Illinois Department of Public Health publishes scientific health articles
Inaugural Illinois Morbidity and Mortality Bulletin

[January 06, 2015]  SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has released the inaugural issue of its Illinois Morbidity and Mortality Bulletin (IMMB). The IMMB is IDPH’s primary publication for scientific articles of interest to public health communities and professionals in Illinois. Articles in the IMMB are prepared by IDPH staff from various programs based on analysis, description, interpretation and discussion of data.

“We use data and data analyses to identify public health problems, chart our progress and contribute to the knowledge base of public health science and practice,” said IDPH Director Dr. LaMar Hasbrouck. “One of the pillars of IDPH’s strategic plan is to improve population health and healthcare by informing policy, programs and priorities through improved quality, availability, utilization and dissemination of data. Creating the IMMB represents just one of our efforts toward that direction.”

This first bulletin features three articles written by IDPH staff.

The data analysis team, lead by Nancy Amerson from the Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, reported the prevalence of multiple chronic conditions among Illinois adults. Using data from the Illinois Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the article describes the prevalence of people having more than one chronic condition and the most common multiple chronic condition combinations in Illinois.

Dr. Connie Austin, Division of Infectious Diseases, assessed the appropriateness of use and administration of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis in Illinois. Dr. Austin reviewed potential human exposures to rabies reported in 2013 and evaluated if rabies post-exposure prophylaxis was correctly assessed and administered.

For the third article, Dr. Mohammed Shahidullah and Nelson Agboda (Health Facilities and Services Review Board) estimated life expectancies using population data from the U.S. Census Bureau and death data from the Illinois Vital Records System. Life expectancy, a widely used summary indicator of human health and development, was estimated by age and sex for residents of Illinois, Chicago and, for the very first time, for Illinois counties.

The IMMB targeted audience is public health practitioners, researchers, physicians, nurses, epidemiologists, educators, staff at local health departments and policy makers throughout Illinois. IDPH plans to publish three issues this year and then move to a quarterly publication schedule. The IMMB can be found at http://www.idph.state.il.us/pdf/Jan2015-Vol1-Issue1_Multi-Chronic-Rabies-Life-Expect.pdf

[Melaney Arnold, Illinois Department of Public Health]