Description | General Eligibility
Services | Cost | Additional Help | Contact | Language Services

Description

Communicable diseases, sometimes called infectious diseases, are illnesses caused by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Sometimes the illness is not due to the organism itself, but rather a toxin that the organism produces after it has been introduced into a human host.

A team consisting of a Public Health Epidemiologist and Public Health Nurses provide confidential consultation and follow-up for surveillance and control of specific infectious diseases, including food- and water-borne, sexually transmitted, vector-borne, and vaccine preventable diseases.

Public Health Nurses and Environmental Health Sanitarians work together to investigate food and waterborne disease outbreaks. Communicable disease occurring in Dane County outside of the City of Madison must be reported, under Wisconsin Statutes, to the Public Health Division.

Reportable Communicable Diseases - The diseases and conditions listed on the State web site are considered to have great public impact and any confirmed or suspected cases must be reported promptly.

General Eligibility

Public Health Services are available only to those Dane County residents living outside of the City of Madison.

Services

Services offered include:

Tuberculosis

Infection: Persons with newly identified tuberculosis infection, (not actively infectious), may have preventive antibiotic therapy prescribed for 2-9 months or longer. Public Health Nurses can provide free medications and will evaluate the client for side effects to the medication. Family members can be tested to help determine a possible source of the infection.

Disease: Active pulmonary tuberculosis is transmissible to others and is therefore a serious public health concern. Public Health Nurses will assist in assuring that the client receives the recommended medications at not cost and follow-up testing to assure improvement and conversion to non-infectious status so that others are not exposed to the airborne bacterium. Public Health Nurses will test family members and other close contacts, including in some cases, co-workers.

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) - There are currently seven reportable sexually transmitted infections - chlamydia, syphlis, herpes, gonorrhea, chancroid, pelvic inflammatory disease, and AIDS/HIV. Public Health Nurses are responsible for talking with persons with STIs to be sure that they understand the disease and to notify all sexual partners of the need to be tested and, if necessary, treated. It is an opportunity to talk about ways to reduce the risk of transmission of disease (e.g., condom use) and long-term effects of untreated STIs.

Food and Waterborne Illness - Many organisms can contaminate food and water and cause illness in humans. When outbreaks occur, especially in public sources of food and water, immediate action by Public Health Nurses and Environmental Health Sanitarians is essential in order to prevent further spread to many more people. Sanitarians investigate commercial food operations and may obtain food or water samples for laboratory testing while Public Health Nurses interview clients and may obtain blood, urine, or stool specimens in order to identify the organism involved. In some cases, e.g., with Hepatitis A, Public Health Nurses can provide immune globulin to persons recently exposed which prevent development of this serious illness.

Vaccine-Preventable Disease - When the Dane County Division of Public Health learns of a potential case of a vaccine-preventable disease, such as measles, it immediately becomes the top priority in the Division, especially in the work of the Public Health Nurses who do communicable disease epidemiology. Interviews with the case, family members, and other contacts are conducted, biological samples are obtained and sent to the State Laboratory of Hygiene for analysis.

Information and Education - Persons may call the Public Health Information Line (608) 266-4821 with questions and concerns about communicable diseases or to report a communicable disease. Public Health staff are available for educational presentations on preventing communicable disease.

Cost

There is no cost for most public health nursing services.

Additional Help

Common Communicable Diseases in Schools and Childcare Settings

Communicable Disease Update - a quarterly newsletter regarding communicable disease information relevant to Dane County.

Centers for Disease Control - This link is to the Centers for Disease Control web site that has information and fact sheets on a range of diseases and conditions.

Communicable Disease Fact Sheets - This is a link to the State of Wisconsin web site that provides links to fact sheets on a wide range of communicable diseases and related topics.

Contact

For questions, concerns, or to report a communicable disease, contact the Public Health Intake Nurse at (608) 266-4821.

Language Services

For more information on Language Services, please visit out Language Services page.