Muskegon Area Career Tech Center

January 12, 2009

Contacts:
Kathy Andrews, Rehab Tech Instructor
Mike Carpenter, MACTC Principal

Teens partner with Public Health Department to fight Shigella outbreak
MUSKEGON: On January 13, 2009, from 8:30 a.m. through 11:00 a.m., at Oakridge Lower Elementary (located at 5290 Bryn Mawr in Muskegon) Rehab Tech students from the Muskegon Area Career Tech Center will use black lights and a substance called “Glow Germ” to demonstrate proper hand washing techniques to young children. In response to a current Shigella outbreak, the 11th and 12th graders have joined with Public Health – Muskegon County to educate local elementary students about the importance of hand washing and the prevention of spreading germs.

Since late September 2008, 87 confirmed cases of shigella illness have been reported to the public health department. Seventy percent of the cases have been children under the age of 10 years old. Shigella symptoms include diarrhea, fever, stomach cramps and nausea/vomiting. Shigella spreads from person-to-person when hands, objects or food become contaminated with very small amounts of stool or feces from those who are infected, and the bacteria are then taken in by mouth. Shigella infection can be prevented through careful and frequent hand washing.

Efforts are underway to canvas as many schools as possible with hand washing education as a means to contain the spread of the Shigella bacterial infection. Rehab Tech students will provide fun facts and hands-on demonstrations using an invisible lotion, activated by a black light, that students can rub on their hands and “transmit” to other students by shaking hands and giving “high fives” to each other. This allows students to actually see how germs can be passed from one another in school. They also have fun relating the importance of good hand washing skills.

Students involved in the Muskegon Area Career Tech Center’s Rehab Tech program are preparing for a variety of careers in the health profession including physical therapist, athletic trainer, occupational therapist, recreational therapist, and speech language pathologist. Course content includes medical terminology, basic anatomy/physiology/pathology, wellness, growth and development, therapeutic activity, exercise and techniques, and clinical documentation. Students participate in clinical lab sessions for monitoring therapeutic and cardiovascular exercise and activity; patient ambulation/transfer training skills for wheelchair, walker, cane and crutches; group interaction skills; therapeutic media; wellness; and therapeutic assistance involving patients with various physical, emotional, and developmental disabilities.

The Muskegon Area Career Tech Center (MACTC) opened to Muskegon area high school students in January 2005 and is operated by the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District. The center offers 20 different career and technical education programs for over 700 students. To learn more about the MACTC visit the Center online at www.muskegonisd.org/ctc-new.

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Editorial Note: For more information on the shigella outbreak, please contact Dori Peters, Public Information Coordinator for Public Health – Muskegon County at (231) 724-1292 or petersdo@co.muskegon.mi.us

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