Contact Tracing .

Running head: CONTACT TRACING 1
Contact Tracing
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

CONTACT TRACING 2
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................3
Notifiable Disease...........................................................................................................................4
Contact Tracing in Epidemiology................................................................................................5
Difference between the contact tracing guidelines for Northern Territory and Victoria.......6
Report.............................................................................................................................................7
Disease burden of Tuberculosis in Australia...........................................................................7
Mode of transmission of Tuberculosis and how infectious it is.............................................8
High-risk groups for contact tracing and the clinical circumstances that distant contacts
should present for testing..........................................................................................................9
Steps that have been undertaken for the identified contacts.................................................9
The time the Index case will return to class and the safety of the community...................10
References.....................................................................................................................................11

CONTACT TRACING 3
Executive Summary
A notifiable disease is any disease that should be communicated to all the relevant
government authorities to make it possible for them to monitor and give the early warnings of the
possible occurrence of the disease. In Australia, there are well-coordinated players that are very
effective in ensuring that there are reduced cases of these notifiable diseases. In epidemiology,
contact tracing involves identifying diagnosing and monitoring individuals that may have had
contact with infected people. Tuberculosis has continued to be a disease of Public Health
concern over the recent years. The incidence of tuberculosis is relatively Low in Australia. It is
passed on from an infected person to a vulnerable person through airborne particles known as
droplet nuclei whose diameter are 1-5 microns. Once a person inhales a droplet nuclei with the
tuberculosis bacteria, it moves through the nasal passages or the mouth into the upper respiratory
tract. It then travels to the bronchi and finally to both the alveoli and lungs. The high-risk groups
include children aged 5 and below and people with immunosuppression. The high-risk group
also includes people who have had prolonged, close and frequent contact with the infected
person within three months before the diagnosis. According to the World Health Organization,
the monitoring process can be divided into three steps; contact identification, contact listing, and
contact follow up. The patients seize to be infective two weeks after treatment and hence they
can freely interact.

CONTACT TRACING 4
Notifiable Disease
A notifiable disease is any disease that should be communicated to all the relevant
government authorities to make it possible for them to monitor and give the early warnings of the
possible occurrence of the disease. For the livestock diseases, there exist some laws that require
that the infected livestock is destroyed once there is a notification of the disease. There are also
important regulations for the reporting of both livestock and human diseases. For specific
diseases, especially those that are highly infectious, reporting is crucial in controlling and
preventing the spread of the particular disease (Australian national notifiable diseases and case
definitions, n.d)
In the majority of places, both the local and state officials must report the occurrence of
the disease. Every state has its list of notifiable diseases which is dynamic and can be either
removed or added depending on the existing public health needs. The International Health
Regulations has the duty of coming up with the internationally reportable diseases concerning
the regulations of the World Health Organization. Each state is also required to communicate the
occurrence of cases of yellow fever, cholera place and other diseases that need quarantine and
are of international concern (Notifying Infectious Diseases, n.d).