NSG 604 Module V: Discussion 1 Wilkes University

Share with the class the notifiable disease topic you are presenting in Assignment #1. Using what you learned in the CDC Introduction to Public Health Surveillance course, discuss what kinds of surveillance information you found, and where you found it. How did this information guide planning the intervention you developed for your paper? 

Attach your certificate of completion to the discussion post. 

When responding to your classmates, offer any suggestions you have regarding their intervention or other ideas you have. 

Post your initial response by Wednesday at 11:59 PM EST. Respond to two students by Saturday at 11:59 PM EST. The initial discussion post and discussion responses occur on three different calendar days of each electronic week. All responses should be a minimum of 300 words, scholarly written, APA formatted (with some exceptions due to limitations in the D2L editor), and referenced.  A minimum of 2 references are required (other than the course textbook). These are not the complete guidelines for participating in discussions. Please refer to the Grading Rubric for Online Discussion found in the Course Resources module. 

Gonorrhea is a preventable infectious disease that spreads through sexual activity. The Wonder Annual Tables of Infectious Diseases and Conditions (2019) indicates that it is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases with the most prevalence with 616,392 cases in 2019. This number means that 0.18% of the United States population was infected with the disease in 2019. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ([CDC], 2022a, October 30) lists it as the second most reported infectious disease.   The disease transmits through the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhea during sexual activity, including vaginal, mouth, and anal.

The data in the report is considered finalized data, which is the result of such as states, regional health departments, and the CDC collaborating to compile this data about six months after the end of the prior year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2022b). Gonorrhea is a notifiable infectious disease, meaning it is reported to the government. Gonorrhea is an example of passive surveillance where state and regional health departments receive reports clinics, hospitals, public health facilities, and other sources provide.

A large number of Gonorrhea cases in 2019 is concerning for a couple of reasons. One is that gonorrhea infection means that people are engaging in unprotected sex, which can lead to being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.  Another reason is gonorrhea has become resistant to most drugs that treat it. There is currently only one drug treatment available. Untreated gonorrhea can cause men and women to become infertile, epididymitis in men, and inflammatory pelvic inflammatory disease in women (CDC, 2022b). Additionally, women can transmit the infection to unborn babies, causing them loss of sight when born or terminal joint and blood infections (CDC, 2022b). It can also spread through the blood and joints of men and women (CDC, 2022b). Gonorrhea has a long history tracing back to 1879. It needs to be eradicated. To do this, surveillance efforts must be increased by making the public aware of the seriousness of gonorrhea.

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022a, October 19). About annual table (final). Retrieved February 14th, 2023 from https://www.cdc.gov/nndss/data-statistics/infectious-    tables/annual.html 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022b, July 30). Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea: A     public health threat. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/std/     gonorrhea/arg/public-health-threat/public-health-threat-text-only.htm

Murray, J. & Cohen, A. L. (2017). Infectious disease surveillance. International Encyclopedia of   Public Health, 222–9.

Human brucellosis poses a significant health risk to the public, brucellosis is one of the most common zoonoses that is transmitted by animals. The continued threat of brucellosis to public health is at least in part attributable to the growth of animal-based businesses, to growth, and to the lack of hygiene practices in animal farming and food preparation. Bovines, pigs, goats, sheep, and even dogs can all contract brucellosis from being infected with one of the many brucella species (Laine et al., 2022). In most cases, humans catch the disease by personal contact with an infected animal, consumption of contaminated animal products, or inhalation of airborne pollutants. Consumption of raw or undercooked goat or sheep milk products is the leading cause of this illness. There is a large percentage of illnesses that can be traced back to the ingestion of raw milk or raw milk products. Animal meat that carries the greatest responsibility for brucellosis transmission is sheep and goat. Employees in the cattle industry have an increased risk of contracting brucellosis as an occupational exposure. Veterinarians and meat butchers also are more vulnerable to contracting brucellosis due to increased risk of exposure (Laine et al., 2022).

