Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD)
Mission:
The mission of the Division of Bacterial Diseases (DBD) is to prevent and control illness and death from vaccine-preventable and other respiratory bacterial diseases, in the U.S. and worldwide, through excellence in epidemiologic and laboratory science.
Our Strategic Priorities:
- Accelerate the development, introduction, and evaluation of vaccines against bacterial respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, neonatal sepsis, and related syndromes
- Identify, assess, and implement advanced and innovative approaches to improve and expand laboratory, statistical, and epidemiological science
- Maintain and strengthen surveillance, early detection, investigation, response, and policy development to ensure effective prevention and control of bacterial respiratory diseases
- Inform the public and scientific community about bacterial respiratory diseases in the U.S. and globally
What We Do:
- Vaccines: We facilitate use of scientific evidence to inform vaccine policy and evaluate vaccine impact.
- Surveillance: We conduct national surveillance of bacterial respiratory diseases and pathogens such as bacterial meningitis, pertussis, Legionnaires’ disease, pneumonia, and diphtheria
- Laboratory: Our scientists support public health lab capacity building, develop advanced molecular techniques and provide laboratory testing for diseases such as pneumococcal disease, streptococcal infections, Legionnaires’ disease, meningococcal infection, and unknown respiratory disease outbreaks
- Outbreak Response and Prevention: We respond to cases, clusters, and outbreaks in support of state, local and international partners while promoting prevention measures
Where We Work:
DBD works in states and territories across the US and numerous countries around the world. We collaborate closely with state and local health departments, ministries of health and other global partners such as the World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization, and non-governmental organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi.
