The Suffolk County Department of Health Services on April 14 issued an advisory for residents and visitors to take precautions before recreating in Port Jefferson Harbor. This advisory follows a recent New York State Department of Environmental Conservation report of a discharge of partially treated sewage resulting from an electrical malfunction on one of the UV disinfection units, according to a press release.
Because the discharge reached surface waters, there is potential for elevated levels of pathogenic organisms to be present in this area. Corrective actions to mitigate the discharge have been completed.
Suffolk County Health officials are working closely with the NYSDEC, which has jurisdiction over the permitting, enforcement, and management of the Port Jefferson sewage treatment plant, according to the press release.
The NYSDEC has designated the shellfish lands within the entire Port Jefferson Harbor complex, including its tributaries, as uncertified. Health officials advise those engaged in recreational activities in the area to avoid contact with waters from Port Jefferson Harbor Complex until 9 a.m. Wednesday, April 16.
Keep children and pets away from the area. If contact does occur, rinse off the affected area with clean water immediately. Seek medical attention if after exposure you experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin, eye or throat irritation, allergic reactions, or breathing difficulties.
Stony Brook doctor, tending to a newborn baby. Courtesy Stonybrookchildrens.org
By Daniel Dunaief
Water inside a house isn’t just bad for the structure, it can also be damaging to your health.
Local health care professionals suggested that Stony Brook residents whose basements flooded from this weekend’s heavy rainfall should be careful about the growth of mold or mildew, which can be especially problematic for anyone with chronic breathing issues.
“People can inhale spores over a period of time and can develop respiratory symptoms,” said Dr. Sunil Dhuper, Chief Medical Officer at Port Jefferson’s St. Charles Hospital.
People with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis and emphysema “need to be particularly concerned about some of these issues,” he continued.
Dr. Sharon Nachman, Chief of Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, suggested that residents of Stony Brook, who experienced a localized 10 inches of rain this weekend, should “aggressively clean” their basements, from any standing water, as mold and mildew can start growing within a few days.
“You won’t see it because it’s small,” but people should dry the walls and under the floorboards and carpet, she said. “You want to get the water out.”
Local doctors, also, recommended dumping standing water off any surface that might become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, who can carry the West Nile virus.
At this point, the County Department of Health believed the West Nile threat wasn’t likely particularly high.
“The heavy rains and wind might have washed away adult larvae and adult mosquitoes,” Dr. Scott R. Campbell, Laboratory Chief in the Arthropod-Borne Disease Laboratory at the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, explained in an email.
“Wet springs and hot, dry summers — in which mosquitoes and birds may congregate at limited sources of water — may be conducive to higher West Nile virus transmission.”
The heavy rain, which was triple the usual average for the entire month of August, according to Weather Spark, likely reduced area mosquitoes.
Local medical care professionals suggested that residents should still remove standing water as a way to protect themselves against any remaining mosquitoes.
Congenital viral infection
Apart from the impact of local flooding, doctors discussed a host of other medical issues.
New York State has been testing newborns, since last fall, for congenital cytomegalovirus, or CMV, which infected mothers can give to their unborn children.
The testing so far has shown that CMV is less prevalent than previous estimates.
The state started the one-year study of the virus to track children who might develop symptoms, such as hearing loss or learning challenges, later on.
“The earlier you identify babies with hearing deficits, the sooner you can act, and there will be fewer ramifications on their intellectual development, as a result of it,” said Dr. Andrew Handel, pediatric infectious diseases expert at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, and a co-leader, along with Dr. Nachman, of one of the 11 units across the state.
Dr. Sharon Nachman. Courtesy Stony Brook Medicine Facebook page
Earlier medical sources estimated that the infection rate for newborns was about one in 200 babies. But, with about 300 newborns testing positive, the rate is closer to one in 325.
The percentage of symptomatic babies is tracking with previous expectations, at around 10 percent. Symptoms of congenital CMV at birth include hearing loss, jaundice, low birth weight, seizures and retinitis.
“Our numbers are matching up with the 90 percent” of those who have the virus, but are asymptomatic, Handel added.
“That’s why we feel screening is so important.”
For the asymptomatic newborns, about 10 percent will develop permanent hearing loss, which is why doctors are tracking them so closely.
The virus, which is a relative of the Epstein Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis, is spread through direct contact with body fluids, such as tears, saliva or urine. Over half of all adults have had a CMV infection, with some studies estimating the rate as high as 80 percent.
