COMMUNICABLE DISEASE SURVEILLANCE

• To report a communicable disease, call (618) 692-8954 ext. 2.
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Description

Madison County Health Department monitors over 65 reportable diseases or conditions as mandated by Illinois State Law. Hospitals, laboratories, physicians, nurses, daycare personnel, nurse’s aides, dentists, healthcare practitioners, long-term care personnel, college/university personnel and school personnel are required to report these diseases to the local health department. When reported in the recommended time frame, the spread of many of these diseases can be stopped. For some infectious diseases, medicines are available to the contacts to stop the spread of the disease. For other infectious diseases, meticulous handwashing protocols can be instituted to stop the spread of the disease. The nurse contacts every patient with a reportable disease to conduct an interview. The purpose of the interview is to try to determine where and when the person contracted the disease and then to stop the spread of the disease by finding out who else may be at risk for acquiring the disease.

This program has been operational since the inception of the Madison County Health Department and is one of the core programs of Public Health under the Local Health Protection Grant.

Benefits

The goal of the program is to control the spread of communicable diseases in the public. This is accomplished by stopping the spread of communicable disease through preventive treatment and education to protect the health of the public.