This issue of the Journal focuses on Communicable Diseases impacting the health and wellness of Delawareans.
The focus on infectious diseases in public health ebbs and flows. Students of the field are taught that developed countries have undergone an epidemiological transition whereby morbidity and mortality from noninfectious diseases has eclipsed that of infectious causes. Nevertheless, infectious etiologies of disease remain a substantial threat to the public’s health. The last decade has seen a re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases, including pertussis and measles; an increase in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) most notably syphilis among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men ; a worsening Hepatitis C infection (HCV) crisis in the setting of the opioid epidemic; and the ongoing struggle to control the HIV epidemic well into its fourth decade. To that end, we have solicited a wide range of experts in infectious disease epidemiology, public health practice, and clinical medicine to contribute insightful, and at times, provocative discussions of important infectious diseases within Delaware. Globally, nationally, and locally, healthcare systems face many challenges related to infectious diseases, from creating the infrastructure and microenvironments to support responsible antibiotic prescribing practices to immunization advocacy (and rapid response to complications stemming from a lack of adequate vaccination coverage) to ongoing efforts to test and treat for STIs. This issue of the Delaware Journal of Public Health tackles these broad issues.
Article 1. In this Issue: Communicable Disease
Omar A. Khan, MD, MHS and Timothy E. Gibbs, MPH
Article 2. Guest Editors
Neal D. Goldstein, PhD, MBI and Deborah Kahal, MD, MPH, FACP
Article 3. Delaware Faces Immunization Challenges Head-On
James Talbott, MPA and Paul Hess
Article 4. Pertussis Outbreak in Amish Community: Kent County, Delaware, 2018
Paula Eggers, RN; Tabatha Offutt-Powell, DrPH, MPH; Lisa Henry, MSHA; Rick Hong, MD
Article 5. Vaccination is the Most Effective Strategy for HPV Prevention
Margot Savoy, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FABC, CPE, CMQ, FAAPL
Article 6. Management of Hepatitis C in Delaware Prisons: Approaching Micro-Environmental Eradication
William P. Mazur, MD
Article 7. Hepatitis C in Pregnant Women and Their Children
Stephen C. Eppes, MD
Article 8. Delaware and Hepatitis C: Is It Time for Universal Screening?
Navin Vij, MD, MSHP
Article 9. Statewide Antibiotic Stewardship: An eBrightHealth Choosing Wisely Initiative
Marci Drees, MD, MS; Kimberly Fischer, BSN, RN; Loretta Consiglio-Ward, MSN, RN; Janelle Caruano, PharmD, BCIDP; Shannon Chan, PharmD; William Chasanov, DO, MBA; Jami Jones, RN, BSN; Alexander Kashmanian, PharmD, BCPS, BCIDP; Jillian D. Laude, PharmD, BCPS; Nicole Harrington, PharmD, BCPS, AQ-ID; Elizabeth A. Richardson, MSN, MPH, RN; Arezoo Zomorrodi, MD; Robert Dressler, MD, MBA
Article 10. Low Incidence and High Profile: Tuberculosis Control in Delaware
Joanna S. Suder, JD
Article 11. Four Decades of Epidemiologic Science on HIV Infection and Disease, and Its Impact on Public Health Practice and Policy for Sexual and Gender Minority Persons
Nguyen K. Tran and Seth L. Welles
Article 12. Access to HIV Medication in the Community Versus a Nursing Home for the Medicare Eligible HIV Population
Brianne L. Olivieri-Mui, MPH