Public Health Systems and Emerging Infections Assessing the Capabilities of the Public and Private Sectors: Workshop Summary (2000) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 Epidemiological Investigation
2 Epidemiological Investigation
Pages 29-41
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 29... ...
Each sector offers unique capabilities, and each sector faces some common and uncommon challenges, but most infectious disease outbreak investigations follow the same general approach: (1) identification of the circumstances that indicate the need for an investigation (e.g., more than the expected number of cases of a particular disease)
|
From page 30... ...
Associate Director for Epidemiologic Science, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Although the crises attendant with periodic infectious disease outbreaks serve as a reminder of the importance of public health, media attention on the successful investigation and control of outbreaks also contributes to the common misconception that the infrastructure available to meet public health needs is sufficient. However, although media attention has been instrumental in keeping many infectious diseases in the forefront of public consciousness, such misconceptions about the sufficiency of the infrastructure contribute to greater expectations on the part of the public and those who control resources.
|
From page 31... ...
However, identification of outbreaks when they are small can prove a challenge for investigators to identify the source and risk factors. In the United States, outbreak investigation and control is the responsibility of state and local health departments.
|
From page 32... ...
cooperative agreements, which states have used to build epidemiological capacity, improve laboratory infrastructure, and electronically link local health departments. The second category is the Emerging Infections Program (EIP)
|
From page 33... ...
State health departments are often on the front line of outbreak investigations, and the information concerning potential outbreaks can come from many sources, such as the medical care system, public agencies, or other public health entities. At times, the recognition of potential outbreaks can be coincidental and informal such as two physicians realizing that they had seen patients with similar but unusual syndromes, as occurred with eosinophilia myalgia syndrome.
|
From page 34... ...
When medical officials at the National Guard became aware of the situation, they contacted the Iowa Department of Public Health to report a possible outbreak, to solicit help in appropriate laboratory testing of
|
From page 35... ...
The epidemiological investigation included interviewing ill and well members of the guard, obtaining blood specimens, and tracing donated blood units. The environmental investigation involved inspection of the Fort Chaffee site for the presence of ticks and other risk factors and the retrieval of ticks for identification and testing.
|
From page 36... ...
Importantly, they need to extend these skills beyond classic foodborne outbreak investigations, because they are increasingly being called to investigate respiratory illnesses in school systems, occupational exposures, nosocomial infections, day care center outbreaks, and so on. Electronic communications systems need to be strengthened so that information about outbreaks can be shared and resources for use during the outbreak can be obtained.
|
From page 37... ...
In 1995 CDC announced the Cooperative Agreement Program for ProviderBased Emerging Infections Sentinel Networks in support of an approach that aims to overcome some of the obstacles that impede practitioner involvement in the epidemiological investigation process. The program had its origin in a CDC plan that addressed emerging infectious disease threats; listed under a disease surveillance goal was the aim of establishing two physician-based sentinel surveillance networks to detect and monitor emerging infectious diseases.
|
From page 38... ...
Source: Infectious Diseases Society of America, 1998. SOURCE: IDSA Emerging Infections Network, unpublished data.
|
From page 39... ...
Dean, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Academic public health institutions are a vital component of the global response to emerging infections. The roles that these institutions play flow directly from their core missions of education, research, and public health practice.
|
From page 40... ...
Public health policy research informs the policy decisions faced by national, state, and local public health officials in addressing emerging infections. This research can help to answer questions about the public benefits and risks of policies, such as those affecting the privatization of laboratory services, the reporting requirements for public- and private-sector health care providers, and the privacy and confidentiality concerns of patient health and health care information.
|
From page 41... ...
advising organizations on how best to respond to changes in the organization and to changes in the financing of health services and the effects of these changes on disease surveillance capacities. Traditionally, schools of public health have worked most extensively with state and local health departments, and the entities are natural partners in public health education, research, and practice.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.