Communicable Diseases Miami-Dade County
As of 2016, Miami-Dade County of the US state of Florida with a population of more than 2.7 million people. The following is a list of communicable diseases that have been in the public domain for some time: tuberculosis, syphilis, giardiasis, salmonellosis, lead poisoning, HIV & AIDS, gonnorhoea and Chlamydia. As it can be observed, sexually transmitted diseases form a large percentage of communicable illnesses in this county. In my presentation, I have chosen to discuss childhood lead poisoning and giardiasis. It should be noted that information on sexually transmitted infections, excluding HIV & AIDS, is unreliable since people would not want others to know that they have the disease. They are willing to offer anything to their private practitioners so that the illness may not be documented.
According to Radke, Reich & Morris (2015), parks within Miami-Dade County were initially used as dumping sites and have over time developed elevated levels of arsenic and lead above acceptable limits. In as much as the sites may not be considered dangerous as of now, tests are being conducted to handle the potential problem. Measures need to be put so that the parks are closed since it poses a great threat to children and adults who have frequented the parks for a long time. Statistics indicate that the county’s infection rate stands at 44.1/100000, while the state’s rate is at 16.3/100000. There is a possibility that some of the cases may have been obtained from elsewhere and should not raise alarm.
The rates of giardiasis in the county are at 14.2, more than twice the rates of the entire state of Florida. An increasing number of emigrant populations that is arriving in the county have been associated with this appalling rise. Positive test samples among refugees can be found in the main center of Miami-Dane Health facility and is used to monitor instances of new infection rates among people.
References
Radke, E. G., Reich, A., & Morris Jr, J. G. (2015). Epidemiology of ciguatera in Florida. The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 93(2), 425-432.
