Category Archives: Blog Articles

February is National Children’s Dental Health Month

Dental Health: Why is it important? Tooth decay and cavities are two of the most common chronic diseases for children ages 6 to 9. About 20% of children ages 5-11 years have at least one untreated decayed tooth. It is important to start caring for your child’s dental health when they are babies in order… Read more >

HPV Vaccine is Cancer Prevention

By Andrea Flood, MPH, Public Health Educator January is National Cervical Cancer Awareness month. The CDC and the National Cervical Cancer Coalition promote the protection against cervical cancer through vaccination and regular screening. Each year, approximately 13,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with cervical cancer. More than 9 of every 10 cervical cancer… Read more >

Flu Vaccine Myths and Misconceptions

By Karyn Johnson, Public Health Educator Over the years I have heard many reasons why people choose to get vaccinated against the flu. Unfortunately, I have also heard a few reasons why people choose not to get a flu vaccine (injectable or nasal spray), many of those reasons are based on incorrect information. Even though… Read more >

End the Stigma: Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders

By Mariah Senecal-Reilly In October both National Substance Abuse Prevention Month and Mental Illness Awareness Week are observed. During this time families, communities, and organizations come together to raise awareness about the importance of substance abuse prevention and to celebrate people living in recovery. According to SAMHSA, around 43.6 million (18.1%) Americans ages 18 and… Read more >

Breast Cancer: It’s Not Just One Disease

By Emily Young, Public Health Educator Although often thought of as just one disease, there are many types of breast cancer. A woman’s treatment options and prognosis are dependent upon the type of breast cancer that’s diagnosed. In order to determine this, all tumors are tested for estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. Breast tumors that… Read more >

Shake, Shake, Shake?

By Roseanne Jones, MS, RDN, CDN As a Registered Dietitian, I do like to “shake things up” while I am working but the past couple of months, I did a lot less shakin’! Let me explain. Recently, I have been working with Chef Bill Collins, a Culinary Specialist at Syracuse University, to gather chefs and… Read more >

Film Students Team Up with the Health Department to Promote Safe Sleep for Infants

By Lisa GreenMills, Program Coordinator, Syracuse Healthy Start and Kara Verbanic, Public Health Educator Finding out you’re pregnant can be life-changing news, and along with all the congratulations and well wishes from family and friends, new parents also get bombarded with plenty of unsolicited advice! It can range from helpful, to mildly amusing, to outright… Read more >

The Pink Shawl Initiative: A Story of Joining Together for Breast Cancer Screening

By Emily Young, Public Health Educator For many years, the Cancer Services Program (CSP) has collaborated with the Onondaga Nation to screen local Native American women for breast cancer. This partnership has grown and evolved in many ways over the years. It is true that breast cancer rates do tend to be lower in American… Read more >

Carbon Monoxide Alarms Save Lives

By Erika Frye, Environmental Health Technician II In October of 2014, the Onondaga County Healthy Neighborhood Program (HNP) visited a family who lives on Garfield Avenue in Syracuse. The HNP is a program that provides health and safety related services to people who live in the City of Syracuse. At the visit on Garfield Avenue,… Read more >

STDs: You Don’t Always See the Signs

By Melanie Drotar, Public Information Specialist and Karyn Johnson, Public Health Educator The Onondaga County Health Department recently collaborated with students at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University on a video public service announcement (PSA) project. It was a perfect partnership: students produced these videos for course credit while gaining real world… Read more >