Public Health Community Trends

Andrea Wilson

                I called Cristie Chesler, a Public Health worker in Salt Lake County, who specializes in infective diseases. Right now a lot of her work is on Tuberculosis. As I talked with her she explained that Salt Lake County and Utah in general have a very low incidence level of TB but their cases tend to be more complex. This is because Utah has a very high rate of LDS missionaries and other people who have traveled to foreign countries. Upon return, these people do not have a skin test for TB and end up having it in a couple years. Many of these cases tend to be drug resistant which are a lot more complex and expensive to treat.

                Another trend we discussed is the prevalence. The results between a dog and being alone are not statistically significant because their confidence intervals overlap. The results between a friend and being alone are not statistically significant because their confidence intervals overlap. The results between a dog and a friend are statistically significant because their confidence intervals do not overlap. of STD’s. The three most common for Salt Lake County are Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and Syphilis. I asked if there are any trends or groups of people who have higher STD rates in Salt Lake and she responded that for STD’s race and income level do not often have an impact, whether age group does. The leading age group for STD’s is early adulthood.

                Historically Utah has had high rates of people who refuse to vaccinate their children and themselves. This is a huge problem because it creates more people to be susceptible to diseases. Cristie Chesler considered this a trend of importance which needs to be taken care of.

                As a result from people not vaccinating their children, Pertussis is one of the most common infectious diseases in Salt Lake County. Children are not completely vaccinated for Pertussis but adults have the great opportunity to be vaccinated for Pertussis. Even though this is a disease mild among adults, it is crucial that they receive vaccinations to reduce the risk of transmission to children. Since children are not completely vaccinated against Pertussis they have a higher risk of getting it. This is especially dangerous because Pertussis is most severe among the younger population.

                Another common infectious disease in Utah is the measles. Unlike STD’s being common in a certain age group and TB being common among a certain lifestyle, Measles is common among health districts. Those who receive measles are infected mainly because who they associate with and whom they are around.   I found it very interesting to learn about the different health trends among my hometown and not only what is prevalent but also why.