Mandatory reporting of infectious diseases by clinicians

Abstract

Reporting of cases of communicable disease is important in the planning and evaluation of disease prevention and control programs, in the assurance of appropriate medical therapy, and in the detection of common-source outbreaks. In the United States, the authority to require notification of cases of disease resides in the respective state legislatures. We examined the laws and regulations of health departments of all US jurisdictions to ascertain diseases and conditions currently required to be reported in each state or territory. We present herein the state reporting requirements for infectious diseases and infectious disease-related conditions. To obtain additional information regarding time frames for reporting, agencies to which reports are required, persons required to report, and specific conditions under which reports are required, the reader is referred to the statutes and health department regulations of the respective states.

KIE: Accurate information on the occurrence and prevalence of communicable diseases is essential for the planning of public health programs. In the United States, compiling statistics on infectious diseases is the responsibility of state and territorial health agencies as authorized by state legislatures, and is accomplished largely through mandatory reporting requirements for physicians and other health personnel. Chorba, et al. present a table of state and territorial reporting requirements for infectious diseases and related conditions, and give a brief overview of current surveillance methods and tools.