Public Health England is an executive agency of the Department for Health. It exists to protect and improve the nations’ health and wellbeing and reduce health inequality.
One of Public Health England’s core functions is to detect possible outbreaks of disease and epidemics as soon as possible. Medical practitioners have a statutory duty to report suspected cases of certain infectious diseases. Confirmation of the diagnosis is not needed. For further information on notifiable diseases and how to report them, please click here.
Below is the list of ‘notifiable diseases’ which should be reported to Public Health England by the patient’s clinical team on 0344 225 0562 (then extension 111).
· Acute encephalitis
· Acute infectious hepatitis
· Acute meningitis
· Acute poliomyelitis
· Anthrax
· Botulism
· Brucellosis
· Cholera
· Diptheria
· Enteric fever (typhoid or paratyphoid fever)
· Food poisoning
· Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS)
· Infectious blood diarrhoea
· Invasive group A Streptococcal disease
· Legionnaire’s disease
· Leprosy
· Malaria
· Measles
· Meningococcal septicaemia
· Mumps
· Plague
· Rabies
· Rubella
· Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
· Scarlet fever
· Smallpox
· Tetanus
· Tuberculosis
· Typhus
· Viral haemorrhagic fever (CHF)
· Whooping cough
· Yellow fever
Information regarding immunisations against infectious disease can be found in Public Health England’s ‘Immunisation against infectious disease’ also known as the ‘Green book’. Specific information regarding vaccination of individuals with an uncertain or incomplete immunisation status can be found here.