CDC and CSTE Partner to Strengthen the Applied Epidemiology Workforce

In 2008, CSTE and CDC began working together to expand the fellowship program to include placements in a growing area of public health concern—healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). CSTE was awarded funding from CDC to use CDC/CSTE applied epidemiology fellows as a resource in state and local health departments working on HAI issues. CSTE sent a call for host site applications from state and large urban health departments for this new subject area and had interest from 11 agencies in the first year alone. The first nine HAI fellows started the program in 2009. Since then, CSTE has offered HAIs as a subject area for the program and placed 24 HAI fellows in state and local health departments.

As of January 2013, there are 57 CSTE fellows in the field, 11 of whom focus on HAIs, a critical public health problem in need of additional applied epidemiologists. These fellows are working on diverse projects, including

• Evaluation of South Carolina’s CHESS (Carolina's Health Electronic Surveillance System) for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) blood stream infection
• Analysis of New Hampshire’s surgical site infection data reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network in 2009
• Cost analysis and comparison for Michigan hospitals for HAIs from 2002 through 2008 using discharge data related to MRSA and Clostridium difficile infections
• Design of a carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae surveillance system for Minnesota
• Evaluation of the identification and management of influenza-like illnesses among hospitalized patients in Chicago
• Implementation of a descriptive study of activity and distribution of HAIs in Pennsylvania nursing homes
• Evaluation of MRSA screening practices and comparison of MRSA incidence data at Pennsylvania acute care facilities
• Description of the financial burden of HAIs in New York state
• Evaluation of Group Aβ-hemolytic streptococcus outbreaks in long-term care facilities in New York state
• Assessment of surgical site infection reporting readiness in Washington state
• Surveillance of post-discharge surgical site infections in Washington state

Fellows have gained invaluable experience in applied epidemiology, and the fellowship continues to fill critical public health workforce needs, particularly for well-trained epidemiologists with state and local public health experience.