View report page

7
THE CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Notification is the essential preliminary to control of infectious
disease. The diseases notifiable under the Public Health Act 1936
are smallpox, cholera, diphtheria, membranous croup, erysipelas,
scarlet fever, typhus, typhoid, enteric and relapsing fever.
The Minister of Health has also made regulations whereby
the following diseases are also notifiable : plague, poliomyelitis,
tuberculosis, puerperal pyrexia, ophthalmia neonatorum, malaria,
dysentery, acute primary pneumonia, acute influenzal pneumonia,
measles, whooping cough, acute encephalitis and meningococcal
infection.
Food poisoning is notifiable under the provisions of the Food
and Drugs Act of 1938.
Exclusion of the Case.
School children with infectious disease are usually kept out
of school for the following periods :
Scarlet Fever Seven days after discharge from hospital or
home isolation, unless there is a running
nose or ear, sore throat or septic spots,
in which case this may need to be extended.
Diphtheria Depends on the clinical condition, but usually
negative throat swabs are advisable before
return to school.
Measles 14 days from the appearance of the rash.
German Measles 7 days from the appearance of the rash.
Whooping Cough 28 days from the appearance of the characteristic
whoop.
Mumps 14 days from onset or 7 days after
appearance of all swelling.
Clickenpox 14 days after appearance of the rash.
Exclusion of Contacts.
With the present mild character of most of the infectious
diseases, exclusion of contacts from work is only carried out in
exceptional cases, where there is a serious risk of spread of infection
to others.
School children are still excluded if they have been in contact
with certain of the infectious fevers but the tendency is to keep
this to the minimum to avoid unjustifiable loss of schooling.