Information on these dashboards is updated once per month.
Case reporting represents laboratory-confirmed, probable, and suspected cases of selected communicable diseases reportable to public health among residents living in Denver County, Colorado. The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE) Epidemiology and Disease Intervention Program investigates cases of over 40 different types of communicable diseases through patient interviews, provider interviews, and medical record reviews.
The following dashboards feature selected diarrheal illness-causing and vaccine-preventable communicable disease conditions investigated by DDPHE. The data may change as cases are currently under investigation. Due to small case counts, some data tables and visualizations have been aggregated to protect patient privacy and prevent individual identification. Sensitive data showing cases’ self-reported sex is limited to male and female, for this reason.
Denver County case data is sourced from the Colorado Electronic Disease Reporting System (CEDRS). Denver County population estimates for sex and race/ethnicity are sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau 2019 American Community Survey, 2021 1-year estimates.
Communicable diseases are illnesses that spread from one person to another or from an animal to a person, or from a surface or a food. Diseases can spread in a variety of ways, including through the air, contact with respiratory droplets, ingesting contaminated food/water, contact with feces from an infected humans or animals, and many more. Understanding how communicable diseases spread is important to protect our community.
Communicable disease investigation begins with interviewing the individual who has been diagnosed with a particular illness, also referred to as a case. At DDPHE, the Disease Intervention team (DIS) consists of public health professionals who have been trained to conduct case interviews, provide disease control education, support in resource navigation, identify potential outbreaks, and determine when additional public health follow-up may be needed. Important information collected during these interviews, such as illness timeline, symptoms, travel, contact with animals, food exposure, human contacts, and high-risk occupations, can be used to characterize the case’s illness and provide appropriate disease control guidance. We can also use this information to identify potential common exposures between cases that may signify an outbreak or larger exposure in the community.
Communicable disease case investigations also support the work of other public health programs at DDPHE, including food safety, animal safety, water quality, school/childcare inspections, immunizations, and environmental health.
Communicable diseases are illnesses caused by viruses, bacteria, or parasites that can spread to other humans and animals through a variety of different vectors or vehicles. Communicable diseases can be spread directly from human to human, animal to human, or human to animal. We use the study of Communicable Disease Epidemiology to characterize different diseases, understand how diseases propagate in an environment, track the spread of disease within a community, and utilize this data to predict when and where disease may arise in the future.
Communicable disease conditions reported amongst Denver County residents are investigated by Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) who are trained in communicable disease interviewing, case management, infection prevention, disease control, patient education, and resource referral. The Denver Dept. of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE) Disease Intervention team also includes a Public Health Nurse, specializing in infection prevention, clinical disease management, and immunizations. In addition, DIS works closely with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), surrounding local public health agencies, providers, and laboratories, to ensure timely reporting, notification, and outreach to individuals diagnosed with communicable disease conditions.
Communicable disease facts:
- In Colorado, there are >80 communicable disease conditions required to be reported to public health via hospitals, providers, clinics, and laboratories.
- In the United States, enteric diseases (I.e. salmonella, campylobacter, shiga-toxin producing e.coli, etc) cause the highest burden of communicable diseases.
- Public health agencies in Colorado work closely with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Colorado Department of Agriculture, United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and local animal control agencies to manage and mitigate the spread of zoonotic diseases, including: West Nile Virus, plague, rabies, influenza, tularemia, brucellosis, etc.
Please see the full list of communicable disease conditions that are reportable to public health.
Diarrheal-causing illnesses, also known as enteric diseases, are caused by micro-organisms such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites that result in diarrheal or gastrointestinal illnesses. The micro-organisms that cause enteric disease most commonly enter the body through the mouth via contaminated food/water, contact with feces from infected persons, or contact with animals and their environments. The illnesses caused by these enteric diseases can range in both symptoms and severity. Most often, symptoms include diarrhea (sometimes bloody), vomiting, fever, and abdominal cramping. While many individuals diagnosed with an enteric disease may recover on their own, others may require follow-up with a healthcare provider for appropriate treatment.
Overall case counts are included for the following enteric diseases: Campylobacteriosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Salmonellosis, Shigellosis, Shiga-toxin producing E.coli, Vibriosis, Yersiniosis.
Take a deeper dive into the following enteric diseases: Campylobacteriosis, Salmonellosis, Shigellosis, Shiga-toxin producing E.coli, Vibriosis.
Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) are infectious diseases caused by viruses or bacteria that can be prevented with a vaccine. The viruses or bacteria that cause disease can enter the body in a variety of ways, commonly through airborne transmission, respiratory droplets, or fecal-oral contact. VPDs cause a wide range of symptoms and illness severity, some resulting in hospitalization and death if not treated appropriately. While many individuals diagnosed with a vaccine-preventable diseases may recover on their own, others may require follow-up with a healthcare provider for additional testing and treatment.
VPDs included in the following dashboards: Hepatitis A, Pertussis, Measles, Mumps, Meningococcal Disease.