Colorado Code § 25-4-408

Infection control - duties
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(1) It is the duty of the executive director, health
officers, or local directors to investigate sexually transmitted infections and to use appropriate
means to prevent the spread of such sexually transmitted infections.
(2) As part of infection control efforts, it is the duty of the executive director, health
officers, and local directors to provide public information; risk-reduction education; voluntary
testing; counseling; age-appropriate, medically accurate, and culturally responsive educational
materials for school use; and professional education for public safety workers and health-care
providers.
(3) The state department shall provide current, evidence-based, and medically accurate
programs under which the state department and local public health agencies may perform the
following tasks:
(a) Provide and disseminate to health-care providers digital, written, and verbal
presentations describing the epidemiology, prevention, testing, diagnosis, treatment, medical
services, counseling, and other aspects of sexually transmitted infections;
(b) Provide consultation to agencies and organizations, including those employing public
safety workers, regarding appropriate policies for prevention, testing, education, confidentiality,
and control of sexually transmitted infections;
(c) Conduct health information programs to inform the general public of the medical and
psychosocial aspects of sexually transmitted infections, including updated information on how
these infections are transmitted and may be prevented. The state department shall provide and
distribute to the residents of the state, at no charge, printed and electronic information and
instructions concerning the risks from sexually transmitted infections, the prevention of sexually
transmitted infections, and the necessity for testing.
(d) Update and provide educational information concerning sexually transmitted
infections that employers may use in the workplace;
(e) Provide and implement medically accurate and culturally appropriate educational
risk-reduction programs for specific populations at higher risk for infection; and
(f) Update and provide accurate, age-appropriate, and culturally responsive sexually
transmitted infection prevention curricula for use at the discretion of secondary and middle
schools in the state.
(4) When investigating sexually transmitted infections, the state department and local
public health agencies, within their respective jurisdictions, may inspect and have access to
medical and laboratory records relevant to their investigation.
(5) Every person who is confined, detained, or imprisoned in a state, county, or city
hospital; an institution for persons with behavioral or mental health disorders; a home for
dependent children; a correctional facility; or any other private or charitable institution where a
person may be confined, detained, or imprisoned by order of a court of this state must be
examined for and, if diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection, referred for treatment of
such sexually transmitted infection, in accordance with current standards of care, by the health
authorities having jurisdiction over the given institution. The managing authorities of any such
institution shall make available to the health authorities whatever portion of their respective
institution as may be necessary for a clinic or hospital for treatment of a person's sexually
transmitted infection with current and evidence-based standards of care in a professional manner.
(6) (a) When a public safety worker, emergency or other health-care provider, first
responder, victim of crime, or a staff member of a correctional facility, the state department, or a
local public health agency has been exposed to blood or other bodily fluids for which there is an
evidence-based reason to believe it may result in exposure to a sexually transmitted infection, the
state department or local public health agency, within their respective jurisdictions, shall assist in
the evaluation and treatment of any involved persons by:
(I) Accessing information on the incident and any persons involved to determine
whether a potential exposure to infection occurred;
(II) When the potential for exposure has been determined by the state department or a
local public health agency, examining and testing any involved persons to determine infection;
(III) Communicating relevant information and laboratory test results on involved persons
directly to the involved person or to his or her attending health-care provider, if the
confidentiality of such information and test results are acknowledged by the recipient and
adequately protected, as provided for in section 25-4-406; and
(IV) Providing timely counseling to any involved persons on the potential health risks
resulting from exposure to infection; prophylaxis and treatment of infections until cured, where
possible; treatment to prevent progression of such infections; measures for preventing
transmission to others; and the necessity of regular medical evaluations.
(b) For the purposes of this subsection (6), the employer of an involved person shall
comply with the provisions of section 25-4-406 and ensure that relevant information and
laboratory test results on the involved person are kept confidential.

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