Report Names Most, Least Prepared States for Infectious Disease
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Spotmatik/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A new report named the most and least prepared states in the country when it comes to infectious disease.
The report, put out by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, used ten indicators of preparedness to judge the states. At the top of the list of best prepared states? Maryland, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. On the other end of the spectrum, Arkansas finished at the bottom of the list.
Among the indicators used in the report are preparation for emerging threats, vaccinations, healthcare-associated infections, sexually-transmitted infections, food safety, core capabilities, integration of health care and public health and leadership and accountability. A state successful in a given indicator would receive one point.
The top five states, TFAH said, received just eight out of 10 possible points, while Arkansas received just two.
Among the biggest problems, the report indicated, were that just 14 percent of states vaccinate at least half of their population and only 16 states performed better than the national standardized infection ratio for central-line-associated bloodstream infections.
The full report can be found here.
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