2018 Zika Health Brigade: Delivering Critical Health Screening in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Shana Godfred-Cato; S Nicole Fehrenbach; Megan R Reynolds; Romeo R Galang; Dan Schoelles; Lessely Brown-Shuler; Braeanna Hillman; Leah DeWilde; Andra Prosper; Amy Hudson; Cynthia A Moore; Esther M Ellis

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed5040168

2018 Zika Health Brigade: Delivering Critical Health Screening in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Trop Med Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 9;5(4):168. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed5040168.

Authors

Shana Godfred-Cato¹, S Nicole Fehrenbach¹, Megan R Reynolds¹, Romeo R Galang², Dan Schoelles³, Lessely Brown-Shuler⁴, Braeanna Hillman^{5

6}, Leah DeWilde^{5

6}, Andra Prosper^{5

6}, Amy Hudson⁷, Cynthia A Moore¹, Esther M Ellis^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
² Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Reproductive Health, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
³ Deloitte Consulting LLP, New York, NY 10112, USA.
⁴ Chickasaw Nation Industries, Norman, OK 73071, USA.
⁵ U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health, Christiansted, VI 00820, USA.
⁶ U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health, Charlotte Amalie, VI 00802, USA.
⁷ Eagle Global Scientific, LLC, San Antonio, TX 78248, USA.

Abstract

In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria caused significant damage to the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), heightening the challenges many residents faced in accessing adequate healthcare and receiving recommended Zika virus screening services. To address this challenge, the USVI Department of Health (DOH) requested technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to organize a health brigade to bring needed medical care to an underserved population. It also established the development of important partnerships between federal and private partners as well as between clinical providers and public health entities such as the Epidemiology & Disease Reporting, Maternal Child Health (MCH), and Infant and Toddlers Programs within the DOH, and local clinicians. This health brigade model could be replicated to ensure recommended evaluations are delivered to populations that may have unmet medical needs due to the complexity of the conditions and/or rural location.

Keywords: congenital Zika infection; congenital Zika syndrome; health brigade; health screenings.