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Enhancing Public Health in Galveston County: Epidemiology Services Overview

The Galveston County Health District's Epidemiology Services, led by Chief Epidemiologist Dana Beckham, DVM, focuses on systematic health data collection and analysis to promote public health. Essential services include monitoring community health, diagnosing issues, educating the public, linking individuals to health services, and ensuring a competent workforce. The team addresses communicable diseases, elevated blood lead levels, and conducts health assessments. With a budget of $191,000, they oversee notable health conditions and leverage the Health Alert Network for effective communication with partners.

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Enhancing Public Health in Galveston County: Epidemiology Services Overview

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  1. Epidemiology Galveston County Health District

  2. Epidemiology Services • Dana Beckham, DVM Chief Epidemiologist • Patricia McIntosh Epidemiologist – BT • O’Shaunna Griffin Public Health Tech

  3. Public Health Surveillance “… the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on specific health events for use in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health programs.” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1992

  4. Essential Public Health Services • Monitor health status of individuals … to identify community health problems. • Diagnose / investigate community health problems • Inform, educate … the community with respect to health issues. • Link individuals who need health services to appropriate providers. • Ensure competent workforce for provision of essential public health services. • Evaluate effectiveness, accessibility, and quality of health services in a community. • Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 121

  5. GCHD Epidemiology Principal Activities • Surveillance • Communicable disease • Immunization status • Elevated blood lead • Reporting of drownings/near-drownings • Annual review • Galveston County mortality data • Birth / pregnancy data • Preparation of Galveston County health status assessment reports • Participation in training of health care professionals

  6. Total operating budget $191,000 BT – $104,786 ORAS – $16,869 County - $69,345 GCHD Epidemiology Budget

  7. Notifiable Conditions (Reportable Diseases) in Texas Texas Health & Safety Code requires health care providers to report specified diseases/conditions to health departments • Communicable diseases – approximately 60 • Elevated blood lead in children • Injuries – drowning and near-drowning • Work-related – asbestosis, elevated blood lead, pesticide poisoning, silicosis Plus “outbreaks, exotic diseases, and unusual group expressions of disease”

  8. Notifiable Conditions (Reportable Diseases) Galveston County Top Ten, 2003 • Chlamydia trachomatis – 941 • Hepatitis C – 730 • Gonorrhea – 344 • Elevated blood lead –104 • Salmonellosis – 63 • Shigellosis – 51 • Chickenpox – 48 • HIV infection – 48 • Meningitis, aseptic/viral – 41 • Syphilis – 41

  9. Health Alert Network (HAN) • Rapid communications from GCHD to participating public health partners • Currently email only • Currently downstream only (from Health District to partners) • Future may allow blast faxing, paging and electronic disease reporting • Sign up to receive alerts!

  10. Future Issues • Health Disparities • Syndromic Surveillance • Emerging Infectious Disease • BT

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