Vital Signs: April 2012
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that each year roughly
1 in 6 Americans gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die
of foodborne diseases. More than 1,200 cases of salmonella are
reported annually in Massachusetts alone.
Gastrointestinal symptoms are frequently related to foodborne
infections. Asking just a few of the following questions of
stricken patients goes a long way in identifying foodborne disease,
as well as preventing its spread.
- Do you prepare or handle food including preparing trays of
food, feeding other persons, administering oral medications, or
giving mouth or denture care?
- Do you attend or work in a daycare (child/adult) facility?
- Are any of your family members or close friends having the same
symptoms?
- Do you eat any high-risk foods such as raw or undercooked meat,
raw milk or raw milk products, or soft cheeses?
- Have you traveled out of the country recently?
A western Massachusetts public health preparedness group is
currently piloting a tool for use in local emergency departments to
help capture information about where the patient might have
contracted the illness and to whom else it might have spread.
Patients experiencing nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea are asked to
complete an assessment form, which will then be faxed to the local
public health office. One local public health nurse called the
information on the form "invaluable in expediting a thorough public
health investigation."
Medical providers interested in becoming part of the pilot can
contact Alvin Crosby at (413) 586-7525, ext. 3145.
Complete and accurate disease reports from clinicians and
laboratories are critical to effective public health prevention and
intervention. Health care providers are required to report
confirmed or suspected cases of reportable communicable diseases,
including foodborne illness, to their local board of health, or if
unavailable, to the DPH at (617) 983-6800 or (888) 658-2850.
- Alvin Crosby, Western Mass. Public Health Advisory Group
