Mecklenburg County Government

By Raydiance Swanston. The evolution of the Mecklenburg County Dental Clinic to a value-based, integrated care approach has impacted our patients’ health outcomes and reshaped how we deliver dental care in our community.

ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of the multifaceted landscape of mental health among Black men, shedding light on the unique challenges they face. Black men in the United States confront a complex interplay of sociocultural, historical, and economic factors that influence their mental well-being. This article synthesizes existing research and explores the disparities in mental health outcomes among Black men, delving into the stigmatization of mental health within this community. It also examines the role of systemic racism, socioeconomic factors, and cultural norms in shaping the mental health experiences of Black men. The abstract highlights the importance of culturally competent and community-driven interventions, offering insights into potential strategies to address these disparities. By recognizing the specific issues affecting mental health among Black men, this research contributes to the broader discourse on mental health equity. It underscores the imperative of tailored approaches to support the well-being of this demographic.

Objective Identify factors associated with PrEP awareness, willingness, and future prevention modalities among undergraduate college students. Participants Undergraduates (N = 701) were recruited from a private university, a public research university, and a private historically Black college and university for an online survey. Methods Upon multiple imputations, a multivariate logistic model, a multivariate multinomial model, and independent multivariate ordinal logistic models were used to calculate Rubin’s rules-pooled adjusted odds ratios for PrEP awareness, willingness, and future HIV prevention methods. Results Only 33.4% of students had heard of and 32.4% were willing to take PrEP. PrEP willingness was higher among sexual minority students compared to heterosexual/straight students (OR = 1.65; 95% CI: 1.03–2.63); p = .036). The likelihood to take a future vaccine or antibody prophylaxis treatment was higher than the likelihood to take injectable PrEP or implants. Conclusions Interventions to increase PrEP uptake and willingness among undergraduates should emphasize equity in HIV education and include future prevention modalities.

Objective Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a notable public health problem among young adults. The present study examined college students’ knowledge of HIV and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in relation to their sexual health behaviors. Participants and Method Participants included 1516 students who completed questionnaires on actual and perceived HIV knowledge, perceived PrEP knowledge, and sexual health behaviors. Results While knowledge of HIV was high, knowledge of PrEP was low. Approximately 73% of the sample reported not using condoms at all times, and 41% reported never having been tested for HIV. Women, students at public schools, upper-year students, and students with higher HIV and PrEP knowledge were more likely to get tested for HIV than their counterparts. Knowledge of HIV and PrEP did not relate to condom use. Conclusion These results suggest the need for increased education about PrEP and strategies to help students translate knowledge about HIV to recommended sexual health behaviors.

Mapping body composition patterns of those hired as police officers has implications not only to the health of officers during their careers but also in their ability to perform in emergency situations. PURPOSE: To evaluate body composition changes that occur in police recruits from 1990 to 2013 with gender comparisons. METHODS: During the first week of police recruit training in a large southeastern metropolitan area, physical fitness levels were evaluated in 2,468 recruits. This study’s variables of interest are: body mass (kg), lean mass (kg), and % body fat. ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc procedures were used to evaluate data. RESULTS: The initial ANOVA shows significance for males in all three variables at p≤0.05. Males tended to increase in body mass and lean mass from 1990 to 2000 (80.6±1.2kg to 87.3±1.2kg, p≤0.05) (68.9±0.8kg to 73.4±0.8kg, p≤0.05), respectively. These values remained relatively constant between 2000 and 2013. No discernable pattern was seen in female lean mass nor body mass. Males tended to increase in % body fat from 1994 to 2010 (13.6±5.0 to 16.7±7.2, p≤0.05). Although not significant, female % body fat means increased from 1990 to 2013 (22. 9±1.0 to 26.2±1.2). CONCLUSIONS: Even though there was an increase in body mass, pre lean mass and % body fat over time in males, these increases were low. In addition, these increases were lower in females.

