Carson City health stats: Strangulations increasing, babies born with syphilis above US average, flu hospitalizations up 116%

During the Carson City Board of Health meeting held Thursday, some highlights discussed include: the city’s strangulation cases are increasing, along with the number of congenital (inherited) syphilis cases and flu hospitalizations.

Strangulation cases rising, sexual assault exam room moved to Health Department

The Carson City Board of Health heard an update on the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and training that the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) will be providing Carson City Sheriff’s Office deputies, as requested by CCSO. 

Carson City Health Officer Dr. Colleen Lyons said there has been an increase in strangulation assaults, and CCSO requested training from the SANE to help assist victims. 

“In regards to the [SART], just want to point out that this issue of increasing numbers of strangulation victims has come up, and our SANE nurse has training in this, and has done training education for EMTs up in Reno,” Lyons said. “The deputy sheriff was asking about receiving that training for his detectives, then being able to disperse that out to their [deputies] who are out meeting people in the [community].” 

Lyons said there’s a risk for stroke with strangulation, and it doesn’t necessarily happen at the time of the assault, but can take place after. She said that information has been sent to the emergency room at Carson Tahoe Hospital so staff is aware and can take precautions accordingly when dealing with victims of strangulation.

She said the sexual assault examination room has been moved to the health department “which is excellent,” and will provide additional privacy to victims as well as the ability to provide them with other potential services. 

Supervisor Stacey Giomi asked for confirmation that if the exam room is being utilized at night, when the health department is closed, there will be security measures in place. “Obviously these are vulnerable individuals who’ve been victimized, and now we’re potentially at 2 [a.m.] bringing them to a place where there’s no one around except for the SANE nurse and potentially the victim advocate[s].” 

Lyons said that the exam rooms were previously located at the old hospital, and that building also has similar issues with being vacant, which has caused “extreme trouble getting in[to the building at night].” 

Now, a portion of the old hospital is being converted into juvenile inpatient, but even with there being more individuals there at night with that component, “we are pretty concerned that we could still have ongoing problems in that regard.” 

She said as far as security goes, the CCSO deputies have been “very helpful if there are any concerns” and accompany them. 

The board approved Lyons’ report unanimously. 

Disease reporting shows vaccines low, flu cases high, and inherited syphilis a growing concern

The new Carson City Health and Human Services Director Jeanne Freeman attended her first board of health meeting as director, and as part of her report she provided information on back-to-school vaccines.

There will be clinics held in August, as they are every year, but Freeman stressed that families do not need to wait until August to get their vaccinations. She said there are special days set aside just for vaccinations at the health clinic. 

She also said that CCHHS has been able to fund additional lifeguard hours through Senate Bill 118 funding to provide lessons for third graders through the school district as a drowning prevention effort. 

Disease statistics

As far as influenza and other diseases go, Freeman said this year has been a “highly, highly severe illness season, higher than we’ve seen since 2017 and 2018.” 

She said that Carson City had the highest hospitalization rates and the lowest vaccination rates of the area’s counties when it came to influenza. 

“We found that’s concerning especially because we have the availability of the vaccine and we know that the flu shot doesn’t necessary mean you’re not going to get the flu — its intention is to reduce the severity of the illness so that you hopefully do not experience hospitalization.” 

Freeman said that through this year’s data they determined that those who were unvaccinated were three and a half times more likely to end up in the hospital if they had comorbidities such as asthma, obesity, diabetes, etc. 

Freeman said it’s recommended to get the flu shot in the fall — late September, early October if possible. She said if you believe you’ve been exposed to the flu, you can get the shot immediately and it will have some benefit in reducing severity. 

Lyons said there was a 116% increase in hospitalizations this year compared to last year, with many of her adult patients being out 10-14 days during recovery. 

Supervisor Schuette, who previously worked as a teacher, added she once had a sixth grade student die from influenza, “so it does happen.”

Freeman said there are currently no measles cases in Carson City, but it’s something they keep an eye on, especially considering summer is the time when most people travel. 

“Oftentimes what happens is somebody travels who’s unvaccinated, they come into contact with someone who is positive with measles, they bring it back to the community, and then it spreads rapidly amongst those who are unvaccinated,” Freeman said. “So we want people to be cautious when they’re traveling if they aren’t vaccinated and consider being vaccinated.” 

She said there have not been any hantavirus cases in Carson City, but there was a recent case in Douglas County. When cleaning out spaces that could potentially have mice such as sheds or garages, it’s encouraged to always wear masks and do a “wet” method, which is spraying the area down with cleaning solution then wait for a while before returning to finish.  

She said the individual in Douglas County did survive, but they were hospitalized for an extended period of time. 

On congenital syphilis (the infection of syphilis passed from mother to fetus or mother to child during delivery), Freeman said Nevada has been showing “higher than the national average” in cases, and “it’s not just happening down in southern counties in the state.” 

She said there are higher levels here, and it’s “incredibly impactful because it’s not just about the woman who has congenital syphilis, but it’s also about the baby being born and what those complications are for that child who’s born with syphilis.” 

She said CCHHS has applied for a lab waiver using SB 118 funding to start offering a rapid test in the clinic, which will allow testing to come back in 15-20 minutes instead of three to four days. She said once the lab waiver is approved, they’ll be allowed to start purchasing rapid tests and provide results while their patient is still in the exam room. 

You can watch the full board of health report below:

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