Adults can shed the virus for a few weeks after contracting it, while children can shed it for a few months.
While all newborns will receive CMV screening after birth, parents have five days to opt out of any link to a report of the presence of the virus in their children.
At this point, fewer than one percent of parents are opting out of the testing. Some of the parents aren’t interested in the test, others don’t believe it’s useful, while some believe their babies look fine, and don’t want the additional test.
Most parents appreciate the opportunity to gather information about their children’s health. Patients are “grateful the state has this program,” said Dr. Sunil Sood, Systems CMV specialist at Northwell Health.
At Stony Brook and other hospitals, doctors are monitoring those babies who test positive.
The County Department of Health supports the testing, as well.
“Routine screening of newborns for [congenital CMV] will help identify affected infants early on so they can receive appropriate follow-up and treatment,” Cynthia Friedman, Director of Public Health Suffolk County Department of Health Services, explained in an email.
“Infants who screen positive … should be followed closely by their pediatricians and referred to specialists as needed to ensure early detection of problems with hearing, vision or development so that appropriate care and support can be implemented.”
Once the funding for the testing runs out, which will be around October, hospitals around the state will no longer perform the test.
Parents can ask for a urine test, which doctors estimate could cost between $50 and $100, but which insurance, likely, won’t pay for — especially if the child is asymptomatic.
Legislators, including Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal (D-NYC) plan to introduce a bill in January that would fund tests, in future years.
“We would advocate that that become a permanent part of infant testing,” said Sood. “There are diseases that are far less common than CMV that have made it into the newborn testing programs.”
Immunization
Amid pushes by some pharmacies to encourage people to get flu shots, health care experts suggest waiting until closer to late September, or early October, for the inoculation.
“Vaccine efficacy is about three to four months,” said Nachman. “If you get it in August, when the flu season hits in January, you may not have much protection.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends similar timing, around September or October.
At the same time, Nachman expects a new batch of Covid vaccines will be available around September.
She recommends getting both shots at the same time, which increases both vaccines’ effectiveness.
Pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer, and BioNTech, recently reported that a single combined shot for Covid and flu was not effective against influenza B, which means that people interested in receiving vaccines this fall should plan to get two shots.
Covid numbers
As for Covid, the current strain has made the rounds this summer.
“Everybody and their neighbor had Covid,” said Nachman, who added that the virus has spread across all ages. Covid was “clearly more infectious than what we had in the spring” and people were sicker for longer.
While the number of infected people has decreased, the start of the fall semester could trigger an increase.
Three Village Dads Foundation held a fundraiser April 16 to raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Food trucks were available during the event. Photo from Three Village Dads Foundation
On Sunday, April 16, Three Village Dads Foundation ran an event to raise money for a local chapter of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. The St. Baldrick’s website states it is “a volunteer and donor powered charity committed to supporting the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives.”
Three Village Dads Foundation held a fundraiser April 16 to raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. Some attendees, including David Tracy, below, chairman and CEO, had their heads shaved to help raise funds. Photo from Three Village Dads Foundation
Over the years, Three Village Dads have raised over $225,000 for local causes. They adopted the local St. Baldrick’s chapter last year and moved the event to the Veterans of Foreign War Post 3054 in East Setauket.
David Tracy, chairman and CEO of 3VDF, is a VFW member.
“We had about 60 or 70 people come down last year,” Tracy said in a phone interview. “It was a bit rainy. So, it kind of muted the overall attendance. However, we still ended up raising $22,000 for St. Baldrick’s.”
This year 3VDF followed the same format but it was a much nicer day, with about 100 guests in attendance. There were vendors donating their time to feed the guests, and Setauket Fire Department brought a fire truck for children to climb on.
About 45 minutes into the event, two women showed up, one wearing a jacket with the words “Suffolk County Health Department.” “They both have clipboards, and they have very serious faces,” Tracy said. “They’re just saying, ‘You need to shut down, this is not a permitted event.’”
This surprised Tracy, as he explained to them that this was a private event on private property. They countered that the event was advertised to the public, so it was a public event. Tracy then offered to buy a permit, but he was informed that that is impossible on a Sunday.
“I asked [one of them] to maybe use discretion, to maybe call her boss and just let me talk to him — and just nothing,” Tracy said. “She wasn’t having it.”
Tracy believes that one of the two women works for the Tobacco Enforcement Unit of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. “They were there to target the one vendor whose business model is a cigar and bourbon experience.”
