Starting the week of April 28 – May 4, Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments (GO Health) will be modifying our weekly reporting for Respiratory Illnesses (Flu, COVID-19, RSV). We will be using a new dashboard to track reported cases of these respiratory illnesses, which will be updated weekly on Wednesdays. This interactive dashboard will be accessible on the Respiratory Illness Data page and will include weekly rates of Flu, RSV, and COVID-19.
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.
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.
