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Julie Cooke: It's flu season across West Tennessee, and COVID, of course, is still a concern.

Hello, I'm Julie Cooke, and on this episode of Tennessee Is Talking, the topic is our health.

What are the big health concerns in this year so far?

Let the conversation begin.

FEMALE_2: That's so cool.

MALE_1: Then that's when I said that.

FEMALE_3: The problem with that idea is.

MALE_2: Wow, that was amazing.

FEMALE_2: Then I came up with a solution.

MALE_3: What was that about?

MALE_4: Here's what I think about it.

MALE_5: Now we're talking.

MALE_6: West Tennessee PBS presents Tennessee Is Talking.

Let the conversation begin.

Julie Cooke: Thank you for joining us.

I'm Julie Cooke, and today we're talking about your health from COVID to flu and beyond.

Ginger Rowsey is with us.

She is the Public Information Officer for the Jackson, Madison County Regional Health Department.

Thank you for being with us.

I know you and I have had the discussion before.

It seems like right now there's a lot of sickness going around, and there's a lot of different kinds.

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

Julie Cooke: We wanted to break that down as far.

We are in the flu season, so as far as that goes.

How are we doing so far?

Ginger Rowsey: Well, at this point in time, we've experienced really high respiratory activity levels since December, and we are still in what we will consider a high respiratory activity level.

But our numbers are beginning to trend down.

That's a good sign.

Now what we want to be aware of, is that, sometimes for flu activity, we'll see a spike early in the season, and then we'll see another spike later as we get closer to the spring.

While our numbers do tend to be moving in the right direction, we want to stay vigilant, and just continue to encourage people to take those extra precautions, because flu season lasts through the early spring.

Julie Cooke: Is it too late to get a shot for flu?

Ginger Rowsey: It's not.

It's really never too late to get a shot for flu as long as it is flu season.

Another question that we get sometimes, Julie, is, well, I've already had flu and I didn't get my shot, do I need to even still get a flu shot?

The answer to that is yes, also because there are different strains of the flu.

You may get flu A, and then later in the season you could get flu B.

The flu shot covers four different strains of the flu, so it's still a good idea to get your flu shot.

Julie Cooke: Now, I've always understood that whatever vaccine you get this year was the most prominent strain of flu from the year before.

Is that still how that is?

Ginger Rowsey: Well, they try to anticipate what the dominant strains are going to be.

Julie Cooke: Because they can only predict, they don't know until it gets there.

Ginger Rowsey: It is a prediction.

I guess, you could say it's an educated guess for a lot of the cases.

But this year what we're seeing, is that, the flu shot is working really well against the strains that are circulating.

Julie Cooke: I've heard so many people say, I've been so sick and I test negative for flu, test negative for COVID, test negative for this or that.

I guess, when you say respiratory illnesses, there's just something.

Are you breaking it down?

How is that working?

Ginger Rowsey: When we think about respiratory illness activity levels, what that's measuring is, anytime that a patient goes to a provider with symptoms of cough, sore throat, fever, those three symptoms.

Just a combination of those, not necessarily all three, but cough, sore throat, fever.

They may or may not be, and testing positive for flu or COVID or RSV, it could be none of the above.

That's what we're measuring.

Because sometimes, we have these severe colds that aren't showing up on any of the tests, but we are still seeing people with those same symptoms.

When we talk about that, that's what we're measuring.

But looking at specifically flu and even COVID too, we have seen some elevated levels for both of those.

Julie Cooke: COVID is a little bit of [inaudible]?

Ginger Rowsey: Sure.

Again, it's following the trend of flu right now as we're seeing those levels decrease, but still maybe more elevated than we were perhaps last summer.

Julie Cooke: I was thinking before during the rage of the COVID that you typically test positive for about 10 days.

I know I tested positive before Christmas on a Monday, and on Friday, it was negative, because it just hit like a brick.

I mean, it was just a couple of days, and you think you're just tired.

Then once I tested, and then on Friday it was gone.

This is not the same strain of COVID.

It seems like people have had different symptoms over the past few years when it was so deadly and dangerous.

Ginger Rowsey: That's right.

Well, and when we think back to 2020, and that was a novel virus, and none of us had ever been exposed, no one had any immunity.

