title: The Infectious Diseases Society of America emerging infections network: bridging the gap between clinical infectious diseases and public health.
abstract: In 1995, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention granted a Cooperative Agreement Program award to the Infectious Diseases Society of America to develop a provider-based emerging infections sentinel network, the Emerging Infections Network (EIN). Over the past 17 years, the EIN has evolved into a flexible, nationwide network with membership representing a broad cross-section of infectious disease physicians. The EIN has an active electronic mail conference (listserv) that facilitates communication among infectious disease providers and the public health community, and also sends members periodic queries (short surveys on infectious disease topics) that have addressed numerous topics relevant to both clinical infectious diseases and public health practice. The article reviews how the various functions of EIN contribute to clinical care and public health, identifies opportunities to further link clinical medicine and public health, and describes future directions for the EIN.
authors.affiliation: Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infections, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Satish K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Beekmann
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santibanez
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Polgreen
mesh_terms: D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D034742:Electronic Mail; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D006801:Humans; D055552:Infectious Disease Medicine; D033181:Information Dissemination; D011634:Public Health; D060756:Social Networking; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States
keywords: emerging infectious diseases; infectious diseases physicians; public health