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Epidemiology. Galveston County Health District. Epidemiology Services. Dana Beckham, DVM Chief Epidemiologist Patricia McIntosh Epidemiologist – BT O’Shaunna Griffin Public Health Tech. Public Health Surveillance.
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Epidemiology Galveston County Health District
Epidemiology Services • Dana Beckham, DVM Chief Epidemiologist • Patricia McIntosh Epidemiologist – BT • O’Shaunna Griffin Public Health Tech
Public Health Surveillance “… the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on specific health events for use in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health programs.” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1992
Essential Public Health Services • Monitor health status of individuals … to identify community health problems. • Diagnose / investigate community health problems • Inform, educate … the community with respect to health issues. • Link individuals who need health services to appropriate providers. • Ensure competent workforce for provision of essential public health services. • Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of health services in a community. • Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 121
GCHD Epidemiology Principal Activities • Surveillance • Communicable disease • Immunization status • Elevated blood lead • Reporting of drownings/near-drownings • Annual review • Galveston County mortality data • Birth / pregnancy data • Preparation of Galveston County health status assessment reports • Participation in training of health care professionals
Total operating budget $191,000 BT – $104,786 ORAS – $16,869 County - $69,345 GCHD Epidemiology Budget
Notifiable Conditions (Reportable Diseases) in Texas Texas Health & Safety Code requires health care providers to report specified diseases/conditions to health departments • Communicable diseases – approximately 60 • Elevated blood lead in children • Injuries – drowning and near-drowning • Work-related – asbestosis, elevated blood lead, pesticide poisoning, silicosis Plus “outbreaks, exotic diseases, and unusual group expressions of disease”
Notifiable Conditions (Reportable Diseases) Galveston County Top Ten, 2003 • Chlamydia trachomatis – 941 • Hepatitis C – 730 • Gonorrhea – 344 • Elevated blood lead –104 • Salmonellosis – 63 • Shigellosis – 51 • Chickenpox – 48 • HIV infection – 48 • Meningitis, aseptic/viral – 41 • Syphilis – 41
Health Alert Network (HAN) • Rapid communications from GCHD to participating public health partners • Currently email only • Currently downstream only (from Health District to partners) • Future may allow blast faxing, paging and electronic disease reporting • Sign up to receive alerts!
Future Issues • Health Disparities • Syndromic Surveillance • Emerging Infectious Disease • BT