The epidemiology
section of Sedgwick County Health department is responsible for the detection,
control, and prevention of communicable diseases among Sedgwick County
residents. This is accomplished by public health surveillance and monitoring the
occurrences of legally mandated reportable diseases and other diseases of public
health concern.
Surveillance for
infectious diseases is an important tool of public health practice. Surveillance
provides crucial information for monitoring the health of the public,
identifying public health problems, and triggering action to prevent further
illness. Such information is vital to the public’s health, and its analysis and
dissemination frequently affect everyday life and clinical practice. Public
health surveillance has been very efficient in identifying many outbreaks.
Public health surveillance also provides data about the incidence of disease in
the community.
Reporting by providers and laboratories is mandated by
state legislation or regulation. In Kansas reporting of infectious diseases is
mandated by K.S.A. 65-118, 65-128 and 65-6001 through 65-6007; and by K.A.R.
28-1-2 and 28-1-18. Copies of these laws are available from Sedgwick County
Health Department.
Reports from providers and laboratories about individual
cases of notifiable diseases are generally sent to the local health department
and the local health department passes the information on to the state health
department. Each state health department reports its data electronically to CDC.
Outbreaks or cases that require an urgent response (e.g., a case of botulism, a
case of meningococcal meningitis, or a multistate outbreak of food borne
disease) are immediately reported.
In Sedgwick County all the physicians, laboratories, and
other health care providers are required to report a case of suspect or
confirmed infectious disease to
Sedgwick County Health Department.
©, Copyright, 2004 Sedgwick County Health Department
last update:
04/30/08
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