Winnebago County Health Department

The Winnebago County Health Department is warning people to avoid all synthetic cannabinoids. It has identified four cases of severe bleeding connected to their use in the county. Many more have been reported across the state.

The Health Department said there are many different chemicals, including one used in rat poison, in the various synthetics available. The department’s Director of Health Protection, Todd Kisner, said the effects can be unpredictable and dangerous, and people shouldn’t wait to act.

Leaders in education, social services, and government in Winnebago County are trying to work together on a common thread they see running through their community’s biggest challenges – trauma. 

The number of flu cases is spiking across the state.

Health officials say the spike is happening early in the season. 

Todd Kisner is with the Winnebago County Health Department. He says he’s seen reported cases nearly quadruple over the past month.

“As far as the number of flu cases this early, it’s a little early for us," he said. "But that hopefully means it will end early.”

He says the flu season typically runs through April.

The Winnebago County Health Department released its annual report for 2015, which includes the number of reportable diseases in the county.

There were more than 1,700 cases of Chlamydia in Winnebago County last year, compared to 339 the year before. 

Gonorrhea also rose by several hundred cases, compared to 2014.

There’s a significant increase in reported gonorrhea cases in Winnebago County, according to the county’s health department.

The number of reported gonorrhea cases in the first half of this year increased by 50 percent from the number of cases reported in the first half of 2015. Todd Kisner, who is with the Winnebago County Health Department, says that’s a difference of more than 100 cases.

A licensed practical nurse is suing the Winnebago County Health Department over allegedly violating her religious conscience.

The number of cases of shigella in Rockford has exceeded 300.

The Winnebago County Health Department predicts the number will surge this summer.

Todd Kisner, with the Department’s Center for Health Protection, says the outbreak can’t be pinpointed to one place.

“Typically, when we see an outbreak of shigella, it’s usually confined to a daycare or a school," Kisner said. "But what we’re seeing with our community outbreak is – it’s going across the community."

Kisner says strict hygiene is the best defense against the bacteria.

  With temperatures slowly rising, so too will mosquito populations.

Last summer, the Winnebago County Health Department handled nearly 300 calls related to mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. With all the worry of mosquito-borne disease like West Nile, encephalitis and Zika, some residents wonder what can be done.

Time is running out for people who haven’t signed up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. 

Pertussis, or whooping cough, has made its presence into the Rockford public school district.

Last Friday, a letter was sent out regarding an Auburn High School student with a confirmed case of pertussis.

Families of West View Elementary and West Middle School also received letters about probable cases that have been reported.

Pertussis is easily mistaken as a bad cold, but its symptoms are more severe and can last up to 100 days.

What may be the first case of measles in two decades in Winnebago County is being investigated by the Winnebago County Health Department.

Sue Fuller, a spokesperson for the health department, reported that a physician confirmed the presence of a measles predecessor rash on a four-year-old child on June 30. The child also exhibited other symptoms consistent with the onset of measles, according to the physician’s report.

The last confirmed case of measles in Winnebago County was prior to 1994.