Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

County Officials Prepare To Request Federal Assistance For Communities Hit Hard By Floods

“We had no warning. The high river was our warning,” Carper said. “When the calls started coming to 911 and people were literally running out of their homes fleeing, and roads were being covered up, washed out, that was our warning. And then the National Weather Service put out just about the strongest alert they know how to put out for floods.”

The unofficial damage toll for communities hit the hardest by Monday and Tuesday’s floods will not be known for several days. And that’s if the weather cooperates.

Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said he has talked with people who have suffered devastating loss after up to nine inches of rain fell in a short span of time in some areas.

Carper said the unusual weather pattern created the perfect storm for areas already deluged by a downpour of rain on Saturday.

“They were already saturated, the creeks were full, ” Carper said. “There was nowhere for this massive amount of rain to go.”

While immediate rescue efforts by the National Guard and firefighters mitigated a potential loss of life, reports of damage to properties and homes is high. Carper said he sees the need to request federal assistance and attempt to meet the disaster declaration threshold to offset the flood damage.

“We’re going to work with our citizens, neighbors, friends, try to get federal assistance, work with Congress, with Senators Manchin and Capito, and Congresswoman Miller,” Carper said. “We always hear, ‘Well there weren’t that many deaths.’ Well, when someone loses everything they own, that is devastating.”

The Kanawha County Commission meanwhile has announced supply distribution points for flood victims at the following locations from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.

Belle Town Hall located at 1100 E Dupont Ave, Belle
Chesapeake Town Hall located at 12404 MacCorkle Ave SE, Chesapeake

Donations, specifically, contractor grade trash bags, bleach, push brooms, and shovels will be gratefully accepted. People are requested to not drop off clothing at these locations.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department will be administering free tetanus vaccines in Belle this week for those affected by recent flooding.

The mobile shot clinic will be at the Belle Town Hall distribution site Wednesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Floodwaters carry disease-causing organisms that can lead to serious illness or even death,” Dr. Steven Eshenaur, KCHD’s Health Officer said. “Foremost, stay out of the floodwaters. If you’ve already been in them or are conducting cleanup now, please make sure your tetanus shot is up to date”

Eshenaur said Tetanus is a serious disease but is easily preventable. “If you get a wound – small or large – tend to it immediately. Bacteria can invade your body through the smallest punctures and scratches.”

KCHD will have Environmental Health staff in the affected area this week to answer questions, test private and community wells, and help provide public health safety guidance for businesses so they can reopen as soon as possible.

Residents of homes with private or community wells are advised to contact KCHD for testing of any well, pump, springs, cisterns or pipes that have been exposed to floodwaters. Private water system testing of in-use wells serving flood-impacted homes will be free.

Call 304-348-8050 to make an appointment.

Health Officials Sound Alarm Over Respiratory Infections

Health officials from the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department are reporting an uptick in numbers of respiratory infections in Kanawha Valley.

With more people out shopping for the holidays and an earlier than usual flu season, health officials say the chances of falling ill from a respiratory infection are high.

Kanawha-Charleston Health Department Health Officer Dr. Steven Eshenaur said with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), COVID-19 variants and flu filling up hospital beds, people should get vaccinated against both COVID-19 and flu.

With RSV, people with compromised or undeveloped immune systems can develop severe infection, including pneumonia.

Eshenaur said along with COVID-19 boosters and flu vaccinations it’s important to remember simple preventative measures like handwashing and, for the immune compromised, to avoid contact with large groups of people.

In West Virginia only 21 percent of people aged 65 and older had received a bivalent vaccine as of Nov. 5, 2022. The CDC reports that nationally, 6465 people were admitted to hospital for influenza during the week ending Nov 5.

Dr. Mike Robie, associate chief medical officer with Charleston Area Medical Center Health System said the elderly and young are the most vulnerable to disease and infection. Facilities like CAMC Women’s and Children’s Hospital continue to feel the strain.

“There are 19 kids currently admitted this morning with RSV,” he said. “The major symptom most of those kids are having is increased mucus production, a lot of congestion, that is what ends them up in the hospital, the need to have constant suction.”

Robie said five children were also admitted for influenza – a number doctors called problematic this early in the year.

Robie said hospitals are feeling the pressure and many are making transfer requests where needed.
But, with COVID-19, he said the situation has almost become the norm over the past two years.

