The Wayne County Health Department provides childhood vaccines to keep children safe from disease, but that’s not the only way it works to protect children.
Trauma and injury prevention is one of the key performance indicators measured by the Health First Indiana program. With the HFI funding, the department and its partners have developed a multi-faceted approach, but the county’s health officer, Dr. Jennifer Bales, focused on protecting children when addressing the county’s health board April 9.
“There’s actually lots of resources in the community to help protect and provide for our children,” Bales said.
Safe sleep is an important series of behaviors that reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, Bales said. The county partners with Birth to Five and Reid Health to teach those behaviors. Safe sleep involves having an infant sleep on its back; providing a firm sleep surface; not sharing a bed with adults; and avoiding soft bedding, blankets and toys.
Bales said sleep sacks are available from the health department.
Proper car seats also protect children. Bales said that Reid Health has a trained car seat technician who can assist parents with car seat installation and check the safety of car seats. Free car seats are also available for parents who cannot afford them.
The health department promotes safe routes to school with partner Purdue Extension, which educates about safe routes to school and situational awareness. Safety equipment, such as bike helmets and pads, are available.
Parents can call the health department at 765-973-9245 for help connecting with services needed for their children.
MOU with Union County
The health department has reached an agreement with Union County to provide testing for sexually transmitted infections.
Wayne County will schedule twice-monthly testing hours at Union County’s health department to test for HIV, hepatitis C, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis. Positive tests will be confirmed through a blood test.
The basic panel costs $69.68, with the addition of bacterial vaginosis and trichomoniasis raising the cost to $88.69. Wayne County will bill patients’ medical insurance and be responsible for treatment when results are positive. Union County will reimburse testing costs except for labor expenses.
The health board on April 8 and Wayne County’s commissioners on April 9 approved the memorandum of understanding between the counties. This is the second recent partnership between Wayne and Union health departments. Wayne County also is assisting Union County with its lead testing program.
Measles in Indiana
The Indiana Department of Health has confirmed six Indiana measles cases that are connected to each other in Allen County.
Bales said there are also cases in Kentucky and Ohio, and a second child has died in Texas, where there are about 480 cases, from the highly contagious virus. There has not yet been a Wayne County case, but Bales emphasized that the best strategy against measles is protection through vaccination.
The health department has ordered extra doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Two doses are required for immunity.
More information is available at in.gov/localhealth/waynecounty.
Bales said the county’s COVID-19 and influenza cases are now low. The flu season peaked in December and February, which is typical, Bales said, adding that this season was similar to the 2022-23 season but with slightly higher case numbers.
A version of this article appeared in the April 16 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.