Board of Health Clinic

Maria Tamagna R.N. 200 Pleasant Street Room 517 Malden, MA 02148 Telephone: (781) 397-7052 Fax: (781) 397-7356 mtamagna@cityofmalden.org

Lead Program Nurse 200 Pleasant Street Room 517 Malden, MA 02148 Telephone: (781) 397-7052 Fax: (781) 397-7356 BOH@cityofmalden.org

 

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 Welcome to the Malden Welcome to the Board of Health Clinic 

 

 

The Malden Board of Health is a statutory board created pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 111, Section 26 and Chapter 41, Section 1. The Board of Health and its staff act for both the State and City to enforce the laws and regulations governing health and sanitation. The Board of Health Clinic provides clinical and data collection services. The goal of this office is to promote and protect the health, welfare and safety of Malden residents, and enforce the laws and regulations governing health, environment and communicable disease control.

The Malden Board of Health conducts a public health clinic that is staffed by one full time nurse and one part time nurse.  The clinic offers a variety of health services to the local community such as annual influenza clinics, communicable disease case management & control, blood lead level testing for children and childhood immunizations.

The clinic is also part of a HIV/AIDS Task Force that is working with community partners to garner funding for AIDS/HIV education and testing.

All services provided are confidential and are provided free of charge.  The nurses can also recommend further health resources in the community if needed.  To contact the clinic for an appointment and to check vaccine availability 781-397-7052.

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Influenza Clinic Schedule

 

        Vaccinations will be given year round on Tuesdays in the Health Clinic located at Government Center, 200 Pleasant Street, Room 521 until the vaccine supply is depleted.                   

 

Special Instructions:  Clinics will be "Family Style Clinics" . Please feel free to bring all of your family members 6 months of age or older to be vaccinated.  Families will be registered and vaccinated as a group.

Individuals are also welcome and will be vaccinated separately.

Please bring your health insurance card with you. All registrants will be vaccinated with or without health insurance information.

• Flu Fact Sheet
• Flu Guidance for Parents
• Flu.gov
• Flu Information for Parents - Portuguese
• Flu Information for Parents - Spanish

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Clinic Hours and Directions: 

The clinic is located in the Malden Government Center, 200 Pleasant Street, Malden just across the street from the Malden Center T-Stop on the Orange Line.

 

  

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 Blood Lead Level Screening

 

FREE  Blood Lead Level Screening at The Malden Board of Health Clinic call (781) 397-7052 

Elevated blood lead levels in children can cause harm to their brain, kidneys, and nervous system.  Lead-based paints were banned for use in housing in 1976, but many older homes still contain lead paint.  Deteriorating paint can result in lead dust contaminating a home. Children can be exposed through normal hand to mouth activity.

Every child in Massachusetts must be tested for lead exposure between the ages of 9 months and 12 months, and again at the ages of two and three years.  If a child has an elevated blood lead level, the child’s health care provider can prescribe treatment. 

Massachusetts consistently has the highest childhood lead poisoning screening rates in the country.

Preventing lead poisoning in children- tips for parents

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

All About DeLeading brochure (Spanish) 

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 Communicable Disease Control

Measles, Mumps & Rubella

Measles, Mumps and Rubella are serious diseases and recently there have been confirmed cases in Massachusetts. Measles in highly contagious. Symptoms are rash, cough, high fever, runny nose, and eye irritation. If you think you may hve been exposed to a measles patient or your not up to date on the required vaccinations contact your health care provider or this clinic at (781) 397-7052.

Measles, Mumps and Rubella Fact Sheet

 

Pertussis

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a bacterial infection that is vaccine preventable.  Although whooping cough can be uncomfortable and inconvenient for older age groups, it can be very dangerous for infants too young to have completed the childhood series of protective vaccination.  These children are at risk of exposure from an infected parent or sibling, so preventing disease in the older age groups is important. 

Pertussis Fact Sheet 

                    Hepatitis C                     

Hepatitis C is a virus that can cause the liver to become inflamed.  Unlike Hepatitis A and B, Hepatitis C has no vaccine.  It is mainly transmitted through exposure to blood, such as drug injections, equipment sharing, needle injuries in healthcare settings, and before 1992, through blood transfusions. 

It is estimated that more than 100,000 people in Massachusetts have chronic Hepatitis C, and some of them are at risk of liver scarring, liver failure, and liver cancer[1].  Most newly diagnosed cases are in older adults, but an increasing number of newly diagnosed cases are being reported in adolescents and young adults.  Untreated people with Hepatitis C and those not responding to treatment face the prospect of lifelong chronic infection and the need for ongoing healthcare services. 

Hepatitis C Fact Sheet

Department of Public Health Hepatitis C Fact Sheet

Preventing Bloodborne Diseases (HIV, Hep B and C)

 Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A is mainly spread through eating contaminated food and is usually a short lived infection.  It affects the liver, but often has little or even no symptoms.  It does not lead to long term infection, but causes fever, tiredness, loss of appetite, stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and jaundice.  The virus is passed by the fecal-oral route and outbreaks occur through poor hygiene, food contamination, and intimate contact. 

Recent universal immunization of children against Hepatitis A has been largely responsible for overall declines in incidence.  However, three “outbreaks” have occurred in recent years, with the latest one occurring in 2005[1].  These outbreaks show the continued need for prevention efforts, such as educating food workers and others about proper hygiene and safe food handling. 

Department of Public Health Hepatitis A Fact Sheet

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[1]Massachusetts Department of Public Health.  Health of Massachusetts.  Boston, MA; April 2010. 

Tuberculosis (TB)

TB can be found in any part of the body, but it usually affects the lungs.  The most common symptoms of TB are coughing, fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, weakness, night sweats, and fatigue.  While the immune systems of most TB infected people can control the organism, so that it remains in a dormant, asymptomatic state, some individuals develop an active form of the illness, resulting in the symptoms listed above and the risk of transmitting TB to others.   

More than 80% of the cases reported in 2008 were among people born in countries where infection in early life is common.  These individuals come from more than 50 different countries, and have different cultures and languages[1].  TB can be treated successfully and cured, and causes few deaths.  When a dormant or latent infection is identified by skin test screening, treatment can prevent active TB, and thereby prevent the infected person from someday becoming infectious. 

Department of Public Health TB Fact Sheets

TB Patient Information Series

Massachusetts TB Clinic Schedule 

HIV/AIDS

Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is transmitted through unprotected sex and the type of blood contact that comes with sharing contaminated injection equipment.  Since the beginning of the epidemic, 29,797 persons hav