UK expands mandatory infectious disease reporting requirements

The update is aimed at strengthening local and national surveillance

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has announced that it has expanded the list of diseases and pathogens that medical professionals and diagnostic laboratories in England are required to report.

The update, which follows a public consultation and assessment conducted by the UKHSA and Department of Health and Social Care, is aimed at strengthening local and national surveillance, and enhancing infectious disease outbreak response capabilities.

Under the new Health Protection Notification Regulations requirements, which will come into effect on 6 April this year, registered medical professionals must now report suspected cases of: Middle East respiratory syndrome, influenza of zoonotic origin, chickenpox, congenital syphilis, neonatal herpes, acute flaccid paralysis or acute flaccid myelitis, disseminated gonococcal infection and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Meanwhile, laboratories processing human samples in England are now required to report ten additional pathogens: Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, non-human influenza A subtypes, norovirus, echinococcus spp, tick-borne encephalitis virus, toxoplasma, trichinella spp, yersinia spp, respiratory syncytial virus and candidozyma auris.

William Welfare, UKHSA Director of Health Protection Operations outlined that when certain diseases are reported by medical practitioners, the government agency’s health protection teams will take action, such as offering vaccines, providing antibiotics to those who have been in contact with patients, or advising self-isolation. For other diseases, the reports help the UKHSA track how diseases spread and how effective interventions are.

“These expanded reporting requirements will strengthen our ability to detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks quickly and effectively,” Welfare said. “Robust disease surveillance is vital for effective public health response and the data gathered through this system is crucial for developing and implementing timely public health interventions and protecting communities across England.”