Council Of State And Territorial Epidemiologists

DEVELOPMENT OF STATE SURVEILLANCE AND EPIDEMIOLOGIST TRAININGVISION STATEMENTTHE COUNCIL OF STATE AND TERRITORIAL EPIDEMIOLOGISTS IS COMMITTED TO IMPROVING THE PUBLIC'S HEALTH BY SUPPORTING THE EFFORTS OF EPIDEMIOLOGISTS WORKING AT THE STATE AND LOCAL LEVEL TO INFLUENCE PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS AND POLICY BASED ON SCIENCE AND DATA.

SEE SCHEDULE OINFECTIOUS DISEASE:CSTE HELPS SUPPORT CDC'S RESPIRATORY VIRUS HOSPITALIZATION SURVEILLANCE NETWORKS FOR INFLUENZA, COVID-19, AND RESPIRATORY SYNCYTIAL VIRUS (RSV), COLLECTIVELY REFERRED TO AS RESP-NET. WE PROVIDE CDC FUNDING TO SELECTED STATE AND LOCAL HEALTH DEPARTMENTS TO COLLECT DATA ON LABORATORY-CONFIRMED RESPIRATORY VIRUS-ASSOCIATED HOSPITALIZATIONS AMONG CHILDREN AND ADULTS. FOR THE 2022-2023 RESPIRATORY VIRUS SEASON, CSTE FUNDED SEVEN SITES TO CONDUCT INFLUENZA HOSPITALIZATION SURVEILLANCE, FOUR SITES TO CONDUCT COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATION SURVEILLANCE, AND TWO SITES TO CONDUCT RSV HOSPITALIZATION SURVEILLANCE. DATA GATHERED FROM THE CSTE-SUPPORTED SITES ARE COMBINED WITH DATA FROM CDC'S EMERGING INFECTIONS PROGRAM. THIS FORMS A ROBUST NETWORK THAT PROVIDES KEY DATA FOR UNDERSTANDING THE BURDEN AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE VIRUSES IN THE POPULATION, WHICH HELPS PUBLIC HEALTH BETTER RESPOND TO AND PREVENT THESE SERIOUS INFECTIONS THAT CAUSE SUBSTANTIAL IMPACTS ON THE U.S. POPULATION EACH YEAR.DATA ARE SUBMITTED TO CDC WITH HOSPITALIZATION RATES PRESENTED ON THE RESP-NET INTERACTIVE DASHBOARD, WHICH CAN BE USED TO FOLLOW TRENDS AND COMPARE COVID-19, INFLUENZA, AND RSV-ASSOCIATED HOSPITALIZATION RATES IN DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC GROUPS INCLUDING BY AGE, SEX, RACE AND ETHNICITY, AND ACROSS SEASONS. RESP-NET PROVIDES CRITICAL INFORMATION ON RESPIRATORY VIRUS-ASSOCIATED HOSPITALIZATIONS TO HELP PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS UNDERSTAND TRENDS IN VIRUS CIRCULATION, ESTIMATE DISEASE BURDEN, AND RESPOND TO OUTBREAKS. COLLECTING DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL INFORMATION FOR HOSPITALIZATIONS ALLOWS CDC AND HEALTH DEPARTMENTS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW WELL VACCINES ARE WORKING, WHICH PEOPLE ARE AT HIGH RISK, AND WHETHER A CERTAIN STRAIN OF A VIRUS IS RESULTING IN MORE SEVERE ILLNESS OR DEATHS. THESE FINDINGS CAN BE USED TO COMMUNICATE IMPORTANT PREVENTION INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC TO HELP PEOPLE STAY HEALTHY AND SAFE.

