From the digital grapevine, the Allegheny County Health Department isn't sitting on its hands regarding infectious diseases. With a slick new update to their online Infectious Disease Dashboard, they've rolled out a real-time look into the community's health that's intended to keep everyone in the know—and hopefully out of the hospital.
Keeping up with infections is crucial, and the dashboard now features a section on healthcare-associated infections, spotlighting the problematic Candida auris. Not your average yeast, this fungal foe preys on hospitalized and nursing home residents, causing severe illness. Hitting close to home, preliminary data from 2024 has shown a jarring spike in whooping cough cases in Allegheny County, which jumped to 338 from a mere seven back in 2023. And let's not gloss over the swell in chronic hepatitis C cases rising to 669, shaking off a six-year downward trend, as detailed by Allegheny County.
Brandon Doumont, an epidemiologist at the Allegheny County Health Department and go-to guy for the dashboard, hammered home the necessity of data in preventing disease spread. "Data is critical in stopping the spread of infections and when our community understands current trends in the county they can better prepare, protect and prevent infectious diseases," Doumont told the county's news release. And with real-time data from 2024 now live, residents and health pros alike can step up their game regarding illness prevention.
It's not all about fungal infections and liver woes. The dashboard covers a range of contagious suspects that public health agencies track closely. Using nearly a decade of data, the tool offers a deep dive into gastrointestinal diseases like those infamous for food poisoning outbreaks—Salmonella, Listeria, and E. Coli. It also flags the presence of Legionnaires' Disease, vaccine-preventable nasties like the flu and measles, and even those bugs that tag along with mosquitos, like West Nile Virus.
Expect more numbers, more often. With 2025 unfolding, the Allegheny County Health Department is doubling on updating the dashboard with the latest and greatest stats.
