Escambia County Health Department
Tradition-Service-Leadership • Protecting You Since 1821
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Disease Control & Prevention
The Epidemiology program is primarily charged with the
reporting and control of communicable diseases and conditions that may
significantly affect public health as specified in Florida Administrative Code
Chapter 64D-3. Our staff is directly responsible for investigating over 80
reportable conditions with the exception of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexually
transmitted infections (STI).
Every January, the Epidemiology program compiles a report for the previous year activities:
Our staff also authors a quarterly newsletter “Epi Express”:
o May 2011 (1.2mb; pdf) o August 2010 (566.6kb; pdf) o January 2010 (679kb; pdf)
The Epidemiology program investigates reports of disease/conditions of public health significance in the community. An outbreak occurs when two or more unrelated individuals present with similar symptoms or the same disease diagnosis and can be linked through a shared location or time (e.g. ate at the same restaurant within a few days of each other or attended the same conference). Following a report, the Epidemiology staff conducts phone or face-to-face interviews of sick individuals to determine how and when they became ill and to determine if others have been exposed. When the investigation may involve a local facility (restaurant, school, or childcare) an inspection of the establishment may be warranted and is carried out by representatives of the Epidemiology program and the Environmental Health.
The
Epidemiology program implements local policies for disease prevention and
develops intervention strategies for disease containment. For example, Escambia
County Health Department has the authority to exclude a sensitive worker (ie.
food-handler, childcare worker or medical professional) from work if they are
infected with a communicable disease and do not comply with state requirements.
For School
K-12 and Childcare centers:
School Line List (14.7kb; pdf)
Animal bites or injuries require immediate attention and possibly a visit to a primary physician or Emergency Room because domesticated and feral animals can transmit a large number of diseases to humans. Special attention and urgency should be given to injuries involving small children (up to 2 yrs old) or injuries located above the neck and shoulders (i.e. face bites). In the state of Florida, bites involving animals should be reported to a local county health department. If the bite circumstance requires that the victim receive rabies post exposure prophylactic (PEP) treatment (4 shot series), the individual can receive these shots in any one of the 3 hospital emergency rooms (Sacred Heart, Baptist, West Florida) in Pensacola. The Escambia County Health Department no longer provides rabies vaccine. However, the Epidemiology staff report cases that receive PEP in the hospital to the Florida Department of Health. We are available to consult with the local emergency rooms and physicians regarding the appropriate management of exposure victims; and to assist them in assuring that their patients complete their vaccination series. If you need to report an animal bite, contact the Escambia County Environmental Health division at (850) 595-6700. If the bite is from a cat, dog, or ferret, the Environmental Health program staff at the Escambia County Health Department is responsible for attempting to locate/identify the offending animal and make decisions regarding the disposition of the animal in coordination with local animal control. The bite report is then forwarded to the Epidemiology program for evaluation. Epidemiologists will follow up with the local ERs to ascertain if rabies treatment was given to the patient. Related Links Rabies Control
The Escambia County Health Department is actively planning for an effective and efficient response to health emergencies occurring in our community. The Epidemiology staff is trained to respond to man-made emergencies (i.e. Bioterrorism) and naturally occurring health threats (i.e. Pandemic Influenza and Hurricane Response). They are responsible for monitoring and evaluating our community’s health status and needs during these events to assist in decision making regarding appropriate actions and interventions; as well as making recommendations for prevention and control/containment.
The Epidemiology program is available to our community partners and health care professionals for guidance regarding disease reporting regulations and health education. If you are interested in receiving education about disease reporting and/or disease prevention and control please call for 850.595.6683 for more information.
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