Infectious Diseases
The Public Health Unit Infectious Diseases Team carries out a wide range of activities related to the surveillance, investigation and control of infectious diseases. They monitor the incidence of diseases which are notifiable under the Public Health Act 1991, and follow up cases and suspected outbreaks. Notifications are received from doctors, laboratories, hospitals, schools and childcare centres.
These reports allow staff to work with health care providers to ensure appropriate public health measures are taken to prevent further spread of disease and to identify a disease source. Public Health Nurses also provide information to doctors, childcare centres, schools and members of the community on public health aspects of infectious diseases, childhood and adult immunisation, guidelines for exclusion from childcare, school or work and prophylactic measures when necessary.
The team consists of Public Health Nurses, Immunisation staff and administrative support. Other teams within the Public Health Unit, such as the Environmental Health Officers and the Epidemiology & Research Team, also work with the Infectious Diseases Team when required.
An important aspect of the work done by the Infectious Diseases Team is ongoing research in infectious disease related areas. Research projects include: enhanced surveillance to determine the incidence of and risk factors for new cases of hepatitis C; ongoing investigation of cases of salmonella; seasonal influenza surveillance; investigation of gastroenteritis in child-care centres, development of improved guidelines for the public health management of meningococcal infection; costs to the community of hepatitis A; follow up of cases of antenatal syphilis to exclude congenital syphilis; assessing the accuracy of the ACIR Register data; and the follow up of provision of influenza vaccine to the homeless. The Unit often collaborates with other agencies in research aimed at improving our knowledge of how relevant diseases can be prevented, and how preventative services can be best delivered.
Links to other websites
Information and Fact Sheets on many infectious diseases are available from the following:
- NSW Health Infectious Diseases website (including A-Z of infectious diseases, alerts, reports and multi-lingual resources)
- NSW Health Disease Notification Forms
- Australian Department of Health & Ageing
- World Health Organisation
Please note: Information from the internet should not be relied upon in place of the advice from a medical practitioner. Health information from the internet should be carefully assessed for accuracy and reliability. A guide to finding reliable health related information from the internet is available from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Disclaimer: The links above are to agencies and other organisations that contain useful information. These links do not imply any endorsement, support or commercial gain by South Eastern Sydney and Illawarra Area Health Service or NSW Health Services or the State of New South Wales. See our Disclaimer for more information.