Denver Public Health | News

National Hepatitis Testing Day is Friday, May 17

Denver Public Health will be offering FREE hepatitis C testing from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at 630 Elati Street. If you are unable to get tested on May 17, the Denver Metro Health Clinic at Denver Public Health always offers free testing, as does Hep C Connection.

Who should get tested? Anyone:

• Born between 1945 and 1965.
• Who has ever injected drugs, even once.
• Who has had unprotected sexual contact with someone with hepatitis C.
• Who received a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992.
• Who received a tattoo or piercing in a questionable setting or from an unlicensed body artist.

Can't make it to Denver Public Health for testing? Find another testing site closer to your home or office.

Want to learn more about who's affected by Hepatitis C and how it's treated? Read the May issue of Denver Vital Signs for information specific to Denver residents.

Focusing on Alcohol Exposure during Pregnancy

The March 2013 issue of Denver Vital Signs focuses on a key public health problem during the reproductive years - alcohol exposured pregnancy. Alcohol use by women and girls negatively impacts their health, and alcohol is the leading preventable cause of neurocognitive defects in children. About half of all pregnancies in Colorado are unintended, and many women do not know they are pregnant during the critical first weeks of pregnancy when drinking alcohol damages the development of the baby’s brain. Read the full issue in English or in Spanish to learn more about this important public health concern.

Dr. Bob Belknap Becomes Director of the Denver Metro Tuberculosis (TB) Clinic

Dr. Bob Belknap has been appointed director of the Denver Metro TB Clinic at Denver Public Health. He succeeds Dr. Randall Reves who retired in February after leading the TB control program for more than 20 years and helping it become one of the best programs of its kind in the United States.

Dr. Belknap is one of the premier TB clinicians in the country, as well as a leading TB researcher, overseeing our participation in the CDC-sponsored TB Trials Consortium and the TB Epidemiologic Studies Consortium. He is well known among patients in Denver as a kind, knowledgeable and caring physician. Visit the TB Clinic website to learn more about the TB control services provided at Denver Public Health.

Norovirus Fact Sheet

Norovirus is a common but contagious virus that causes diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and stomach cramping. This virus is spread by having contact with another person who has the illness and is showing symptoms.

Frequent hand washing and staying home when sick are the most important defenses against spreading or contracting a Norovirus. Learn more prevention tips in the Denver Public Health Noroviros Fact sheet. We also offer this information on Norovirus in Spanish.

Pertussis in Denver

Pertussis (whooping cough) is up again in Denver and Colorado. So far this year, Denver has had more than 200 cases of pertussis. Most cases are affecting infants and young children who often experience the most severe illness. This is a critical public health concern. Bill Burman, Director of Denver Public Health, discussed pertussis on 9News , offering information on what you can do to protect yourself.

For more information, read our Pertussis Information Sheet, see our updated statistics on pertussis in Denver or visit our Pertussis vaccination page.

Council District Level Health Reports

Denver Public Health and Denver Environmental Health recently released reports on the health of Denver’s residents within each City Council district. These reports document substantial disparities in a variety of health outcomes, such as premature death, teen birth, availability of health insurance, and use of tobacco. We hope these district-level reports help policy-makers and citizens work toward eliminating health disparities within Denver.

Denver Public Schools and Denver Public Health announced the initial results of the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey for Denver at a meeting at Del Pueblo School on Thursday, August 9^th. Denver Public Schools surveyed nearly 17,000 middle- and high-school students. This survey will provide invaluable baseline data on attitudes about school, relationships with key adults, and health behaviors.

• Summary of Data
• Presentation of Initial Results
• Full Results Report

Denver Public Health recived a "Model Practice Award" at the 2012 Annual conference of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO).

Patients of Cherry Creek and Highland's Ranch oral surgeon advised to get tested for HIV and hepatitis due to unsafe injection practices.

Denver International Airport moves to becoming smoke free.

About Denver Public Health

Denver Public Health is committed to promoting, improving and protecting the health and well-being of the residents of Denver and beyond.

We do that in partnership with Denver’s diverse communities, through education and health promotion activities, direct clinical care, and other disease prevention services.

At Denver Public Health we strive to:

Create a strong infrastructure that supports, evaluates and improves internal operations, communications, and information systems including timely data on health issues, financial systems, and facilities.

• To develop robust information systems that monitor the health status of our communities.
• To create an integrated team that diagnoses and investigates health problems and health hazards in the community.

Maintain our leadership, educational and service role within the City and State.

• To assure a competent public and personal health care workforce.

Develop strong partnerships with the community, academia, health care delivery systems, and business community.

• To inform, educate and empower people about health issues.
• To mobilize community partnerships to identify and solve health problems.
• To develop policies and plans that support individual and community health efforts.

Conduct focused investigations, evaluations, quality improvement and perform critical research.

• To evaluate the effectiveness, accessibility and quality of personal and population-based health services.
• To perform research for new insights and innovative solutions to health problems.

Expand public health services while maintaining expertise and interest in our current focus areas.

• To link people to needed personal health services and assure the provision of health care when unavailable.
• To enforce laws and regulations that protect health and ensure safety.

Denver Environmental Health

Animal Care & Control and the Denver Animal Shelter
Animal Care & Control (ACC) protects public and animal health and safety by investigating animal bites, cruelty and neglect, barking dog disturbances and other complaints.

Community Health & Decision Support
Community Health & Decision Support (CHDS) strives to improve Denver’s quality of life by providing educational and support services that focus on environmental public health issues.

Environmental Quality
Environmental Quality (EQ) assures environmental protection by providing assessment, regulatory compliance, technical assistance, environmental education, and stewardship initiatives for both private sector and city operations.

Office of the Medical Examiner
Office of the Medical Examiner (OME) investigates all deaths reportable by statute by assuming control over evidence, providing expert consultants and witnesses, and coordinating death investigations with various agencies.

Public Health Inspections
Public Health Inspections (PHI) works to minimize the risk of communicable and infectious diseases through conducting inspections, investigations, providing technical assistance, education and enforcement actions in regulated facilities.