Even though those strains have modified, we had different variants of the strains.

Julie Cooke: Because they do mutate.

Ginger Rowsey: They do.

That's another issue with COVID, is that, it mutates so quickly, more so than other viruses.

But because we have some immunity, 85% of Americans had at least one version or one shot of the COVID vaccine, and then others have had it.

We have a lot of natural immunity, we have the vaccine immunity.

People have been getting their vaccines throughout the years.

It's not the shock to our system that it was at first.

A good thing that, speaking with our epidemiologist at the health department, a positive sign that they're seeing is while COVID can still be very dangerous, it can be deadly still, we are not typically seeing 30 year old's with no underlying health conditions being placed in ICU with COVID.

That was something we were seeing four years ago.

Julie Cooke: Those with heart conditions, diabetes, compromised immune system, it all can still be very dangerous to positive COVID test?

Ginger Rowsey: Absolutely.

It can be very dangerous to those, of course, over 65, even the very young.

I don't want to underplay COVID too much, but I guess what I'm trying to say, is that, we are not seeing the devastating consequences to those that we would consider typically healthy as we were.

That was the issue with COVID, is that, you may get it and have just a sniffle, and then someone else may get it, and for no rhyme or reason, they had to be incubated.

That was why it was so hard for a lot of people in the health field to wrap their minds around it because you weren't sure exactly.

Julie Cooke: The mystery.

Ginger Rowsey: Yes, it was.

How it affected different people.

Where we are now because we've had vaccinations, people have had it, so we've had some natural immunity.

We've had natural immunity and vaccinations, which they are calling hybrid immunity, which seems to be really working well.

We're not seeing as many severe cases as we were four years ago.

Julie Cooke: Now, you all aren't giving the COVID vaccine?

Ginger Rowsey: We're, yes.

Julie Cooke: You are are now?

Is that a particular type or is boosters or?

Ginger Rowsey: We have Moderna only.

This is the newest vaccine.

It was updated in September of 2023.

I think moving forward, we've had COVID vaccines, the boosters or updates come out sporadically.

I think moving forward what we'll see, is that, the COVID vaccine will follow the flu vaccine.

We'll have a new vaccine every year, and that will more than likely is going to be the recommendation to get your COVID vaccine every fall just like you get your flu vaccine.

Julie Cooke: So that will just get to be routine process for that for a while?

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

Julie Cooke: Are people still getting the COVID vaccine like [inaudible] Ginger Rowsey: They are.

Of course, we had the big rush, there at the beginning and everyone really wanted that.

Again, we have Moderna only, but also there were many more opportunities to get it at local pharmacies, at your providers, there were lots of places to get the COVID vaccine this year.

Can they still get it?

The answer to that is yes also, because just like flu, you can get COVID twice, you can get it multiple times within a year, and if you have not yet had the updated vaccine, it's still good to get it.

I know when the vaccine was coming out, we were in a little bit of a mini spike with COVID there in early September.

They do recommend that if you just had virus itself, you can wait 90 days to get your vaccine.

A lot of people may have put off getting their vaccine right away because they had just recently had COVID.

If you're in that group, it would be probably a good time now to come back and get your updated vaccine.

Julie Cooke: I'm going to change topics for a minute because there has been news here in Madison County, Tennessee, and Shelby County, the rising rate of STDs.

That, of course, as we used to call venereal disease or VD.

But that has been a concern among health officials.

Ginger Rowsey: Yes, it really is.

That latest report just came out the end of January, and it is alarming how those cases are continuing to trend upwards, particularly syphilis.

Syphilis is a disease that was considered eradicated 20 years ago, and now it's coming back, and the increases that we're seeing each year are just really alarming.

Julie Cooke: Is there a particular age group?

Ginger Rowsey: Well, typically, we see syphilis in older men, but we're seeing a younger generation getting syphilis, and we're also seeing syphilis in women.

Because of that, because we're seeing that increased population of women getting syphilis, we're also seeing a really sharp increase in congenital syphilis, which is babies that are born with syphilis.

That can be very devastating to a newborn baby.

Julie Cooke: Is that the one that's not very symptomatic in women?

Ginger Rowsey: That's right.

You can go a long time and not realize that you have syphilis.