SEE SCHEDULE OENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH / OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH:EVERY YEAR, OVER 3.5 MILLION OF THE 167 MILLION WORKERS IN THE U.S. ARE INJURED ON THE JOB OR BECOME ILL AS A RESULT OF EXPOSURE TO HEALTH HAZARDS AT WORK. THESE WORK-RELATED INJURIES AND ILLNESSES RESULT IN SUBSTANTIAL HUMAN AND ECONOMIC COSTS FOR WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS AND FOR SOCIETY AT LARGE; IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT THE DIRECT AND INDIRECT COSTS OF WORK-RELATED INJURIES AND ILLNESSES EXCEED $170 BILLION ANNUALLY.IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CDC'S NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (NIOSH) AND STATE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAMS, THE CSTE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SUBCOMMITTEE HELP TO QUANTIFY THE BURDEN OF SUCH INJURIES AND ILLNESSES THROUGH THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH INDICATORS (OHIS). OHIS ARE 25 MEASURES OF HEALTH (WORK-RELATED DISEASE OR INJURY) OR FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH HEALTH (WORKPLACE EXPOSURES, HAZARDS, OR INTERVENTIONS) THAT ALLOW A STATE TO COMPARE ITS HEALTH OR RISK STATUS WITH THAT OF OTHER STATES AND EVALUATE TRENDS OVER TIME. THE CSTE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SUBCOMMITTEE PROVIDES ONGOING REVIEW, GUIDANCE AND COLLABORATION FOR ANNUAL STATE REPORTING OF OHIS. DATA FROM THE 29 STATES THAT CALCULATE OHIS FOR THEIR STATE ARE POSTED ON THE CSTE WEBSITE AT HTTPS://WWW.CSTE.ORG/PAGE/OHINDICATORSTABLE. THIS YEAR'S REVIEW INCLUDED A NEW, UPDATED DOCUMENT, "OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH INDICATORS: A GUIDE FOR OBTAINING AND TRACKING OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AND THEIR DETERMINANTS, AN ANALYSIS OF 2020 OHI DATA," TO HELP STATES CONTINUE TO DEVELOP PRIORITIES FOR WORKPLACE INJURY AND ILLNESS PREVENTION. THIS "HOW-TO" GUIDE ASSISTS STATES IN BUILDING CAPACITY FOR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SURVEILLANCE."THE HOW-TO GUIDE PROVIDES DETAIL OF HOW TO COLLECT AND ANALYZE THE DATA, AND THE REQUIRED INTERACTION WITH OTHER STATE/FEDERAL PARTNERS SHOWS THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT THE PARTNERS IT NEEDS TO ASSURE THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE EFFORT," SAID KEN ROSENMAN, MD, CHIEF, DIVISION OF OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, AND CO-CHAIR OF THE CSTE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SUBCOMMITTEE.THE INDICATORS COMPLEMENT OTHER STATE AND NATIONAL GOALS TO IMPROVE POPULATION HEALTH AND ARE INTENDED TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH OTHER GUIDELINES FOR STATE-BASED SURVEILLANCE OF OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AND ILLNESSES, SUCH AS THE GUIDELINES FOR MINIMUM AND COMPREHENSIVE STATE-BASED PUBLIC HEALTH ACTIVITIES IN OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (HTTPS://WWW.CDC.GOV/NIOSH/DOCS/2008-148/PDFS/2008-148.PDF).THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING THE DATA FOR THESE INDICATORS IS INTENDED TO RAISE AWARENESS AND BUILD CAPACITY FOR USING AVAILABLE DATA AND TO OPEN DIALOGUE AMONG OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PARTNERS WITHIN THE STATE."THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH INDICATORS ARE A GREAT WAY FOR A STATE HEALTH DEPARTMENT TO BEGIN TO ASSESS THE BURDEN OF OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AND ILLNESSES IN THEIR STATES," SAID ROSENMAN.

SEE SCHEDULE OSURVEILLANCE / INFORMATICS:THIS YEAR SAW THE LAUNCH OF CSTE STORIES FROM THE FIELD, A MULTIMEDIA PROJECT HIGHLIGHTING THE GREAT WORK OF CSTE MEMBERS AND OTHER EPIDEMIOLOGISTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHO'VE EFFICIENTLY LEVERAGED DATA MODERNIZATION FUNDING AND PRINCIPLES TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH AT THE JURISDICTIONAL LEVEL THROUGH MEANINGFUL AND INNOVATIVE USE OF DATA.CSTE LAUNCHED THE WEBSITE, STORIES.CSTE.ORG, IN MARCH AS A ONE-STOP SHOP TO VIEW AND READ NEARLY 180 TALES OF EPI INNOVATION. THE STORIES SHOWCASE INNOVATIVE WAYS PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENTS ARE WORKING TO GET BETTER, FASTER, ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS FOR DECISION-MAKING AT ALL LEVELS OF PUBLIC HEALTH. THE PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS NOT ONLY TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS BUT ALSO THE EPIDEMIOLOGISTS WHO HAVE RESEARCHED AND IMPLEMENTED DATA MODERNIZATION SOLUTIONS IN AREAS SUCH AS ELECTRONIC CASE REPORTING (ECR), INTEROPERABLE DATA SYSTEMS, SYNDROMIC SURVEILLANCE, AND MORE.MUCH OF THIS WORK WAS DONE UNDER GREAT STRESS AND PROVIDES EXAMPLES OF "TRIUMPH IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY" DURING THE GLOBAL RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WHILE THE U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE AND WORKFORCE WERE STRETCHED TO THE LIMIT.THE INITIATIVE WAS FUNDED BY CDC'S OFFICE OF PUBLIC HEALTH DATA, SURVEILLANCE, AND TECHNOLOGY (OPHDST). CDC DIRECTOR DR. MANDY COHEN PRAISED THE PROJECT AND FEATURED EPIDEMIOLOGISTS, SAYING "PUBLIC HEALTH IS A TEAM SPORT AND THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF US WORKING TOGETHER TO PROTECT HEALTH AND IMPROVE LIVES. THESE STORIES HIGHLIGHT CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF HOW COMMUNITIES ARE IMPROVING THEIR READINESS TO INVESTIGATE AND RESPOND TO DISEASE THREATS. CDC AND PUBLIC HEALTH PARTNERS SUCH AS OUR STATE EPIDEMIOLOGISTS ARE PUTTING DATA AND EVIDENCE INTO ACTION TO HELP PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES STAY HEALTHY."ADDITIONAL THEMES OF THE STORIES INCLUDE LABORATORY DATA EXCHANGE, PUBLIC HEALTH DATA SCIENCE WORKFORCE, PARTNERSHIP AND INNOVATION, INTEROPERABLE DATA SYSTEMS, AND ENTERPRISE APPROACH TO DATA SYSTEMS MODERNIZATION. THESE DATA MODERNIZATION EFFORTS REPRESENT A SIGNIFICANT RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT OF FUNDING, STAFF, TIME AND RESOURCES INTO DATA MODERNIZATION TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH IN JURISDICTIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. AND THAT IMPACT IS NOT OVER; MANY OF THE INITIATIVES FEATURED IN CSTE STORIES FROM THE FIELD WILL CONTINUE, BE EXPANDED OR GENERATE OTHER EFFORTS GOING FORWARD AND IN PREPARATION FOR FUTURE THREATS.