WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.470 --> 00:00:01.720 My name is Taryn Stevens, 2 00:00:01.720 --> 00:00:04.040 and I am the Zoonotic and Vector-Borne Disease 3 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:07.290 Epidemiologist for the Indiana State Department of Health. 4 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:11.050 line:15% So, an epidemiologist is someone who looks at disease 5 00:00:11.050 --> 00:00:12.790 line:15% kind of at a population level. 6 00:00:12.790 --> 00:00:16.140 line:15% So you can kind of think of us as disease detectives, 7 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:17.100 line:15% that's what we like to say. 8 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:20.120 line:15% So we kind of look at the who, when, where and why 9 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:22.220 line:15% of disease so who's getting sick, 10 00:00:22.220 --> 00:00:24.110 where in the state are they getting sick, 11 00:00:24.110 --> 00:00:25.635 when, what time of year, 12 00:00:25.635 --> 00:00:26.810 line:15% where have they been 13 00:00:26.810 --> 00:00:28.070 line:15% and why are they getting sick. 14 00:00:28.070 --> 00:00:30.160 line:15% And so for my job in particular, 15 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:32.220 line:15% I do that for the zoonotic diseases, 16 00:00:32.220 --> 00:00:35.340 line:15% which are diseases you get from close contact with animals, 17 00:00:35.340 --> 00:00:36.840 and with the vector-borne diseases 18 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:39.813 which you get from being bitten by a tick or a mosquito. 19 00:00:40.690 --> 00:00:42.910 Basically there are diseases 20 00:00:42.910 --> 00:00:44.610 in the state that are reportable. 21 00:00:44.610 --> 00:00:47.040 So those are diseases that we've decided 22 00:00:47.040 --> 00:00:48.330 are of public health importance. 23 00:00:48.330 --> 00:00:49.710 So we need to keep track of them. 24 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:53.110 So what happens is, when someone has a positive test, 25 00:00:53.110 --> 00:00:54.350 for one of those diseases 26 00:00:54.350 --> 00:00:56.090 or they're diagnosed with one of those diseases, 27 00:00:56.090 --> 00:00:57.510 it's reported to me. 28 00:00:57.510 --> 00:01:00.010 And I kind of keep my pulse on the activity 29 00:01:00.010 --> 00:01:01.600 of each one of those diseases. 30 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:04.700 So by collecting all of this information, 31 00:01:04.700 --> 00:01:06.640 line:15% the who, what, when, where, why, 32 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.890 line:15% I can determine a baseline 33 00:01:08.890 --> 00:01:10.540 line:15% so that when something weird happens, 34 00:01:10.540 --> 00:01:12.950 line:15% if I notice there are a lot more cases of something 35 00:01:12.950 --> 00:01:14.534 line:15% at a certain time that I didn't expect, 36 00:01:14.534 --> 00:01:16.600 line:15% then I can look into that and determine 37 00:01:16.600 --> 00:01:17.840 if there's an outbreak going on 38 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:19.560 or if something needs to be done. 39 00:01:19.560 --> 00:01:21.440 So, typically what that looks like 40 00:01:21.440 --> 00:01:24.180 is the labs being reported to me electronically. 41 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:26.760 And then I sort through them and assign them out 42 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:29.440 to local health departments for investigation. 43 00:01:29.440 --> 00:01:32.457 And if an outbreak occurs, there's a lot of coordination 44 00:01:32.457 --> 00:01:35.060 that I do, so working with the CDC, 45 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:36.259 with the local health department, 46 00:01:36.259 --> 00:01:40.790 hospitals, infection preventions and that sort of thing. 47 00:01:40.790 --> 00:01:45.790 line:15% So for diseases that are mandatory report diseases, 48 00:01:45.890 --> 00:01:47.950 line:15% which is just something that's defined 49 00:01:47.950 --> 00:01:49.080 line:15% by Indiana code, 50 00:01:49.080 --> 00:01:51.420 line:15% so for those diseases, laboratories are required 51 00:01:51.420 --> 00:01:53.330 line:15% to send that information electronically 52 00:01:53.330 --> 00:01:54.730 to the State Health Department. 53 00:01:54.730 --> 00:01:56.800 And then what I do is I have to be 54 00:01:56.800 --> 00:01:59.770 knowledgeable on interpreting those labs. 55 00:01:59.770 --> 00:02:01.350 So when the labs are reported to me 56 00:02:01.350 --> 00:02:05.070 and they look supportive of a diagnosis of that disease, 57 00:02:05.070 --> 00:02:07.620 then I assign that out electronically 58 00:02:07.620 --> 00:02:09.630 to each county health department. 59 00:02:09.630 --> 00:02:11.290 And a person at the county health department 60 00:02:11.290 --> 00:02:14.240 actually calls the person up and asks them some questions 61 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:16.040 about what their illness was like, 62 00:02:16.040 --> 00:02:18.000 what they did prior to that illness, 63 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.690 where they've gone if they traveled outside of the state. 64 00:02:20.690 --> 00:02:22.510 Collects all that information and they actually 65 00:02:22.510 --> 00:02:25.360 line:15% send that back to me, and I go through the information, 66 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.320 line:15% and determine if that is, meets the case definition 67 00:02:28.320 --> 00:02:32.100 line:15% for a confirmed, probable or suspect case of disease. 68 00:02:32.100 --> 00:02:34.010 line:15% So we do this all year, every year. 69 00:02:34.010 --> 00:02:37.752 And that way we know, you know, roughly we have 135 cases 70 00:02:37.752 --> 00:02:40.200 of Lyme disease every year in Indiana. 71 00:02:40.200 --> 00:02:42.370 So if we see that number go up one year, 72 00:02:42.370 --> 00:02:43.990 we can kind of look at it and see if there's 73 00:02:43.990 --> 00:02:46.040 something that we need to do differently.