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Major Cities in Alaska with Drug Rehab and Treatment Centers:
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866-407-4380
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Drug Rehab Alaska
is here to help people with drug and/or alcohol abuse problems in Alaska. find treatment options. Due to our diverse networking system we can find a treatment option tailored to each individuals specific situation and needs. We are able to provide all phases of recovery included but not limited to, alcohol and/or drug intervention, drug and/or alcohol detox, in-patient treatment, out-patient treatment, short term treatment (30 days or less), long term treatment (90 days or longer).
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We design personalized treatment programs to provide each abuser with the greatest chance of a successful recovery outcome. Our comprehensive networking system works hand in hand with all of the drug treatment centers in Alaska. At Drug Rehab Alaska we know that each individual is unique and are treated as such. Deciding upon a treatment option in Alaska, or anywhere can be a daunting task for any individual or family, we will guide you through each step of a comprehensive treatment plan for you or your loved one. We are determined in our mission, that every drug and/or alcohol abuser in Alaska. that has a desire to change their life will be given a chance to recover from their addiction and we are dedicated to ensuring that they are given the opportunity to do so.
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We realize that each individual in Alaska. is in a different financial situation and we will find treatment options for each individual regardless of their financial situation. No matter what your financial situation everyone will receive the treatment help they are looking for.
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866-407-4380
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ALASKA is a botulism HOT SPOT but now has a faster way to detect the DEADLY infectionIn the middle of summer 2002, Dr. Joe McLaughlin flew from Anchorage, Alaska to the west coast of Alaska on last-minute notice.
An outbreak of sickness was under way, and he needed to investigate. Villagers had eaten muktuk from a beluga whale they found dead along the shore. The skin and blubber might have been contaminated; eight people were ill with suspected botulism, a potentially deadly food-borne illness.
Alaska has the highest rate of botulism in the United States and one of the highest rates worldwide, said Jeremy Sobel, a medical epidemiologist who studies botulism at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alaska Health officials call botulism the most toxic bacteria that attacks humans and other mammals.
McLaughlin collected samples of muktuk, body fluids and stool. At that time, his only option was to pack the specimens and send them thousands of miles to Atlanta, home of the CDC.
The samples arrived July 26; results came back six days later. But turnaround wasn't always that quick, McLaughlin said.
"It usually takes six months," he said. "It can be up to a year to get (final) results back."
James McGee, the microbiologist overseeing CDC's botulism laboratory, said the delay in issuing final reports stems from an outdated computer system that is now being replaced. McLaughlin added that the CDC's laboratory is busy, having to analyze samples sent from states around the nation.
Soon, Alaska will no longer be one of those states. The Alaska state public health laboratory in Anchorage, Alaska has opened its first botulism lab. For now, the CDC will continue testing samples from Alaska to validate results from the new lab, but Alaska's lab eventually will do the work on its own, officials said.
To open the new lab, the state health hired microbiologist Bonnie Bond to test for botulism. They bought dozens of mice needed for botulism testing, bred them and set up a unit that houses them in a high-security laboratory.
Alaska Health officials say all of this will improve patients' peace of mind and help the state give timely updates about botulism. Patients with botulismlike symptoms are treated immediately, before test results are received, because the bacteria is so dangerous. Still, waiting six months to a year for a final written diagnosis is upsetting for patients, McLaughlin said.
Tests performed close to home could return results in about four days, McLaughlin said. "If we get results within a week, we'd be ecstatic."
BOTULISM IN ALASKA
The CDC studied the number of food-borne botulism cases across the nation from 1990 to 2000 and discovered that 103 of 263 cases -- or almost 40 percent -- occurred in Alaska, among the least-populous states. California, the most populous state, reported just 37 cases, Sobel said.
Botulism is caused by a toxin produced by the naturally occurring bacteria Clostridium botulinum. The illness causes a variety of gastrointestinal, muscular and neurologic symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision, muscle weakness and paralysis, which can hinder a person's breathing.
Regardless of weakness and paralysis, "you're absolutely conscious and aware of what's going on around you," microbiologist Bond said.
There's a vaccine to prevent botulism, but it's still under investigation and not available to the public. State officials said Bond was required to take the vaccine to work in Alaska's public health lab.
