infectious diseases

There have been no confirmed cases of AFM in Vermont since 2014. The Health Department is educating providers on what to look for and what actions to take if a patient comes in with symptoms consistent with AFM.

HIV post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, means taking antiretroviral medicines (ART) after being potentially exposed to HIV to prevent becoming infected.

PEP should be used only in emergency situations and must be started within 72 hours after a recent possible exposure to HIV. If you think you’ve recently been exposed to HIV during sex or through sharing needles and works to prepare drugs or if you’ve been sexually assaulted, talk to your health care provider or an emergency room doctor about PEP right away.

People at highest risk for HIV infection may be able to secure a free HIV test through the Comprehensive Care Clinics (Vermont providers of HIV specialty care) or through the Community Health Center of Burlington (a Federally Qualified Health Center). Contact one of the sites below for more information.

We support free HIV testing at a range of community sites. These sites also offer referral and links to prevention interventions that may help you stop the spread of HIV. People who are sexually active may receive referrals to STD testing. Although some locations offer drop-in testing, we suggest contacting the sites ahead of time to set up an appointment. 

Health care providers in Vermont are required to report certain infectious diseases to the Health Department. This information is then used by epidemiologists to track the spread of disease across the state.

Health care providers and laboratories are required by law to notify the Health Department regarding patients with certain suspected or confirmed reportable diseases

Are Vermonters getting recommended vaccines to prevent the spread of infectious disease? Are we effectively treating people with active TB? Reducing health care-acquired infections?

The Health Department provides expert medical consultation, educational materials, and medications to treat active TB disease and latent TB infection – at no charge to the patient.

TB can be treated with antibiotics and successfully cured in most people.Treatment may last for at least six months and sometimes for as long as a year.

The TB skin test and the IGRA blood test are both used to detect latent TB infection. A positive result indicates infection with TB bacteria, but can't tell if a person has a latent TB infection or TB disease.