“We have amazing nurses that just step up and take care of these kids and our community,” he said. “Without those nurses supporting our operations, we’d be in a lot of trouble.”

Distribution Of COVID-19 Deaths Uneven Across W.Va.

Earlier this week, West Virginia surpassed 7,500 COVID-19 deaths. But the virus has not had an equal impact everywhere. Across the country, some states and communities continue to be harder hit by the pandemic than others, and West Virginia is no exception — even varying by county.

Earlier this week, West Virginia surpassed 7,500 COVID-19 deaths. But the virus has not had an equal impact everywhere.

Across the country, some states and communities continue to be harder hit by the pandemic than others, and West Virginia is no exception — even varying by county.

Kanawha County is the largest in the state, with more than 180,000 residents. That’s roughly 10 percent of West Virginia’s population, and, as would be expected, the county makes up about 10 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths.

For the most part, bigger counties around the state have more deaths, proportional to their size. The same goes for smaller counties and fewer deaths. But there are a few outliers.

One of the biggest outliers is Monongalia County, which accounts for just under 6 percent of the state’s population, but less than 3 percent of all deaths in West Virginia.

“In COVID, we found that probably the single greatest risk factor, especially early in the disease with the Wuhan strain, of a predictor of mortality was age,” Dr. Steven Eshenaur, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said. “The older you are, the worse this disease is on you.”

Eshenaur points to the significant difference in the age of Kanawha and Monongalia counties’ populations as a likely explanation for the discrepancies in death rates.

“Kanawha County has 21.6 percent of our population that is over 65,” he said. “Mon County has 13.5 percent of its population over age 65. It’s almost half.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans age 55 and older account for 90 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the country.

CDC data also shows that the risk for death from COVID-19 grows dramatically as age goes up. Compared to 18-29 year-olds, 40 to 49 year-olds are 10 times more likely to die from COVID-19. For those aged 50 to 65, they are 25 times more likely.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that older populations are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 deaths.

Dr. Lee Smith is the health officer and director of the Monongalia County Health Department, and has led the county’s pandemic response for the past two-and-a-half years.

“Right now, we have [the] total number of deaths, [the] total number of cases,” Smith said. “The areas that we don’t have right now is how many of the people who contracted COVID were smokers, were elderly. We know that those are the at-risk populations.”

Smith cautions drawing conclusions from what he calls an incomplete picture. He said it may be years before we understand how and why COVID-19 impacted communities differently, if ever.

“Public health is going to be studying COVID probably for the next decade, if not more,” he said. “We saw that this impacted the elderly more at the beginning. So I think that it’s a worthy line of inquiry because this is going to be a cumulative knowledge built up over time.”

One thing that both health officers can agree on is the impact of vaccines on the pandemic and deaths. Eshenaur calls vaccines the single most effective tool we have to protect individuals, but the statewide rate of distribution for booster shots is at just 32 percent.

Smith said he can relate to the public’s COVID-19 fatigue.

“I think that because of COVID fatigue, many people are wanting just to not consider it anymore, and I certainly understand that because our staff is as fatigued as anyone with COVID,” Smith said. “But it hasn’t gone away completely. It was said early on, ‘My mask protects you, your mask protects me, my vaccine protects you, my, your vaccine protects me.’ I think that if we can move beyond the politics, and get to a point where we’re doing this as a community, that’s going to be the better position.”

COVID-19 fatigue and vaccine complacency could spell trouble in the coming weeks and months, as COVID-19 begins to interact with other respiratory viruses that surge with colder weather.

“We are moving into, the buzzword now is a ‘tridemic’ of flu, RSV, and COVID all potentially hitting their peak this fall,” Eshenaur said. “It could be very bad, especially when you see people that get concomitant illnesses, that is they get two illnesses at the same time, like flu and COVID, or RSV and COVID together.”

COVID-19 deaths are slowing in West Virginia, and that may be causing some people to let their guard down, but vaccine hesitancy combined with flu and RSV outbreaks could spell a long winter for the state.

Chemical Test Results Delivered To Paint Creek Residents Following Crash

Environmental health specialists from Kanawha and Fayette counties tested wells along Paint Creek following an Aug. 24 truck crash on the West Virginia Turnpike that spilled a chemical surfactant.

In letters mailed to Paint Creek residents, the Kanawha-Charleston and Fayette County health departments said there were trace amounts of the chemical detected in 19 hand-dug or shallow wells.

