scholarly journals Automatic Contact Tracing for Outbreak Detection Using Hospital Electronic Medical Record Data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E DeWitt
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Outbreak Detection ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Public Health Professionals ◽  
Record Data ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Adequate Staffing

Contact tracing is a well-known tool for public health professionals to trace and isolate contacts of known infectious persons. During a pandemic contact tracing is critical to ending an outbreak, but the volume of cases makes tracing difficult without adequate staffing tools. Hospitals equipped with electronic medical records can utilize these databases to automatically link cases into possible transmission chains and surface potential new outbreaks. While this automatic contact tracing does not have the richness of contact tracing interviews, it does provide a way for health systems to highlight potential super-spreader events and support their local health departments. Additionally, these data provide insight into how a given infection is spreading locally. These insights can be used to inform policy at the local level.

Complaint-Based Surveillance for Foodborne Illness in the United States: A Survey of Local Health Departments

2011 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 432-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN LI ◽  
GULZAR H. SHAH ◽  
CRAIG HEDBERG
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Burden Of Illness ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Outbreak Detection ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments

Foodborne illnesses are an important public health problem in the United States in terms of both the burden of illness and cost to the health care system. Strengthening foodborne illness surveillance helps address the growing issues of food safety in the United States. Very little is known about the use of consumer complaint surveillance systems for foodborne illness. This study evaluates the use of these surveillance systems by local health departments (LHDs) in the United States and their practices and policies for investigating complaints. Data for this study were collected through two Web-based surveys based on a representative sample of LHDs in the United States; 81% of LHDs use complaint-based surveillance. Of those that did not have a complaint system, 64% reported that the state health department or another agency ran their complaint system. Health departments collect a wide variety of information from callers through their complaint systems, including food intake history. Most of the LHDs, however, do not store the information in an electronic database. Outbreak rates and complaint rates were found to be positively correlated, with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.38. Complaints were the most common outbreak detection mechanism reported by respondents, with a median of 69% of outbreaks during the previous year found through complaints. Complaint systems are commonly used in the United States. Increasing the rate at which illnesses are reported by the public and improving investigation practices could help increase the number of outbreaks detected through complaint surveillance.

scholarly journals Training and Incorporating Students in SARS-CoV-2 Case Investigations and Contact Tracing

2020 ◽  
pp. 003335492097466
Author(s):  
Kristen Pogreba Brown ◽  
Erika Austhof ◽  
Ayeisha M. Rosa Hernández ◽  
Caitlyn McFadden ◽  
Kylie Boyd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Call Center ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Health Response

Objectives In June 2020, Arizona had the fastest-growing number of cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide. As part of the growing public health response, the University of Arizona Student Aid for Field Epidemiology Response (SAFER) team was able to modify and increase case investigation efforts to assist local health departments. We outline the recommended logistical and management steps to include students in a public health response of this scope. Methods From April 1 through September 1, 2020, the SAFER team identified key components of a successful student team response: volunteer training, management that allows more senior students to manage newer students, adoption of case-management software, and use of an online survey platform for students to conduct interviews consistently and allow for data quality control and management. Results From April 1 through September 1, 2020, SAFER worked with 3 local health departments to complete 1910 COVID-19 case investigations through a virtual call center. A total of 233 volunteers and 46 hourly student workers and staff members were involved. As of September 2020, students were completing >150 interviews per week, including contact-tracing efforts. Practice Implications Developing relationships between applied public health and academic programs can relieve the burden of low-risk, high-volume case investigations at local and state health departments. Furthermore, by establishing a virtual call center, health sciences faculty and students can volunteer remotely during a pandemic with no additional risk of infection.

scholarly journals Assessment of Missing Immunizations and Immunization-Related Barriers among WIC Populations at the Local Level

2007 ◽  
Vol 122 (5) ◽  
pp. 602-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tista S. Ghosh ◽  
Jennifer L. Patnaik ◽  
Anne Bennett ◽  
Lynn Trefren ◽  
Richard L. Vogt
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Childhood Immunization ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Immunization Status ◽  
Immunization Rates ◽  
Supplemental Nutrition Program

