DEPARTMENT: Health
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Jennifer Herriott, MPH
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
A briefing on the City’s Communicable Disease Division and Infectious Diseases reports.
SUMMARY:
Metro Health will provide a presentation on the public health approach to infectious diseases, which will include an overview of Notifiable Conditions in Texas, disease reporting rules, and the actions the Department takes to mitigate the impact of these diseases on the community.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
State law (Health and Safety Code Chapter 81, 84 and 87) mandates health professionals to report certain diseases and injuries to the health department (state, regional, local). These diseases and injuries are known as "Notifiable Conditions". Health care providers, hospitals, laboratories, schools, and others are required to report patients who are suspected of having a Notifiable Condition (Chapter 97, Title 25, Texas Administrative Code). Local Public Health Departments use the Notifiable Conditions surveillance data to monitor infectious disease trends, detect infectious disease outbreaks and prevent the further spread of disease in the community by identifying individuals who may benefit from testing and/or treatment.
Metro Health will discuss how public health approaches investigations of infectious diseases, and how they intervene to reduce further spread of the disease in our community.
ISSUE:
Metro Health’s Communicable Disease Division would like the opportunity to brief the Community Health and Equity Committee on the public health approach to infectious diseases.
ALTERNATIVES:
This item is for briefing purposes only.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact at this time.
RECOMMENDATION:
There is no fiscal impact at this time.