by Margaret Hendriks, Manager of Community Health Protection, November 5, 2013

(LEEDS-GRENVILLE, ONTARIO) Every year many people in Lanark, Leeds and Grenville become ill with a communicable disease such as: Influenza, Lyme, Pertussis (Whooping Cough), Hepatitis C and Measles. Rapid access to information about key symptoms, laboratory testing and treatment can help health care providers provide the best possible care. The Health Unit has developed a new on-line resource to assist health care providers.

Click to access Reportable_Diseases.pdf

A simple click on any disease in the Toolkit will take the user to an information page that includes: reporting requirements, epidemiology, risk factors, diagnosis and testing, treatment (under the direction of the Health Care Provider) and case management, a patient fact sheet and additional resources with links attached. A QR (quick recognition) code allows the user to scan the information to a Smartphone, iPAD, or tablet.

The 68 communicable diseases included in the Reportable Diseases Toolkit are specified as reportable under the authority of the Health Protection and Promotion Act. This means that when patients are diagnosed with one of these diseases, their health care provider must report it to the Health Unit. The Health Unit uses this information to track trends in the community.

“This new Reportable Diseases Toolkit is a one-stop reference page for easy access to communicable disease information” says Dr. Paula Stewart, Medical Officer of Health of the Health Unit. “Our goal is to support health care providers to provide quality care and prevent the spread of communicable disease in the community.”

For more information about reportable diseases and their prevention, contact the Health Unit at 1-800-660-5853 or visit http://www.healthunit.org.