Davis County Health Department

Influenza has picked up over the last week across the state, but health officials say it's still not too late to get vaccinated.

According to Weber-Morgan Health Department, the state saw an increase in the number of influenza type A cases beginning the first week of March. In Weber County, 69 percent of those cases have been H1N1, which is covered by this year's vaccine.

"We're not seeing huge numbers, but last month the activity was considered minimal, and this past week we've hit the low to moderate level," said Claudia Price, Weber-Morgan Health Department director of nursing.

CLEARFIELD -- With chlamydia at the top of the list, sexually transmitted diseases continue to push the reported number of communicable diseases upward in Davis County.

That was the news shared with the Davis County Board of Health, ironically on Valentine's Day.

In 2011, the health department received 1,369 disease reports, up 9 percent from the 2010 report of 1,256 cases, said Brian Hatch, director of the county health department's communicable disease and epidemiology division.

CLEARFIELD — If Spot could speak, he might tell his owners — if they smoked — that all that secondhand smoke is “ruff” on the both of them.

A Davis County Health Department educator and a nationally recognized Davis County veterinarian, after reviewing information from recent veterinary studies, contend secondhand smoke has serious effects on pets in the household.

They hope that educating pet owners who smoke about the dangers of secondhand smoke and the risk it poses to their pets will encourage them to quit smoking.

OGDEN -- Utah currently ranks seventh in the nation when it comes to the overall health of its residents, the same spot it held in last year's rankings.

The 22nd annual America's Health Rankings shows Utahns have a lower prevalence of smoking, binge drinking and obesity than other states. In addition, the state has a low rate of preventable hospitalizations, low rates of cancer deaths, cardiovascular deaths, infant mortality and adult diabetes.

The report shows a 10 percent drop in preventable re-hospitalizations among Medicare patients for illnesses such as pneumonia, asthma, congestive heart disease and diabetes.

CLEARFIELD -- About one in every 12 people in Utah have asthma, say health officials.

And Davis County is not immune.

KAYSVILLE -- Despite the tweaking of its components, selling a different version of the synthetic marijuana product known as "spice" is still illegal, a Davis County lawmaker says.

"They think they have found a loophole," Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, said of those trying to put the product outside the reach of the law.