Objective. Low childhood immunization rates have been a challenge in Colorado, an issue that was exacerbated by a diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine shortage that began in 2001. To combat this shortage, the locally based Tri-County Health Department conducted a study to assess immunization-related barriers among children in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), a population at risk for undervaccination. Methods. This study assessed characteristics and perceptions of WIC mothers in conjunction with their children's immunization status in four clinics. Results. Results indicated poor immunization rates, which improved with assessment and referral. The uninsured were at higher risk for undervaccination. DTaP was the most commonly missing vaccine, and discrepancies existed between the children's perceived and actual immunization status, particularly regarding DTaP. Targeted interventions were initiated as a result of this study. Conclusion. Local health departments should target immunization-related interventions by assessing their own WIC populations to identify unique vaccine-related deficiencies, misperceptions, and high-risk subpopulations.

Community Trace: Rapid Establishment of a Volunteer Contact Tracing Program for COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-57
Author(s):  
Linda Niccolai ◽  
Tyler Shelby ◽  
Brian Weeks ◽  
Christopher Schenck ◽  
Justin Goodwin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
New Haven ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
The Core ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Public Health Strategies

Contact tracing was one of the core public health strategies implemented during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this essay, we describe the rapid establishment of a volunteer contact tracing program in New Haven, Connecticut. We describe successes of the program and challenges that were faced. Going forward, contact tracing efforts can best be supported by increased funding to state and local health departments for a stable workforce and use of evidence-based technological innovations.

scholarly journals Toronto’s Health Department in Action: Influenza in 1918 and SARS in 2003

2006 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather MacDougall
Keyword(s):  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Health Department ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Effective Vaccine ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
The Past ◽  
International Body ◽  
1918 Influenza

Abstract This article compares the Toronto Health Department’s role in controlling the 1918 influenza epidemic with its activities during the SARS outbreak in 2003 and concludes that local health departments are the foundation for successful disease containment, provided that there is effective coordination, communication, and capacity. In 1918, Toronto’s MOH Charles Hastings was the acknowledged leader of efforts to contain the disease, care for the sick, and develop an effective vaccine, because neither a federal health department nor an international body like WHO existed. During the SARS outbreak, Hastings’s successor, Sheela Basrur, discovered that nearly a decade of underfunding and new policy foci such as health promotion had left the department vulnerable when faced with a potential epidemic. Lack of cooperation by provincial and federal authorities added further difficulties to the challenge of organizing contact tracing, quarantine, and isolation for suspected and probable cases and providing information and reassurance to the multi-ethnic population. With growing concern about a flu pandemic, the lessons of the past provide a foundation for future communicable disease control activities.

Patterns of Cross-Sector Collaboration in Local Health Departments: A Cluster Analysis

2020 ◽  
pp. 152483992097298
Author(s):  
Alexis K. Grant
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Local Health Departments ◽  
Structural Determinants ◽  
Cluster Assignment ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Top Executive

Local health departments (LHDs) are positioned to act as the community health strategist for their catchment area, which requires cross-sector collaboration. However, little research exists to understand how much and what types of cross-sector collaboration occur and its impact on LHD practice. Data from 490 LHDs who participated in the 2016 National Profile of Local Health Departments survey were analyzed to identify patterns of cross-sector collaboration among LHDs. In the survey, LHDs reported the presence of collaborative activities for each of 22 categories of organizations. Factor analysis was used to identify patterns in the types of organizations with which LHDs collaborate. Then, cluster analysis was conducted to identify patterns in the types of cross-sector collaboration, and cross-sectional analyses examined which LHD characteristics were associated with cluster assignment. LHDs collaborated most with traditional health care–oriented organizations, but less often with organizations focused on upstream determinants of health such as housing. Three distinct clusters represented collaboration patterns in LHDs: coordinators, networkers, and low-collaborators. LHDs who were low-collaborators were more likely to serve smaller populations, be unaccredited, have a smaller workforce, have a White top executive, and have a top executive without a graduate degree. These findings imply that public health practitioners should prioritize building bridges to a variety of organizations and engage in collaboration beyond information sharing. Furthermore, LHDs should prioritize accreditation and workforce development activities for supporting cross-sector collaboration. With these investments, the public health system can better address the social and structural determinants of health and promote health equity.

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