It can be asymptomatic.

That's the importance of being tested and we encourage any adult who's sexually active be tested.

Julie Cooke: Just seems like you didn't hear anything about it.

Ginger Rowsey: Exactly.

Julie Cooke: Let's say public service announcements for a long time.

Then all of a sudden you read this information.

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

Julie Cooke: I'm like what?

Because I know I read at one time that Shelby County was a huge problem.

Now we're seeing just across Tennessee and then in Madison County, how do you say that when you say that there's a large percentage of reported cases?

Ginger Rowsey: I'll put it this way; for syphilis specifically, a disease that 20 years ago was nonexistent.

We're seeing the highest syphilis rates now since we've seen since the 1950s.

Back in the '50s when people got married, they would get a blood test.

That's what they were testing for was syphilis.

Was a disease that was prevalent at one time?

We had worked really hard to eradicate that, and now we're seeing it come back with a vengeance.

I don't know that anybody can pinpoint exact reason for this except unsafe sexual activities.

Julie Cooke: But why would that all of a sudden, do you think maybe with the age of that people started having safer sex possibly?

Ginger Rowsey: It could be.

Julie Cooke: But the numbers are now?

Ginger Rowsey: That might be.

I would really just be speculating to try to guess.

But what I can tell you is what we're seeing is that those numbers have come back.

Even just speaking with our disease intervention specialist, they're seeing the syphilis case every week.

It is troubling and we do want to get that message out there because I think people maybe have been lulled to sleep about these STDs and they can be very dangerous.

Particularly women of childbearing age, if you're thinking about having children.

That's something that you need to be aware of too.

Because this can have very serious ramifications for your children.

Children born with syphilis deal with lots of really serious medical conditions.

Still birth is a major concern.

Then even if they do survive childbirth, we have issues like blindness that are very prevalent in those born with congenital syphilis.

The numbers are small, 61 cases in Tennessee, total for congenital syphilis in 2022.

But four years ago we had less than 10.

Julie Cooke: Something is happening here.

Ginger Rowsey: If we continue to see those increases every year in five years, we're going to be really having a major issue to deal with.

Julie Cooke: What role does the health department take then in trying to head that off?

Are we going to start the PSAs again, the public service announcements or start the campaigns for safer sex?

Ginger Rowsey: Well, of course, we handle any case of syphilis.

Even if they do not come to us, they go to their doctor or a different clinic that gets reported to us.

We can help track the source of that and make sure everyone who has come into contact with that source is tested also, because we don't want this circulating in our community.

Yes.

Just yesterday I know some of our staff on the STD team were out doing STD testing at a local college.

So we're doing things like that, trying to get out of the community.

Just making people aware, first of all, of what's going on, and then just the importance of being tested, and also just trying to drive home those safe sex practices, using protection, being in a monogamous relationship, and those activities that are going to help us rein this disease in.

Julie Cooke: I imagine we will be seeing more about that as the time goes on.

I guess you just typically think of it as, as younger people.

I was surprised to hear you say that typically what a 30-ish age men.

Ginger Rowsey: Well, historically, syphilis has been in older men, but we are seeing more younger people.

I'd say most of our STD population is going to be in that late teens to 20s category.

Julie Cooke: The health department will do what you need to do about that.

A lot of people are not really aware of all the areas that the health department works in.

I know as far as colds, flu, STD's, things like that.

I know you helped with prenatal care and things like that.

What are some of the other areas the health department is in charge of waste disposal for instance?

Ginger Rowsey: Waste disposal is a big one.

All of the solid waste convenience centers in Madison County, we manage those.

There are 10 centers and that's a big thing that people don't often think about.

The health department does that.

Thinking back historically good sanitation, clean water, those have probably been two of the greatest advancements in public health.

The health department does manage those.

I think I saw our numbers from last year.

We collected 10,000 tons of waste.

Be it trash, old tires, metal, cardboard, anything like that.

It's a lot that we're doing and within the environmental department, of course they're also going out to inspect restaurants.

Every restaurant in Madison County every food truck in Madison County is inspected.

Julie Cooke: By the health worker?

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

I think we did 486 food inspections last year.

In addition to those, they're also inspecting hotels and daycares, tattoo parlors.

