The U.S. recently got its report card on infectious disease control; and let's just say it was far from straight "A"s.
A new report from the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) concluded "outdated systems and limited resources" were seriously limiting the country's ability to control and prevent serious infectious disease outbreaks.
"From antibiotic-resistant Superbugs to Salmonella to the seasonal flu, infectious diseases disrupt lives and communities," Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of TFAH, said in a Trust for America's Health (TFAH) news release. "Fighting these diseases requires constant vigilance. The bad news is that we found major gaps in the country's ability to prevent, control and treat outbreaks, leaving Americans at an unacceptable level of unnecessary risk."
Thirty-four U.S. states scored less than five out of 10 in a score that looked at "indicators of policies and capabilities to protect against infectious disease threats."
Three states were tied for lowest score- Georgia, Nebraska and New Jersey. New Hampshire had the highest score, but still only received and eight out of 10.
"Many infectious disease threats keep me up at night - from the emergence of a new deadly disease, such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), to the prospect of bioterrorism, to antibiotic resistant infections, to the worsening of mosquito-borne illnesses being driven by changes in the climate," Tom Inglesby, MD, chief executive officer and director of the UPMC Center for Health Security, said.
The report found one-third of all states do not require that medical facilities report healthcare-associated infections (HAI), which affect about one in every 20 patients.
Only one quarter of states vaccinated at least half of their population during flu season. Only Connecticut, Deleware, and Washington D.C., administered a whooping cough vaccination to at least 90 percent of their preschoolers.
One-third of states did not routinely screen for HIV under the Medicaid program despite the fact that 1.1 million Americans are currently suffering from HIV/AIDS and about one in five people don't know they're infected.
