D. Infectious Diseases

Public Health law requires the reporting of the diagnosis of certain infections or communicable diseases to the state. The State’s Division of Communicable Disease Control is responsible for gathering this data. While the state reports annually on the top infectious diseases in California, the most recent report of all infectious diseases by county is 1993. Tables 4.16-1 and 4.16-2 compares the top infectious diseases in Humboldt County and Del Norte County with California. These numbers and rate are based on only one year’s reported cases and thus caution should be used in their interpretation.

Table 4.16-2: 1993 Reported Incidence of Infectious Disease in Humboldt County

Humboldt California Incidence Rank Incidence Rank Chlamydia Infections 179.4 1 215.9 1 Non-Gonoccocal Urethritis 101.5 2 47.9 4 Hepatitis A 46.3 3 17.7 8 Campylobacteriosis 44.8 4 23.3 6 Pelvic Inflammatory Disease* 32.7 5 13.0 11 AIDS 29.8 6 57.4 3 Giardia 25.9 7 23.7 5 Hepatitis B 23.6 8 5.8 15 Gonococcal Infections 22.9 9 99.5 2 Salmonella 21.2 10 17.9 7

Source: Department of Health Services, Division of Communicable Disease Control * Rate per 100,000 female population

Incidence per 100,000 population

The significantly lower rates of some sexually transmitted disease in the two county area is noted, including gonococcal infections, chlamydia infections, and AIDS. Likewise, the higher rates of Hepatitis, both A and B are noted in both Humboldt and Del Norte Counties during 1993. These numbers foretold a dramatic increase in the number of diagnosed cases of Hepatitis A as shown below. Clearly, effective public health measures were undertaken to bring this outbreak of Hepatitis A under control.

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