“They tell me over and over, ‘These vendors have to stop,’” Tracy said. He explained that he was “willing to pay the fines, whatever the fines may be, but this is a fundraiser for childhood cancer research. We are not shutting down. We have two more hours left.”
One woman proceeded to go up to each vendor, go into their trailers, ask them questions and take pictures, according to Tracy. He said that this upset a lot of their guests.
“There were a lot of people that were paying attention to what was going on with her and her inspections, as opposed to paying attention to the 10 brave people to get up there and shave their heads in front of the public to raise money for charity,” Tracy said.
“I guess what bothers me the most is that if they knew about this a few days ago or a few weeks ago, why not just pick up the phone and give us a call,” Tracy said. “We would have rectified it.”
“It just reeks of bad government decisions, and we would like somebody to answer for that,” he added. “Whose call was this? Whose ultimate determination? Who has it out for my friend’s business?”
“I will gladly pay that fine if need be and we will gladly get permits next year. But the way this was handled is just all wrong,” Tracy said. “I would like [to make] a public apology to my organization, to the St. Baldrick’s organization, to the vendors, because there’s a much better way of handling this, especially if they knew about it ahead of time.”
The citation that Tracy received read as follows, “Organizer found operating a temporary food service event to the public without a valid permit.” It also said that 3VDF allowed “food vendors to serve food to the public without valid permits to operate.”
Suffolk County Department of Health Services did not respond to a request for comment prior to press time.
Crab Meadow Beach in Northport. File photo by Rohma Abbas
Suffolk County Department of Health Services announced Aug. 14 that Crab Meadow Beach in Northport is closed to bathing due to the finding of bacteria at levels in excess of acceptable criteria.
The following beaches remain closed: Tanner Park Beach in Copiague; Venetian Shores Beach in Lindenhurst; Knollwood Beach, Huntington Beach Community Association Beach, Baycrest Association Beach, and Wincoma Beach in Huntington; Fiddlers Green Association Beach in Lloyd Nek, Valley Grove Beach in Eatons Neck, Beech Road Beach in Rocky Point; Sound Beach Property Owners’ Association Beach, and Sayville Marina Park Beach.
Terraces on the Sound Beach in Rocky Point; Fleets Cove Beach in Huntington; Steers Beach and Asharoken Beach in Northport; and Hobart Beach and Prices Bend Beach in Eatons Neck have reopened.
According to Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gregson Pigott, bathing in bacteria-contaminated water can result in gastrointestinal illness, as well as infections of the eyes, ears, nose, and throat.
Beaches will reopen when further testing reveals that the bacteria have subsided to acceptable levels.
For the latest information on affected beaches, call the Bathing Beach HOTLINE at 631-852-5822 or contact the Department’s Office of Ecology at 631-852-5760 during normal business hours.
The state health department said 10 mosquito samples tested positive for West Nile virus in Suffolk County at the end of August, with three samples being found in Rocky Point.
In a release Aug. 30, Suffolk County Department of Health said that the mosquito samples, collected Aug. 20 and 21, had examples of West Nile virus in Lindenhurst, North Babylon, Farmingville, West Babylon, North Patchogue, Huntington Station, Commack and Rocky Point. All but Rocky Point had only one such sample collected.
Suffolk County has reported 53 mosquito samples to date that have tested positive for West Nile and six for Easter equine encephalitis, a virus that can cause brain infections, though no new samples have been collected at this point.
Dr. James Tomarken, the county commissioner of health, said there is a presence, but there is no reason to panic.
“The confirmation of West Nile virus in mosquito samples or birds indicates the presence of West Nile virus in the area,” said Tomarken. “While there is no cause for alarm, we advise residents to cooperate with us in our efforts to reduce their exposure to the virus, which can be debilitating to humans.”
West Nile virus may cause a range of symptoms, from mild to severe, including fever, headache, vomiting, muscle aches, joint pain and fatigue. There is no specific treatment for West Nile virus. Patients are treated with supportive therapy as needed.
The best way to handle local mosquito populations is for residents to eliminate standing or stagnant water pools in their areas. Tomarken said it’s important for residents to stay vigilant especially if they enter the Manorville area.
People are also encouraged to use long sleeves and socks and use mosquito repellent.
Dead birds may indicate the presence of West Nile virus in the area. To report dead birds, call the Public Health Information Line in Suffolk County at 631-787-2200 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Residents are encouraged to take a photograph of any bird in question.
To report mosquito problems or stagnant pools of water, call the Department of Public Works’ Vector Control Division at 631-852-4270.
