DATE:
September 27, 2022
11
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
AUTHORIZE ACCEPTANCE OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND LABORATORY CAPACITY STRENGTHENING HEALTHCARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS/ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE PROGRAM CAPACITY GRANT ALLOCATION (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
The County of San Diego (County) has been a leader in infectious disease control within California and across the United States. The preparation for and response to communicable disease events, outbreaks, and emerging infectious disease threats remains a high priority for the County. The emergence of COVID-19 in 2020 was the largest infectious disease outbreak in recent history. To continue efforts to test and identify future outbreaks of infectious diseases, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Strengthening Healthcare-Associated Infections/Antimicrobial Resistance Program (SHARP) grant funding.
This ELC SHARP grant funding will support the expansion of Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) surveillance in California, via screening and testing activities for antibiotic resistant organisms, such as Carbapenem-Resistant Organisms, multi-drug resistant Candida auris, a yeast that can cause healthcare-associated infections with a high mortality rate in immunocompromised patients and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the bacterium which causes the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea. In addition, this funding will support testing of these organisms by Whole Genome Sequencing, which provides a very precise DNA fingerprint that can help link cases to one another, allowing an outbreak to be detected and solved sooner.
On May 26, 2022, the County Public Health Laboratory received a notification of award from CDPH for $343,781 in one-time funding for the ELC SHARP, for the term June 1, 2022 through July 31, 2024. Today's action requests the San Diego County Board of Supervisors (Board) to authorize acceptance of $343,781 in ELC SHARP grant fundi...
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