Public Health

Mersha Tamrat, right, gives free haircuts to attendees at the 13th Annual Project Homeless Connect at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Helping with ‘the step up’

Project Homeless Connect returns for 13th year in Soldotna

Mersha Tamrat, right, gives free haircuts to attendees at the 13th Annual Project Homeless Connect at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

COVID activity declines statewide for 2nd week

Cases of COVID-19 had surged upward, statewide, beginning in December

Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Volunteers sit at rows of tables or in curtained off booths during Project Homeless Connect on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Project Homeless Connect set for Tuesday

The one-day event is intended to provide a place where all area service providers come together to provide referrals, information or services

Volunteers sit at rows of tables or in curtained off booths during Project Homeless Connect on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
A graph showing the week by week case counts of RSV, the flu and COVID-19 in Alaska, part of the State Department of Health’s Respiratory Virus Snapshot. (Courtesy Alaska Department of Health)

COVID, RSV trend downward in state data

While a COVID spike has been observed state- and nationwide for much of December and January, the same rise hasn’t been so sharp on the Kenai Peninsula

A graph showing the week by week case counts of RSV, the flu and COVID-19 in Alaska, part of the State Department of Health’s Respiratory Virus Snapshot. (Courtesy Alaska Department of Health)
Department of Health logo. (Graphic)
Department of Health logo. (Graphic)
COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)

State data: Kenai Peninsula Borough not seeing statewide rise in COVID activity

A state and nationwide upward trend in COVID-19 activity has seen spikes in case counts and hospitalizations, but state data indicates the surge hasn’t made… Continue reading

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
Nurse Sherra Pritchard gives Madyson Knudsen a bandage at the Kenai Public Health Center after the 10-year-old received her first COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion file)

Department of Health urges flu, COVID-19 and RSV vaccines

Only 18.5% of Alaskans have received a flu vaccine as of last week

Nurse Sherra Pritchard gives Madyson Knudsen a bandage at the Kenai Public Health Center after the 10-year-old received her first COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion file)
Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Report: Adverse childhood experiences ‘common’ in Alaska

ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood

Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Snapshot: Flu cases down statewide, growing on peninsula

The State Department of Health’s respiratory virus snapshot tracks the activity of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19

Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Central Peninsula Hospital is seen in Soldotna on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)

Central Peninsula Hospital marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hospital employees marked the month by wearing pink surgical gloves

Central Peninsula Hospital is seen in Soldotna on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

2022 overdose deaths slightly down from previous year

Deaths still far surpassed those recorded during last decade

Department of Health logo. (Graphic by Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
This is a picture of the Alaska Department of Health building in downtown Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Life expectancy up; births, deaths trend downward in 2022

The Kenai Peninsula saw 629 births last year

This is a picture of the Alaska Department of Health building in downtown Juneau. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
A sign welcomes visitors on July 7, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Seward medical center adds mammography services

In Alaska, cancer is the leading cause of death, and breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed

A sign welcomes visitors on July 7, 2021, in Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on a cloudy Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Syphilis cases remained high in 2022

Last year, 424 cases of syphilis were reported

The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on a cloudy Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nurse Tracy Silta draws a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the walk-in clinic at the intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling Highways in Soldotna, Alaska on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)

Updated COVID booster available locally this month

The updated vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months or older

Nurse Tracy Silta draws a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at the walk-in clinic at the intersection of the Kenai Spur and Sterling Highways in Soldotna, Alaska on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Camille Botello / Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on a cloudy Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

New RSV preventative measures to be available this season

Nirsevimab will be available through the Alaska Immunization Program starting Oct. 1

The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on a cloudy Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Anna Lewald, left, a registered nurse at South Peninsula Hospital, gives Dave Aplin, right, an influenza vaccine at a flu and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

State recommends flu vaccination in September and October

That guidance says that everyone over 6 months should be vaccinated

Anna Lewald, left, a registered nurse at South Peninsula Hospital, gives Dave Aplin, right, an influenza vaccine at a flu and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinic Friday, Oct. 15, 2021, at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on a cloudy Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

State issues new guidance to combat ongoing syphilis epidemic

The alert urges increased screening for pregnant people

The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on a cloudy Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Alaska State Veterinarian Dr. Bob Gerlach gives a presentation on Avian Influenza Virus at the 4-H Agriculture Expo in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Health officials warn of avian influenza, activity still low

An epidemiology bulletin published by the State Department of Health late last month warns of the presence of H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza, in… Continue reading

Alaska State Veterinarian Dr. Bob Gerlach gives a presentation on Avian Influenza Virus at the 4-H Agriculture Expo in Soldotna, Alaska, on Aug. 5, 2022. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)

Health department: Congenital syphilis increased ‘dramatically’ over past 5 years

The condition occurs when the bacteria that causes syphilis is transmitted from a pregnant person to a developing fetus

The Kenai Public Health Center is seen on Feb. 6, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)