Infectious Disease

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Infectious disease

Environmental Health Departments have a statutory duty to investigate certain Notifiable Diseases under the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984. Cases can be notified in a number of ways including information from a GP, the Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC) or the Health Protection Agency (HPA) laboratory.

Different diseases will be investigated in different ways. This will usually be done by a standard questionnaire. Depending on the disease an officer may visit or phone to complete this or send the questionnaire for the infected person (or their parent/guardian if under 16 years old) to complete themselves and return to us.

Below is a list of some of the diseases we would investigate, with links to information on the HPA website where available:

The information received on the questionnaire is used to help the officer decide whether any further action is required. If a food premises is implicated a follow up visit may be necessary. The reason for these investigations is to try and reduce the spread of disease so information required will include:

occupation (some occupations have a higher risk of passing on disease eg a food handler)
recent food history (this could range from a few hours to several weeks so the earlier we can ask the questions the easier it is for people to remember the answers)
recent travel history or functions attended
close contacts (some diseases can be spread from person to person)

The information provided is kept in the strictest confidence and will only be used for the purposes of the investigation and the recording of national statistics.

Information

Below are some leaflets we have made offering some basic information about some of the notifiable diseases we investigate. Further information can be found on the NHS Direct website or calling on 0845 4647, the Health Protection Agency website or by contacting your G.P. with any concerns you have about your health.

If you think that your illness was caused by food prepared outside the home, report the incident to the local environmental health service where you purchased the food. For incidents within Brighton and Hove please contact the Food Safety Team on (01273) 292161 or email ehl.food@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

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