The tractor trailer was carrying containers with the surfactant Empigen AS/F90 when it crashed on I-64 spilling the chemical into Skitter Creek, which flows into Paint Creek. Fayette County Health Department and Kanawha-Charleston Health Department employees sampled 19 hand-dug and shallow wells for testing.

No chemical was found beyond the detection limit of 0.3 percent. These results do not reflect the overall safety of the wells that were sampled. They only indicate that the chemical spilled was not detected above that level in the wells that were tested.

Properly constructed private wells were not impacted by the spill. Consuming water from a hand-dug or shallow well is not recommended.

“These are not safe sources of drinking water,” said Dr. Steven Eshenaur, D.O., Kanawha-Charleston Health Department’s Health Officer.

“Representatives from both the Kanawha-Charleston and Fayette County health departments worked together to ensure that hand-dug or shallow wells in the area of the chemical spill were sampled and tested. This event reminds us of the importance of working as one to protect the public health of West Virginians across county lines,” Eshenaur said.

Dr. Anita Stewart, D.O., Fayette County Health Department’s Health Officer, agreed. “Our teams at both health departments — Fayette and Kanawha-Charleston — remain committed to ensuring the health and safety of our communities, be it in response to a hazardous spill or providing resources during the latest infectious disease threat. We appreciate the patience and cooperation of the greater Paint Creek communities during this investigation.”

Empigen AS/F90 is also called cocamidopropyl dimethylamine. It is commonly used as a surfactant or antistatic agent, or in disinfectant, cosmetics or liquid dish soap. A few products listed as containing the chemical include Shaklee “Get Clean” Hand Dish Wash Liquid.

Concentrate, EWG Skin Deep Green People, Irritated Scalp Shampoo, and Paula’s Choice Hydrating Gel-to-Cream Cleanser.

Health officials said residents who have properly constructed private wells were not affected by the spill. The health departments recommend people avoid drinking water from hand-dug or shallow wells.

The West Virginia Turnpike was temporarily closed due to the crash.

COVID-19 Case Spike In Kanawha County Sparks Statewide Concern

West Virginia's most populous county reported its highest COVID case spike in quite a while.

West Virginia’s most populous county reported its highest COVID case spike in quite a while.

A release from the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department shows 91 new reported COVID-19 cases Wednesday, the largest spike seen there in recent weeks.

KCHD Executive Director Dr. Steven Eshenaur said the spike is especially concerning as West Virginians statewide are attending large gatherings like proms, graduations and festivals, possibly adding to a community spread.

Eshenaur recommended vigilance in mask-wearing when in crowds and continuing to use good hand hygiene.

Vaccination for COVID-19 is still the best defense against contracting the virus, and Dr. Eshenaur urged all those who are eligible to receive a booster should do so. The CDC recently approved booster shots for 5 to 11 year olds and recommends second boosters for those over 50 or anyone who has underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to the virus. Boosters may be given five months after the initial shot series has been completed.

Individuals who become symptomatic should be tested, maintain quarantine, and seek appropriate treatment from their primary care provider.

Statewide, a Department of Health and Human Resources report from Thursday, May 25th, showed more than 2,200 current active cases with a total of 6,942 deaths attributed to COVID-19.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Dr. Sherri Young Resigns From Kanawha-Charleston Health Department

A leading figure of the COVID-19 pandemic in West Virginia is resigning from her post.

Dr. Sherri Young is leaving her position as the director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.

In a press release Monday, Young said she took a new job offer. She didn’t disclose what role that might be. She will stay on as interim director until a replacement is found.

“I believe I have done everything I can to lead the health department through the pandemic and move it forward successfully,” Young said. “I was presented with an opportunity that I could not pass up, and for that reason, I am leaving my position.”

Young has been with the department for the past two years, and the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most weekends this past spring, Young directed large-scale vaccine clinics at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. She and her department also set up smaller clinics in every corner of the county to ensure all residents had the opportunity to get the life-saving vaccine.

Almost 99,500 people in Kanawha County have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. About 64 percent of the county’s eligible population is at least partially vaccinated. That rate is higher than the state average, which is 54 percent.

Most recently she has led an increase in mobile HIV testing that targets some of Charleston’s most vulnerable residents.

Previously, she served as the state’s immunization officer and medical director of the state’s Division of STD, HIV and Hepatitis.

Young is originally from Mullens. She studied at WVU and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from Marshall Health and Charleston Area Medical Center.