By

Roy M. Arnold, MD

“Salmonella Outbreak Sickens Hundreds in Multiple States.” “Caribbean Cruise Cut Short Due to Norovirus Outbreak.” We’ve all seen the headlines telling of the latest foodborne illness outbreak in the country. Are there really more foodborne illnesses these days, or is medical science just able to detect them more efficiently? Let’s take a look.

Gastroenteritis is the medical term for an illness which involves nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea. It is often referred to as “stomach flu,” a misnomer since the disease has nothing to do with influenza or respiratory illness. With better case definition, the number of cases of gastroenteritis has declined over the past 12 years by about 33 million cases per year from 211 million in 1999 to 178 million in 2011. Less than 1% of all cases of such gastrointestinal illness or about 9 million are traceable to contaminated food. The most common types of food associated with foodborne illness are produce, accounting for over half, followed by meat products, mainly poultry and dairy accounting for 42% and finally fish or shellfish.

The most common organisms accounting for foodborne illnesses were Norovirus, Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter. Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that causes a 2-3 day gastrointestinal illness. Most frequently the virus is spread person-to-person by direct contact or through food prepared by sick workers. This virus has caused many cruise ship outbreaks. Salmonella is a bacteria found on nearly all poultry and eggs. It cannot be effectively removed by washing but can be easily killed by thorough cooking and proper storage. Listeria is more commonly found in unpasteurized dairy products or in deli meats like sliced turkey or bologna. Campylobacter is a bacterium that is most commonly found in birds or domestic animals. It can be spread through undercooked poultry, contact with contaminated objects like cutting boards or utensils, or by contact with an infected animal.

Foodborne illnesses can largely be prevented by practicing the 4 T’s of food safety: Touch, Time, Temperature and Tidiness.

Touch – Never handle cooked food or raw meat with your bare hands. Always use vinyl gloves or clean utensils. Utensils, knives, cutting boards and counter tops must be thoroughly washed in hot water and soap or decontaminated with a bleach containing disinfectant before reuse. Never use plates that have touched raw meat to hold or store cooked food. If dining at a buffet always use a clean plate if returning to the buffet for seconds.

Time – Cooked food must not be allowed to cool to room temperature, or to sit at room temperature for more than 1 hour

. Leftovers stored in the refrigerator must be discarded, used or frozen within 48 hours. Make a habit of time/dating leftovers with a marker.

Temperature – Buy a digital meat thermometer and use it to judge the internal temperature of food to ensure thorough cooking. Poultry should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, Ground meat to 160 and whole meat to 145 degrees. Fish should be cooked to 145 degrees or until the flesh is opaque and flakes. Eggs should be cooked until the white is completely opaque. If serving food at a buffet, it should be kept below 40 degrees or above 140 degrees during the entire period of serving.

Tidiness – Always wash your hands with soap and water before handling food and use vinyl gloves. Wash all dishes, cutting boards, utensils and countertops with soap and hot water after contact with raw food, or decontaminate with a bleach-containing disinfectant.

As the holiday season approaches take extra caution to ensure that your family and guests are not exposed to possible contamination. Forget about stuffed turkey and bake the stuffing separately from the bird. Even 1 drop of uncooked poultry juice can cause illness in humans. Make certain all cooked food reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees, or in the case of poultry 165.  Be attentive to internal and storage temperatures, time at room temperature and cross-contamination. Persons who are ill with a gastrointestinal disease (nausea, vomiting or diarrhea) should not prepare or serve food.

If you do become ill with a gastrointestinal illness, contact your primary health provider if high fever or bloody diarrhea are present, if dehydration develops or if the illness does not resolve in 2-3 days. Children, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses can be quite vulnerable. Have a happy and healthy holiday season!

The University of Evansville is proud to announce that it will launch a new physician assistant program, the first in the Tri-State area, to build on its existing strength in health professions education and help meet the growing need for health care providers. The master’s-level program is slated to begin classes in 2016.

The University began conducting a feasibility study for a physician assistant program more than a year ago. The study, led by Tripp Umbach, indicated that the prevalence of physician assistants (PAs) in the Tri-State is lower than the national average. In addition, experts in the health care field project significant shortages of primary care providers, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment for physician assistants will grow by 30 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than average.