Those are all things that fall under our realm.

Julie Cooke: It's a lot more than just going to get your shots.

Ginger Rowsey: It is we do more than shots.

Absolutely.

Something else that maybe surprises people is we keep records of all births, deaths of vital statistics.

Julie Cooke: If you need a copy of your birth certificate, call the health department.

Ginger Rowsey: If you need a copy of a death certificate, you come to us and a question that we get.

Sometimes a lot of people live in outlying counties, they work in Jackson, they're here.

If you need a copy of your child's birth certificate, as long as they were born in Tennessee, you can come by our office and get.

It doesn't have to be a Madison County birth to get your certificate here so any birth certificate in Tennessee you can pick up.

Julie Cooke: I want to just go back because I know you've had a varied career before your role as a Public Information Officer because you were a television reporter for some years and you work with the AgResearch, Agriculture and Research Center out on Airways.

This has got to be a tremendous amount of information.

What has your learning process been like?

How long have you been on your job now?

Ginger Rowsey: I've been here since January of 2023, so a little over a year.

Julie Cooke: I imagine it's been a lot for you too.

Ginger Rowsey: It has been a big learning curve.

I worked in agriculture for 14 years.

So it has been a little bit of a jump to go from agriculture to public health.

Of course, I do see a lot of similarities because both are so vitally important.

Both, maybe you're misunderstood a lot by the public, but I've really enjoyed it.

A lot of great people working at the health department.

When you really, it's someone said to me, when the health department is working, no one knows.

Because it's a thing that as long as it's working fine, we just go about our business and we don't realize that it's even there.

Julie Cooke: But then when you have something like a COVID.

Ginger Rowsey: Exactly.

Julie Cooke: Or flu outbreak when people need things, it's always there.

Ginger Rowsey: You see these things that are happening very quietly without a lot of public recognition.

That are really contributing to the health of our community and it's great.

Julie Cooke: What I guess just to review, I know what you said about flu season and getting flu shots as far as our vaccinations, now you keep all the records on all of that?

Ginger Rowsey: We do all the vaccinations from childhood through adulthood that are needed.

All the vaccinations that are required for school.

But if you do need to check where you are in your vaccinations, you can call and check that out.

Julie Cooke: One thing I wanted to touch on from what I understand, there is a rise in measles cases.

Is this children?

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

We're seeing some measles cases pop up around the country.

None in Tennessee yet, but Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, so a lot of different little pockets around the country.

What we're seeing, why we're seeing this, is we've seen a real decline in our childhood vaccinations as far as the MMR, which is the Measles, Mumps, Rubella shot that children get when they're one year old.

I don't know if this vaccine hesitancy has arisen out of COVID or that brought that on or if it's something else.

But we have seen a reduction in the number of kids who are getting.

Julie Cooke: Who are getting the shots.

That's something I do want to ask you about because I thought you couldn't enter school, a public school, if you did not have all your proper vaccinations.

Is that not right?

Ginger Rowsey: Well in our state, and in some states, not every state, but in our state, there is a religious exemption you can get.

There's always been a medical exemption too.

There may be a very minute portion of the population that would have a medical exemption, allergic, an allergy to something.

But you can have a religious exemption and we're seeing a big increase in those religious exemptions.

The issue with measles because it is so contagious.

You can catch measles from someone who was in a room two hours before you got there.

That's how contagious it is.

Julie Cooke: Airborne?

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

It's an airborne virus, yes.

When we drop below 95% immunity, that is where we have some concerns.

So we really want to get 95% of our children vaccinated with that MMR and we've dropped below that threshold, and it's happening all over.

Julie Cooke: It's measles, mumps, rubella?

Ginger Rowsey: That's right.

Julie Cooke: But it seems like there's a danger if even one child doesn't have that vaccination.

Ginger Rowsey: Right.

Julie Cooke: It's a danger to other children.

Ginger Rowsey: It is a danger to other children because we don't vaccinate children until they're one year old.

Especially those young babies, they're at risk.

If a mom has had her vaccine, then the baby should be good until they get to one.

But, those kids, you still worry about that.

There are some kids who, like I said, cannot get the vaccine, so they're at risk.

The measles vaccine, we've had it for 50 years and it really works well.

