Selected Special Projects and Activities
In addition to disease surveillance and response activities, the Division of Acute Disease Epidemiology manages special projects and activities, such as C.A.Use, NEDSS and the Hepatitis C Coalition.
C.A.Use
An educational campaign to educate parents and physicians about careful antibiotic use.
- Rates of drug resistant bacteria are rising dramatically in the US and SC and the overuse of antibiotics is one of the main causes. The result is an increased risk of complications and hospitalizations from difficult to treat antibiotic resistant infections, including bloodstream infections, meningitis, pneumonia, and ear infections.
- The greatest number of bacterial infections in the community are caused by the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus). In the United States, pneumococcus cause approximately 3,000 cases of meningitis, 50,000 cases of bloodstream infections, 500,000 pneumonias and 7 million ear infections.
- Among patients with invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae bacterial disease, recent antibiotic use has been identified as a significant risk factor for infection with strains resistant to multiple drugs. This process can be reversed through judicious use of antibiotics.
- For these reasons, DHEC and other public health organizations have launched a national campaign to promote judicious antibiotic use. South Carolina’s public health campaign, Careful Antibiotic Use (C.A.Use) has the following main objectives:
- Decrease unnecessary antimicrobial use by sharing careful antibiotic use messages with the public. Special emphasis will be made to reach parents of young children, day care providers, and health care providers to increase an understanding of antibiotic resistance and how it affects families and to enhance communications between families and their health care providers. Educational programs for physicians and other health care providers who prescribe antibiotics are available by calling: 803-898-0861. Public education presentations may be available in your county. Call 1-803-898-0861 for more information.
- Reduce the spread of resistant bacteria.
NEDSS (National Electronic Disease Surveillance System)
Goal: To plan and implement an integrated electronic reportable disease surveillance system that:
- Is compatible with the new national NEDSS architecture standards being developed by the CDC.
- Can be adapted to accept other types of public health surveillance data.
- Can become part of more comprehensive “data warehousing” initiatives already being planned by DHEC.
Conventionally, disease control programs have constructed categorical reporting systems, such as for general communicable diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, and others. While these systems have been useful on a program-by-program basis, they have not been standardized or coordinated. NEDSS will address this problem by providing an integrated approach to public health information systems development.
Public health information systems have not had the capacity to exchange information electronically with private providers of medical services, which by law report selected critical information to public health agencies. As a result, public health agencies have often received information slowly and incompletely. Additionally, reporters to public health have been burdened by inefficient, frequently paper-based systems. NEDSS will use information technology to improve the ability of public health agencies to receive and electronically process information about reportable diseases.
NEDSS will be based on a well-defined information systems architecture and on national standards for electronic information exchanges. The NEDSS information systems architecture comprises elements, which include tools to use the Internet effectively with the necessary provisions for secure, confidential communications. NEDSS will not be a single system or application but will facilitate integrated and coordinated public health information surveillance information systems.
Implementation of NEDSS will positively impact public health practice by:
- improving the timeliness and quality of response to significant individual reports or case-clusters,
- improving the quality of action-oriented summary reports;
- incorporating communicable disease data into a larger integrated public health database; and in general,
- promoting modernization (e.g. establishing web-based reporting in lieu of traditional paper reporting) of public health information systems in the state,
- increasing security and confidentiality,
- using DHEC surveillance staff more efficiently.
Hepatitis C Coalition
Mission: To increase the level of awareness, education, treatment services, and prevention activities among target groups in South Carolina, including health care workers, patients, and the public.
The South Carolina Hepatitis C Coalition, formed in 1999, is a voluntary statewide partnership of a variety of representatives of public and private agencies and is housed at the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, which provides in-kind support. The Coalition, funded independently, is staffed by a Coordinator and provides an e-mail address (SCHepC@bigfoot.com ), 24/7 phone system access (803-898-9562), and mailing services. The Coalition strives to increase hepatitis C awareness, education, and access to services for the estimated 50-70 thousand South Carolinians infected as well as those affected by the significant impact of hepatitis C disease.
Goal:
- Increase the awareness of hepatitis C as a major public health issue to minimize its impact on South Carolina.
- Serve as a clearinghouse for information, educational resources and programs, and patient referral systems for hepatitis C.
- Focus on prevention programs.
- Establish and enhance collaboration among various partners in the Coalition.