Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a highly contagious and sometimes fatal bacterial disease which has increased alarmingly in the past decade. To help provide protection, all students 11 years of age and older entering the sixth grade in Alabama schools during the 2012-2013 school year are required to have a tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine.

Students entering the seventh and eighth grades during the 2012-2013 school year who did not receive the Tdap vaccination during the 2011-2012 school year are required to have the vaccination.

All students including those 11 years of age or older entering the sixth, seventh and eighth grades are required to have an up-to-date certificate of immunization.

The Tdap vaccine helps to protect adolescents from pertussis which will prevent spreading the disease to family members, other students and school staff. The Tdap school requirement will go up by one higher grade each school year.

The Alabama Department of Public Health advises the public to be alert to the warning signs of heat illnesses. The National Weather Service offices in Birmingham and Huntsville have issued forecasts for temperatures expected to reach 100 degrees F starting with the western counties of Alabama on Thursday and spreading across all of Central Alabama by Friday. Extremely hot weather is expected to continue through the weekend.

Heat-related illnesses occur when the body’s temperature control system is overloaded. The Alabama Department of Public Health cautions everyone to be alert to the warnings that may signal help is needed.

Heat stroke, sometimes called sunstroke, is the most serious heat-related illness. It occurs when the body becomes unable to control its temperature. The body’s temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails, and the body is unable to cool down. Body temperature may rise to 106 degrees F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes.

Montgomery, Tuskegee, Ft Rucker, AL and Columbus GA – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki recently announced the department would add approximately 1,600 mental health clinicians as well as nearly 300 support staff to its existing workforce. VA estimates that 12 clinicians and 2 support personnel will be hired to support mental health operations at CAVHCS.  Funding has now been distributed to CAVHCS and recruitment is underway. 

VA has an existing workforce of 20,696 mental health staff that includes nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. Currently, 199 mental health clinicians and support staff work locally supporting CAVHCS Veterans.

With each additional mental health care provider, a facility could potentially reach hundreds more Veterans battling mental illness. New providers will join a team that is already actively treating Veterans through individualized care, readjustment counseling, and immediate crisis services.