It's proven to be effective, and I just hope that people will come back and get that vaccine because it's really important.

We think of measles as, oh, everybody used to get it, it's not that big of a deal.

But it can be a very big deal.

About 1 in 5 kids who gets measles ends up in the hospital.

Julie Cooke: Is it dangerous for adults?

Ginger Rowsey: It can be, yes.

And yes, adults can get it too if they don't have their vaccinations.

Absolutely.

Julie Cooke: And what about mumps?

Ginger Rowsey: Mumps.

We're not seeing mumps so much.

Measles is the one.

We are still worried about it.

But, if you don't get your measles-mumps-rubella, then you are at risk for that too.

We just haven't been seeing any rogue cases of mumps lately.

But yeah, all three of those that are covered in that MMR vaccine, we vaccinate for a reason, and especially, people probably our age that went through and haven't really had to go through experiencing these viruses and seeing how bad things can be with polio or others.

Julie Cooke: Does everybody still have to have tetanus shots?

Ginger Rowsey: Yes, and we take for granted that we're just going to be healthy and, we don't live with those diseases.

We've forgotten about them.

But they could come back at any time if we don't stay vigilant with getting our vaccinations.

Julie Cooke: So it's not too late to get a COVID shot or a flu shot?

Ginger Rowsey: No.

Or even a measles shot.

Julie Cooke: Or even a measles shot if you haven't had one.

What else did we forget to touch on today that you'd like for everybody to know about?

Ginger Rowsey: Well, I think the health department it's been doing a lot of good work in our community for a long time.

Whether that's with our STD control, our childhood vaccinations, our family planning.

We also have health education classes that we offer to kids, well, really all ages, kids and adults.

So that's a service that we do want to get out there that, whether you have a program or maybe a summer camp coming up or something where you would like our health educators to talk to kids about physical fitness and nutrition.

Julie Cooke: So you can request it?

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

Those are free classes that you can request, yes.

Tobacco use, vaping, that's a big issue for kids now, so we have those programs.

Julie Cooke: Where are we on that?

Is that less going on of that across the board or?

Ginger Rowsey: I haven't seen numbers lately that I would want to quote, but I know that I think it's a very big concern for anybody working in education, the number of vapes they're collecting from students at school.

So we do want to get that information out there that, vaping is not good.

Julie Cooke: Because at first, it was like, oh, this is your alternative.

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

Julie Cooke: Then now, well, really it's not.

Ginger Rowsey: It's not a safer alternative to cigarettes.

Absolutely not.

So we do want to get rid of it.

Julie Cooke: Or chewing tobacco.

I know oral cancer is a problem.

Ginger Rowsey: So just getting that health education out to families in the community.

And then I do want to mention our WIC program, Women, Infants and Children.

That is a program that if you're pregnant or have just had a baby, that you can come and qualify for some food vouchers, and we have some really great registered dieticians who work with you so you can take the foods that are eligible on the WIC program and learn how to use them to your best advantage and feed your family.

Julie Cooke: What's the best way to find out all of the services that you do provide because there may be so many that aren't aware of the WIC program?

Ginger Rowsey: Exactly.

Julie Cooke: The vaccination schedule and things like that.

Ginger Rowsey: We're a department of Madison County Government, so if you go to madisoncountytn.gov you can find our web page within the county government website and we have all of our services listed there, contact information is also listed there.

Julie Cooke: Ginger Rowsey has been our guest today and thank you very much.

Ginger Rowsey: Thank you.

Julie Cooke: I know you've had an exciting year.

Ginger Rowsey: Yes.

Julie Cooke: And so very much to learn about just the workings of the department and about measures to keep our public health in check in general.

So thanks for all that you guys do, but be sure you take advantage of that.

There are a lot of services that you may not be aware of that the Health Department does provide and you can get that information on madisoncountytn.gov.

And phone number, want to give that?

Ginger Rowsey: 731-423-3020.

Julie Cooke: For the Jackson-Madison County Regional Health Department.

Thank you for joining us today, Ginger Rowsey.

I'm Julie Cooke and remember you can stream today's program and all local Channel 11 programs on the PBS app, the West Tennessee PBS YouTube channel, and on westtnpbs.org.

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