If a person already has botulism, treatment may include mechanical ventilation and antitoxin. Antitoxin can prevent symptoms from worsening, but it also can cause side effects, health officials said.
The most common type of botulism in Alaska is food-borne, but people also develop wound botulism and infant botulism. Wound botulism is becoming an increasing problem in California, where botulinum-infected wounds are typically linked to intravenous drug users injecting black tar heroin, Bond said. Infant botulism results when the botulinum bacteria infects an infant's colon. Alaska Health officials also say that botulism is one of a number of bacteria that could be used in a bioterrorism attack.
Most botulism cases in Alaska have been linked to preparation and storage of traditional Native foods, including fermented foods, dry foods and condiments like seal oil, said Dr. Beth Funk, an Alaska medical epidemiologist.
"In comparison, food-borne botulism in other parts of the United States is associated with improperly canned foods or unrefrigerated foods," she said.
Between 1950 and 2002, Alaska had 122 outbreaks of botulism involving 248 people, Funk said. All the cases involved Natives, and most occurred in villages along the coasts of western and southeastern Alaska.
Botulism cases increased from 1950 to 1997, though health officials aren't exactly sure why, Funk said. It may be related to better and earlier diagnosis of the illness, better reporting or a change in food preparation. Some Alaska Natives have switched from traditional fermenting practices -- burying salmon heads, beaver tails and other foods in underground pits -- to placing the food in airtight containers set above ground or in other warmer environments that are more conducive to producing the botulism toxin.
Funk said the increasing incidence of botulism in Alaska stopped in 2000, when the state began seeing a decrease in cases for reasons unknown. The botulism mortality rate in Alaska fell from 31 percent in the 1950s to 5 percent in the 1990s, Funk said.
OPENING THE LAB
For years, the main thing preventing Alaska from testing for botulism was the old quarters that housed the state's health laboratory. The cramped building on Fourth Avenue served as the lab for decades but was never adequate for testing dangerous substances like the botulism toxin, said Dr. Bernd Jilly, chief of state public health laboratories.
It also couldn't adequately house the mice needed for testing, said Gregg Herriford, Alaska's laboratory manager.
Two years ago, public health workers moved to a new laboratory on Boniface Parkway that included the space and safety measures needed for botulism testing.
Then funding became critical. The state had not set aside enough money to staff and run a botulism lab, Herriford said. So the state coupled its money with funds from the CDC bioterrorism response grant to open Alaska's first botulism lab. Today, 17 states can test for botulism, said McGee of the CDC.
Jilly estimates that the annual cost of the botulism lab for Alaska will be about $130,000, with most of the money covering microbiologists' salaries. The rest will cover maintenance and equipment costs and what lab officials are calling "mouse condos."
TESTING WITH MICE
Using mice to test for botulism is considered the gold standard in laboratories nationwide.
"It turns out mice are exclusively sensitive to botulinum toxin," Bond said. "Not all animals are."
Bond's lab started by buying 25 pairs of white mice. The lab bred the animals and now has about 75 mice that have grown to the weight needed for testing.
The mice live in a contraption about 6 feet square with shoebox-size cages that can hold about five mice apiece. Each cage has an independent water valve and its own source of air, which is filtered once every minute, Bond said. The mice have access to food at all times.
No mouse can leave the laboratory alive; they must be killed whether or not they're used for testing, she said.
Ideally, testing at a botulism lab starts with a microbiologist collecting samples of food, blood serum and stool from people with symptoms suggestive of botulism.
Microbiologists say they study the serum to detect botulism toxin in a person's bloodstream. The stool and food also may contain the toxin or the actual botulism bacteria.
In one test, a microbiologist will inject mice with the person's serum to see if the mice develop botulismlike symptoms. Other mice are injected with the serum as well as antitoxin, which prevents symptoms from developing. The mice are watched for four days, but most symptoms arise within 48 hours.
If the mice injected with serum develop symptoms and the mice injected with serum and antitoxin don't, that's a good indication that botulism toxin is in the ill person's body, microbiologists said.
The CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are trying to develop botulism tests that would not require animals. The mouse test, however, is still the most sensitive test for detecting botulism, health officials said.
"We are trying to move away from animals as much as possible," Jilly said. "They are hard to work with, and nobody really likes working with them."
Drug Rehab by County
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