Board asks for regular communicable-disease dashboard after recent STI uptick

John Fountain, a retired physician and board member, told the board he would like a regular graph or dashboard showing trends in state-reportable diseases so the board could quickly see increases or declines in conditions such as syphilis, gonorrhea, tuberculosis and others. "I always feel I'm kind of in the dark on communicable diseases," he said, and asked for a succinct monthly or meeting-start summary.

Emily said communicable-disease data currently appear in the quarterly update but that staff could explore a dashboard. She and other members discussed which pathogens would be most useful to display; the public-health update included counts since March 18: five chlamydia cases, two campylobacter cases, one giardia, one COVID-19, a couple of salmonella cases, and six rabies postexposure prophylaxis referrals. Board members encouraged staff to develop a concise, regular digest for clinical and governance use.