Official insights from Public Health – Seattle & King County staff
HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis, better known as PrEP, has changed the lives of many people around the world by providing a way for people who are HIV negative to decrease their risk of acquiring HIV infection. Hundreds of thousands of people globally are currently taking PrEP, including over 6500 people in King County alone. To date, […]
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In 2017, King County launched our new food safety rating system with the goal of making it the best rating system in the country. With a year under our belt, Public Health – Seattle & King County’s food safety team is proud to say that the new system has achieved measurable success. Over 75 percent […]
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Public health focuses HIV prevention activities to those at highest risk. In King County, that has meant decades of intensive work to reduce transmission of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM), the group most impacted by HIV locally. As a result of that targeted strategy, the number of new cases of HIV […]
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Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern in the healthcare community. Antibiotic resistance is said to have occurred when an antibiotic loses its ability to effectively kill bacteria. The bacteria are “resistant” meaning that they continue to multiply, and the infected person is not cured. Public Health – Seattle & King County’s STD Clinic Director, Dr. […]
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Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are on the rise across the U.S. and Washington and King County data show a similar trend towards more syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. Bottom line: We need to rein in what’s looking like an explosion of preventable, sexually transmitted disease. We need more surveillance to find STD cases, more awareness among […]
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Hepatitis A is a liver disease caused by a highly contagious virus. A large outbreak in San Diego, along with outbreaks in Los Angeles and in Salt Lake City has Public Health officials concerned that a hepatitis A outbreak could occur in King County. Dr. Jeff Duchin, King County’s Health Officer, explains who’s at risk […]
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