Communicable respiratory illnesses spread from person to person and cause symptoms in our breathing system, from our noses down to our lungs. Depending on the disease the infection may spread through direct physical contact with others, contact with items that others have touched, or through droplets or aerosols that people who are infected exhale into the air. Reported cases of respiratory illnesses are tracked to identify patterns, enable healthcare planning, and empower residents at higher risk of complications. Wastewater and reported cases of respiratory illnesses are tracked to identify patterns, enable healthcare planning, and empower residents at higher risk of complications. To monitor laboratory-confirmed cases or wastewater analysis, click on the dashboards below. These dashboards are updated on Wednesdays.
Wastewater analysis is an important tool in public health, and GO Health works with local wastewater treatment plants to collect samples routinely for analysis. Because people who have an infectious disease often shed particles of germs in their stool, wastewater analysis can be used to monitor the presence of an infection within a community, track trends in common infections, or screen for infections at a specific site such as a nursing home.
