Notifiable disease

Question 1

What is meant by a notifiable disease?

Answer 1

A disease that healthcare professionals in UK are legally required to report to UKHSA on suspicion of diagnosis, breaking of patient confidentiality.
Tend to be very severe (high mortality) or extremely contagious.

Question 2

What are the laws underpinning the notifiable diseases?

Answer 2

The Public Health (Control of disease) Act 1984
Health Protection (Notificiations) Regulations 2010

Question 3

When should notifiable diseases by reported?

Answer 3

Reported on suspicion - do not wait for confirmation
If urgent - must be reported within 24hrs by telephone
If routine and urgent - should be formally reported in writing/email within 3 days.

Question 4

Give some examples of urgent notifiable diseases

Answer 4

Acute infectious hepatitis ABC
Acute meningitis
Acute poliomyelitis
Anthrax
Botulism
UK acquired Brucellosis
Cholera
Diptheria
Enteric fever
HUS
Infectious blood diarrhoea
Invasive group A strep disease
Legionnaires disease
Measles
Meningococaal septicaemia
Mpox
Plaque
Rabies
SARS
Small pox
VHF
Whooping cough
UK acquired yellow fever

Question 5

Give some examples of routine notifiable disease

Answer 5

Yellow fever
Typhus
TB
Tetanus
Rubella
Mumps
Malaria
Leprosy
Food poisoning
COVID-19
Acute encephalitis

Question 6

Give some examples of notifiable causative pathogens

Answer 6

Polio
HPV
Campylobacter
C.Diff
SARS COV2
Denge virus
Neisseria gonorrhoea
Hepatitis A/B/C
Norovirus