The University is currently conducting a national search for a physician assistant program director and is pursuing provisional accreditation, a status granted to new PA programs, from the Accreditation Review Council for Physician Assistants (ARC-PA).

Physician assistants work as part of a physician-led team to provide a broad range of diagnostic, therapeutic, preventive, and health maintenance services: performing physical exams, diagnosing and treating illnesses, ordering and interpreting tests, prescribing certain medications, and more. PAs work in diverse medical and surgical settings, including family and internal medicine, emergency departments, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery and surgical sub-specialties, and mental and behavioral health care.

UE’s physician assistant program will last approximately 24 to 27 months and will include both classroom and clinical education in topics such as medical, behavior, and social sciences; clinical medicine; patient assessment; and health policy and practice issues.

“We look forward to offering the region’s first physician assistant program, which we are developing based on the current and future needs for health care providers – both here in the Tri-State and nationwide,” said John A. Mosbo, UE senior vice president for academic affairs. “The new program provides an excellent opportunity to educate local students and import talent from a broad geographical area. Given our existing strength in health sciences education, UE is well positioned to make an impact on those needs through a physician assistant program.”

“Physician assistants can be a vital part of medical practices here in Evansville, and I’m thrilled to see a local university stepping up to educate these health care professionals,” said David Schultz II, MD, a local physician with Evansville Primary Care and 1994 UE alumnus. “With the physician and nurse shortage in Indiana and America, physician assistants serve an important role in increasing healthcare availability.”

For the first time, the University of Evansville has been named to the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of the country’s best values in private colleges.

The annual list names the top 100 private universities and 100 liberal arts colleges around the United States. UE and the other schools on the 2014 lists represent the colleges that provide high-quality academics at a reasonable cost.

“At the University of Evansville, more than 95 percent of students receive financial aid or scholarships to help them pursue a meaningful, personalized college education,” said UE President Thomas A. Kazee. “We’re honored to receive national recognition from Kiplinger’s for our efforts to make an impact on students’ lives by making a UE education accessible and affordable.”

“The University is constantly striving to enhance our high-quality academic programs and ensure relevance to our students,” Kazee added. “Several recent examples are our announcements of a Baccalaureate to MD program, a physician assistant program, and the award of the largest faculty grant in UE history, which will provide scholarships and support to math and science students. We’re pleased to see these efforts recognized by such a prestigious entity as Kiplinger’s.”

“Our rankings serve as a valuable resource to help students and families make more informed choices,” said Janet Bodnar, editor of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. “Combining a high-quality education with an affordable price tag is a challenge, but the colleges on this year’s list offer the best of both worlds.”

Kiplinger’s rankings measure both academic quality and affordability. Academic criteria include the student admission rate (the number of students accepted out of those who apply), the test scores of incoming freshmen, the ratio of students to faculty members, and the four- and five-year graduation rates. On the cost side, Kiplinger’smeasures the sticker price, the availability and average amount of need-based and merit-based financial aid, and the average student debt at graduation.

The full list is available online now at www.kiplinger.com/links/college.

Wendy Bredhold

After earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Indiana, Amanda Kloeppel’s interest in international development took her around the world and back.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree in economics, Kloeppel ‘09 spent a summer with an African mission program and a year teaching English on the island of Saipan. Her quest for new challenges, however, has brought her back to USI where she is pursuing a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) degree.

“I liked living overseas, but didn’t like teaching, and wanted to pursue a master’s degree. I chose the MPA program because I have a strong tendency toward administration and, in the long-term, want to be involved in some kind of philanthropic endeavor.”

The skills she’s developed through the MPA program have allowed her to help a nonprofit organization with which she traveled to Myanmar in January plan its first annual fundraiser—a gala event set for this fall.

Since returning to Evansville, Kloeppel has been involved with the Jacobsville neighborhood revitalization initiative, which is working on a quality of life plan to improve the area. She chairs the group’s employment committee and serves on the business corridors committee.

“The goal of both is to increase and retain businesses and employment in that community,” she says. “Whether it’s Jacobsville or Africa, if you can show people how to start a business or gain meaningful employment, you give them the skills to lift themselves out of poverty.”

Kloeppel is currently employed by Vectren Corporation as an analyst in regulatory affairs. She plans to graduate from USI in December, and hopes to work for a corporate or community foundation.