ASHLAND — COVID-19 is still among Ashland County Health Department’s top public health concerns heading into this year, according to an analysis provided to Ashland Source.
The health department investigated 24 different types of communicable diseases in 2023.
“COVID-19 made up 87% of these cases,” said Jill Hartson, the health department’s public information officer.
But the true burden, Hartson said, can’t really be quantified.
“First, an unknown number of positive at-home tests go unreported,” she said. “Second, some symptomatic residents choose not to be tested for COVID-19.”
Hartson said COVID-19 remains the primary cause of communicable disease outbreaks in the county among congregate living settings with high concentrations of at-risk populations.
“Therefore, COVID-19 will continue to be a primary concern for the foreseeable future,” she said, adding other respiratory diseases — flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) — will also be a concern.
Vaccines
The health department administered 1,355 vaccines in 2023, for a number of diseases — hepatitis A and B, influenza, chicken pox, to name a few. That number includes 258 vaccines for COVID-19.
The number of COVID-19 vaccines administered last year stands in stark contrast to 2022 data.
The health department’s records show the administration of 1,320 COVID-19 vaccines in 2022, including 39 that went to infants and children.
Other concerns
But COVID-19 isn’t the health department’s sole concern.
The agency zooms in communicable diseases — including infectious diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, bloodborne, foodborne, waterborne, zoonotic and vector born diseases — because they have the potential to effect the public at large.
The Ashland County Health Department is required to identify what disease caused the most illness, outbreak and/or death.
“For 2023, that was COVID-19,” Hartson said.
The agency also looks at individual threats to health — diseases like cancer, and various heart diseases.
In 2022, the agency completed a Community Health Assessment that identified cancer, access to healthcare, mental health and substance abuse as four main areas of concern.
An Ohio Department of Health report shows the average cancer mortality rate in Ashland County between 2016-2020, the latest data available, was 160, which is higher than the U.S. rate of 149.4.
On average, there were 121 people who died each year of cancer between 2016 and 2020.
Though COVID-19 has a lower rate of mortality in Ashland County, it still poses a threat to public health because Hartson said it caused the most illness, outbreaks and/or death among communicable diseases.
Data from ODE shows six Ashland County residents died from COVID-19 in 2023. There were 1,624 cases and 112 hospitalizations. The state presumes 1,604 of those confirmed cases recovered.
“Heart disease and cancer, the leading causes of death in the nation, will likely always pose a threat to individual health … Cancer in Ashland County is a concern, which is why it is so predominantly featured in our Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP),” Hartson said.
The county’s Health and Wellness Target Action Group (TAG) is “developing initiatives to address the objectives in the CHIP. Since there are many community partners in Ashland County who play a role in cancer prevention, detection and care, we adopted a focused collaborative effort, of which we are leading,” Hartson said.
The health department, along with the Ashland County Cancer Association, is sponsoring a free information session at UH Samaritan on March 8 aimed at colorectal cancer.
Ashland County’s incident rate of colorectal cancer in Ashland County outpaced Ohio’s and the U.S.’s from 2016-2020, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
“There are multiple threats that impact the health of our community, from public health threats to individual health threats. All threats must be addressed,” Hartson said.
Narcan and overdoses
The health department continues to be concerned about overdose fatalities in Ashland County.
Data from the Ashland Police Department and the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office show there were 18 fatal overdoses across the county in 2022.
By Oct. 10, the number of fatal overdoses across the county for 2023 totaled 25, according to information provided by Rick Ford, director of the Ashland County Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
“These individuals are not always from Ashland County, but are counted where the overdose occurs,” Ford said in an email.
Data on fatal overdoses is collected by an opioid fatality review committee yearly in February and March. The committee is made up of representatives from the health department, the mental health and recovery board, a physician, law enforcement and the coroner.
The health department became a Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone) site around 2017.
The Ohio Department of Health’s program started in 2012 and has grown into a network around the state of sites aimed at providing education of opioid overdoses and a distribution point for naloxone, a drug used to reverse overdoses.
Since 2012, Project DAWN has grown to include more than 420 naloxone distribution sites that cover 82 of the state’s 88 counties and there are 182 programs registered, according to ODH.
The health department procured 463 doses of Narcan, the name brand drug that contains naloxone. It distributed 246 doses to partnering agencies and first responders in 2023.
Mobile health clinic
The health department used leftover COVID-19 funds to purchase a $230,000 mobile health clinic in April 2023.
Its purpose, according to Vickie Taylor — the health department’s director — is to bring vaccinations and other health services to Amish and “isolated populations” across the county.
Between June and November 2023, the clinic hosted 13 events.
During those events, nurses administered 119 health screenings and 63 vaccinations.
Screenings included blood pressure and sugar readings, hemoglobin A1C tests, cholesterol checks and height and weight checks, said Hartson.
The screenings were given to 28 males and 14 females age 19 to 65+, with the bulk being between the ages of 19-64.
Th vaccines went to 20 males and 22 females aged 0 to 65+. Most of the vaccines, 17, went to the 19-64 age category, according to information provided by the health department.
There are seven events planned for 2024, and the health department is “currently in the process of planning additional events with other community partners.” Below is a list:
- February 28, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Perrysville Community Center, in partnership with the Associated Charities’ Food Bank
- April 16, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at United Methodist Church in Polk, in partnership with the Associated Charities’ Food Bank
- May 22, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Perrysville Community Center, in partnership with the Associated Charities’ Food Bank
- July 16, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at United Methodist Church in Polk, in partnership with the Associated Charities’ Food Bank
- August – Amish Health and Safety Day (private event)
- August 28, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at Perrysville Community Center, in partnership with the Associated Charities’ Food Bank
- October 15, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at United Methodist Church in Polk, in partnership with the Associated Charities’ Food Bank
Births and deaths
The health department also keeps track of births and deaths in Ashland County.
Last year, Ashland County saw 98 hospital births and 78 home births, although those numbers are not yet finalized.
The number of hospital births in 2023 are also drastically less than 2022, when the county experienced 262 hospital births. This is because University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center discontinued labor and delivery services on Aug. 8.
“From Aug. 8, 2023 on, home births and Emergency Department births will be the only documented births in Ashland County,” Hartson said. “Therefore, caution should be taken in comparing birth records from previous years.”
There were 102 more deaths in Ashland County in 2023 than the previous year.
2023 deaths totaled 620, versus 518 deaths in 2022, health department data shows.