Deborah Barkin Fromer writes in EMD Digest explains that disease detectives are people whose work is invisible until they contact you or there is an outbreak or unusual newsworthy condition causing illness, suffering and/or deaths. In my years as a health department epidemiologist, I have interviewed countless cases of reportable illnesses. These mandatory reportable diseases can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) list of Nationally Notifiable Diseases.
How an Infectious Disease Is Reported
By law, when a person has symptoms and/or tests positive to one of these reportable illnesses, the lab sends the result electronically to the state health department. The provider can also contact the health department to report it.
The epidemiologist receives the report, and the next step is a follow-up with the provider who filed the report and the patient to complete a disease-specific investigation form. Examples of information that I typically collect about the patient’s case might include:
- Dates of the onset of the patient’s symptoms
- The location of the patient’s school or workplace and attendance dates
- The patient’s vaccination status if applicable
- Travel history
- A detailed food history
- Recreational sources (lakes, rivers or pools)
- Drinking water sources
- Animal, reptile and pet exposures
- Human contacts
Have you ever been interviewed by an epi?