| OCR Text |
Show Section IV. Infectious Diseases The Infectious Diseases Subsection of Utah's Health: An Annual Review presents information on the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and other communicable diseases. Incidences of communicable diseases are a gauge of how well the public health system is working. Certain diseases can illuminate how well a certain group is being incorporated into the health care system; for example, tuberculosis for the poor and immigrants and pneumonia and influenza for the elderly. Some of the diseases in this subsection are easily prevented by vaccination and their incidence rates reflect how well our vaccination efforts are going, and also spotlight the need for continuing diligence in vaccination (the 1998 outbreak of pertussis, being a prime example). Sexually transmitted diseases are of concern since many of them can have serious consequences if left untreated (syphilis advancing into tertiary stages is just one example). The Infectious Diseases Subsection of Utah's Health: An Annual Review is new to this year's volume. Many of the data pages were present in previous volumes but not grouped together. One change in this volume is the inclusion of a Hepatitis A data page. Utah's Health: An Annual Review Volume VIII 67 |
