Control of Infectious diseases

General Practitioners are required to notify the Consultant in Communicable disease control of a number of infectious diseases. These include a range of diseases such as Salmonella, E. Coli and Legionnaires Disease. The Food and Safety Team works with the Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC) to investigate these infections. The aim is to establish where the patient may have caught the infection and to ensure that they do not in turn pass on the infection to others.

When the Food and Safety Team are notified of a case, they may visit and interview the patients to try to establish a history about the patient such as where they may have eaten or visited to contract the infection. The occupation of the patient is considered to see whether they are likely to pass on the infection to others in the course of their work. If it is likely that the infection may have arisen from a food premise or workplace in the District the matter will be investigated. If it is thought that the infection may have been contracted outside the District they will notify the appropriate Local Authority.

All the reports are returned to the Consultant in Communicable Disease Control who in turn forwards the information to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre where regional and national trends are compiled.

If you would like more information about infectious diseases please visit the following web pages.

Health Protection Agency  www.hpa.org.uk
World Health Organisation www.who.int/en