If you were given a choice of two futures, which would you choose?Scenario 1: Rumor has it that a local teacher has contagious tuberculosis and could be spreading it to children. Parents panic and school is forced to close. There aren’t enough public health experts to contain the disease and provide information to the community. Nobody really knows how far this ultimately life-threatening disease might spread.Scenario 2: A local teacher is diagnosed with contagious tuberculosis, and public health experts rapidly conduct an orderly, scientific investigation of the teacher’s contact with other adults and children. Those who need testing are quickly and discreetly informed and tested. The rest of the school and larger community are kept fully informed about the status of the investigation and its outcome. Those testing positive for exposure to TB are treated with antibiotics; the disease spreads no further.Of course, given the choice, you would prefer Scenario 2. No wonder. That’s exactly what happened in late 2006 when a Falcon School District 49 teacher was diagnosed with active (contagious) tuberculosis. Meeting this challenge required half the Health Department’s staff to delay other essential duties protecting the public in other ways, but those who were infected were treated and the community was protected.That’s what any reasonable person wants – a health department that protects them from contagious diseases and other threats.So, what do we mean when we ask, local public health: end of the road or a new beginning? We mean that the challenges the Health Department is facing are making it more likely that Scenario 1 – in which the Health Department is unable to protect the community – is what we’re going to get.What does that mean to you? Join us at our sixth annual meeting on Monday, April 7, and we’ll tell you all about it and what you can do to make a difference.