The Sunshine Lake/Sunrise Waterway System, located in Southwest Florida (USA) previously experienced extensive and persistent algal blooms, with noxious odors and deep organic-rich sediments. This algal bloom was addressed via a lake-wide dredging project to remove the material from the lake bottom. A contributing factor to the algal bloom is elevated phosphorus in stormwater runoff, likely due to naturally phosphorus-rich geology in the surrounding watershed. Due to the naturally elevated phosphorus supply, excessive nutrient loads will likely continue in the future. An ongoing monitoring program, initiated after the dredging of the lake, determined that a type of algae (Chara sp.) other than that which caused the initial bloom had established itself by October 2015. This plant biomass is considered an alternative destination for incoming nutrient loads, and as such should be managed, rather than eliminated via the use of herbicides. The abundance and nutrient content of the mass of Chara sp. in the lake and waterway was estimated, and the amount of external nutrient load that would be removed from the lake with physical harvesting of Chara sp. was quantified. The cost-effectiveness of nutrient removal via physical harvesting of Chara sp. was then compared against typical stormwater treatment ponds.

ObjectiveTo examine associations between food types and the concentration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) approved stores and community health.MethodsCross‐sectional study of the SNAP food environment in a large Southeastern urban county in the United States consisting of 373 census block groups (communities) and 940,000 residents. Negative binomial regression examined associations between the concentration of SNAP approved full service and limited service stores and premature death to due heart disease and diabetes controlling for demographic characteristics.ResultsLimited service SNAP stores were concentrated in low income communities; less than 1% sold fresh fruits and vegetables. In adjusted analysis, each additional limited service SNAP store was associated with a 23% increase in the number of premature deaths due to heart disease.ConclusionsFindings suggest it would be useful for public health professionals and dietitians to provide information to clients to identify SNAP approved stores that offer healthy foods.This study was funding by the Mecklenburg County Health Department, Charlotte, NC

The BD ProbeTec CT Q(x) Amplified DNA Assay and the BD ProbeTec GC Q(x) Amplified DNA Assay (both BD Diagnostics, Sparks, MD) represent two new assays developed for use with the BD Viper System with XTR Technology (BD Diagnostics). These assays were built on the foundation of the former BD ProbeTec ET assays (BD Diagnostics) and its accompanying instrumentation. The study described below compared the new assay format, Extracted Mode, to the former assay format, Nonextracted Mode, with the primary objective of examining and measuring overall time expenditures and efficiency of operation. An 80-142-min reduction in "hands-on" total processing time was observed for the Extracted Mode whether testing urines or swabs. The second objective was to assess the accuracy of performance at low simulated analytical loads for the pathogens Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Performance accuracies for simulated positive and negative urine or swab specimens were calculated to be 99.97% for Extracted Mode and 99.76% for Nonextracted Mode.

Educators and health care professionals alike understand that healthy students are likely to be successful learners. The goal of school nurse case management is to support students so that they are ready to learn. This article describes the outcomes of a 4-year process improvement project designed to show the impact of school nurse case management on attendance, behavior, academic performance, quality of life, and health compliance in a large southeastern urban school district. Recognizing a need for standardized practice, the School Health Leadership Team created a case management policy, procedures, forms, a data collection process, and ongoing education and mentoring. The policy enabled school nurses to select students with health and learning needs, target specific outcomes, implement interventions, and document the gains made. In the 4 years of this project, 84% of the students case managed improved in 1 or more of the 5 target areas.

The incidence of rabies in humans in the United States is low. However, contacts with potentially rabid animals result in thousands of human rabies postexposure prophylaxis treatments (PEPs) each year. PEP is expensive, not without risk of adverse reactions, and in many instances unnecessary. Increased reports of cases of rabies in animals (4,880 cases in 1990, 9,495 in 1993, and 7,124 in 1996) suggested that PEPs could be increasing. Application of 1981 PEP incidence rates gave an estimate of approximately 16,000 PEPs during 1996, while calculations based on annual sales of a rabies biological during 1996 gave an estimate of approximately 39,000 PEPs. Appropriate usage of PEP requires careful evaluation of human exposure scenarios and adherence to approved guidelines.