Surveillance of the health of the public is a mainstay in healthcare. The data obtained in surveillance plays a significant role in not only research but in interventions and public health. It allows for scientist to understand the spread of the disease, manage outbreaks, and determine and implement appropriate treatment actions. Passive surveillance is the type of surveillance used in brucellosis. Passive surveillance is a means of receiving data for a disease but not actively searching for the presence of the illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). Healthcare professionals discovering or suspecting brucellosis are required to report these finding to the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) within 24 hours. The initial report must be made by phone and followed up by electronic transmission. Brucellosis case report must also be submitted to the CDC with more specific patient demographic information, including the possible contaminating factor (Centers for Disease Control and Preventions, 2021). This level of urgent data submission is necessary to protect the health and safety of the public.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). Introduction to Public Health (Public health 101 Series) [E-learning course]. https://doi.org/https://www.cdc.gov/training/publichealth101/surveillance.html

Centers for Disease Control and Preventions. (2021). Brucellosis surveillance. Centers for disease control and prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/brucellosis/surveillance/index.html

Laine, C. G., Scott, H. M., & Arenas-Gamboa, A. M. (2022). Human brucellosis: Widespread information deficiency hinders an understanding of global disease frequency. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 16(5), e0010404. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010404

World Health Organization. (2020). Brucellosis. World health organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/brucellosis

Public health surveillance is the continuous gathering, investigation. and interpretation of health data and use the latter to plan, implement and evaluate public health practice. (CDC,2018)

Notifiable disease are a list of disease on which surveillance is conducted. (CDC,2022). Surveillance data is used to monitor presence, and progression of the disease and the efficacy of control measures (CDC,2022).

Syphilis is one such disease and its data are collected using 2 broad group. Congenital or primary and secondary. The data about syphilis is collected from the publication of the latter in the NNDSS National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System. These statistics are compiled from data collected by state and local health department agencies which forward the data to the NNDSS (CDC,2023). This surveillance type is passive surveillance where institutions like Hospitals, Doctors offices and Laboratories report positive cases to the local health departments. 

Data about Syphilis is grouped in 2 categories, Congenital vs Primary and Secondary. Congenital syphilis is the vertical transmission of the disease during childbirth from an infected mother to the fetus (Vicente et al., 2023).  Primary Syphilis is acquired due to a direct contact with a syphilitic sore also called a chancre. This happens during oral, vaginal or anal sex. Primary Syphilis manifests itself by a chancre. Secondary syphilis is the later manifestation of the disease after a latent period (Vicente et al., 2023).

Information collected via the NNDSS shows that the infection was rampant between men compared to women and in primary /secondary infections compared to congenital. (CDC,2019).

The information collected from the statistics will help state hypothesis and generate intervention to better current trends. For instance, the high incidence of males compared to women suggests that MSM might comprised a higher part of the positive cases.  The same group is also at risk for contracting HIV virus (Vicente et al., 2023).

Hence one intervention is outreach program to bring about awareness of the disease and risk factors associated with it. Further studies about the group could pinpoint information patterns for which the group is more susceptible. For instance, shows frequented by this group on TV, internet or social media could be used for short commercial bringing awareness about the disease and protection measures.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, November 15). Introduction to public health surveillance|public health 101 series|cdc. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 15, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/training/publichealth101/surveillance.html 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, October 21). About notifiable infectious diseases & conditions data. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 15, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/nndss/data-statistics/infectious-tables/about.html 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). National notifiable diseases surveillance system (NNDSS) help. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved February 15, 2023, from https://wonder.cdc.gov/wonder/help/nndss.html# 

Vicente, J. B., Sanguino, G. Z., Riccioppo, M. R., Santos, M. R., & Furtado, M. C. (2023). Syphilis in pregnancy and congenital syphilis: Women’s experiences from the perspective of Symbolic Interactionism. Revista Brasileira De Enfermagem, 76(1). https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2022-0210