The Miami-Dade County Health Department (MDCHD) was recently honored at the 2011 Annual Conference of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) for developing a program that demonstrates exemplary and replicable qualities in response to a local public health need. The MDCHD implemented the Model Practice entitled “Innovative 2009 H1N1 Influenza Surveillance” and was selected as one of 41 local health departments across the nation to receive NACCHO’s Model Practice Award.

 

Miami-Dade County’s Model Practice was created by the Applied Epidemiology and Research Team at the MDCHD Office of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Immunization Services under the direction of the Director and Chief Physician, Fermin Leguen, M.D., MPH and Senior Epidemiologist, Guoyan Zhang, M.D., MPH. The practice consisted of 2 automated alert systems, one for Miami-Dade County Public Schools absenteeism and the other for the county’s hospital emergency department visits. The unique systems assisted with monitoring potential H1N1 influenza outbreaks and disease trends among high-risk populations and strengthened relationships with partners. The systems enabled health officials and the community to better understand the demographic and geographic trends of influenza to target prevention efforts such as vaccination. The health department hopes their experiences will encourage other counties to conduct similar surveillance techniques during future public health emergencies.