use permits, area plans, etc. The specifics of the hearing will be required to be included on the signs, which will be at the developers’ cost.
Currently for public hearings, the City sends letters to any property owners adjacent to the area in question within 185 feet. Mailings will continue for any public hearings, and the new ordinance will extend that adjacency to 300 feet.
The new requirement for signs will apply to public hearings for the Planning and Zoning Commission as well as the Board of Aldermen. It will also apply to preliminary plats that are brought before the Planning and Zoning Commission. In the past, public hearings were not required for preliminary plats, but if the proposed ordinance is passed, a hearing at the Planning and Zoning Commission level will be required. This will provide an opportunity for residents to comment on proposed subdivision plats.
