Infectious diseases – a guide

19 March 2010

THE role of junior doctors in reporting cases of infectious diseases has been outlined in a new online guide.

The article Notifiable diseases sets out how trainees should react when they come across certain illnesses such as meningococcal meningitis, tuberculosis, tetanus or measles, mumps and rubella.

The notification of specific infectious diseases is an integral part of medical practice. In the UK it is a legal requirement under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 and the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 1988 for the treating clinician to report a notifiable disease.

Reporting is crucial for a number of reasons including alerting the Health Protection Agency. They can help find the source of the infection and stop it spreading. Junior doctors are often the first point of contact for patients who present at hospital with an infectious disease and they have a legal duty to recognise and report notifiable diseases to the correct authority.

To read the guide in full go to the BMJ website here