Notifiable Infectious Diseases

The 1947 Health Act entitles the Minister for Health and Children to specify by regulation the diseases that are infectious diseases and covered by legislation. The current regulations are contained in the 1981 Infectious Diseases Regulations, which were revised on nine occasions between 1985 and 2007.

On 1st July 2000, the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations, 2000 (S.I. No 151 of 2000) came into force. Under these regulations, as amended by S.I. No. 865 of 2004, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre was assigned responsibility for the collation and analysis of weekly notifications of infectious diseases, taking over from the Department of Health and Children.  

On 1st January 2004 a major revision to the regulations came into operation. S.I. No. 707 of 2003 established a revised list of notifiable diseases and introduced a requirement for laboratory directors to report infectious diseases. As soon as a medical practitioner becomes aware of or suspects that a person on whom he/she is in professional attendance is suffering from or is the carrier of an infectious disease, or a clinical director of a diagnostic laboratory as soon as an infectious disease is identified in that laboratory, he/she is required to transmit a written or electronic notification to a Medical Officer of Health.

Changes to Notification of Infectious Diseases
Important changes in the national infectious disease legislation came into operation on 1st January 2004.

An amendment to the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 (Infectious Diseases (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2003, S.I. No. 707 of 2003) which may be found here established a revised list of notifiable diseases and introduced a requirement for laboratory directors to report infectious diseases. 

The changes to the legislation are based on recommendations of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). A subgroup of the SAC carried out a review, which involved extensive consultation with key parties, at the request of the Department of Health and Children.

The final report, Review of Notifiable Diseases and the Process of Notification (February 2001) 2MB contained a range of recommendations, some of which have now been implemented in the above-named amendment.

The changes to the list of notifiable diseases are consistent with a European Commission Decision on the communicable diseases to be progressively covered by the Community network.
(Decision no. 2000/96/EC, under of the European Parliament and of the Council).

The most notable changes to the list are:

• Food- and water-borne illnesses will now be specified individually (e.g. campylobacter infection, cryptosporidiosis, listeriosis), whereas previously there was a category of "food poisoning (bacterial other than salmonella)"
• The addition of possible biological threat agents such as botulism and tularemia
• Hepatitis C is now specified
• The fact that laboratories will now be notifiers is also reflected, by listing both diseases and pathogens
• Several pathogens that are important in the monitoring of antimicrobial resistance are now notifiable

The amendment introduced the use of case definitions for infectious diseases for the first time in Ireland. A set of case definitions was drawn up, in line with standardised European case definitions. It is expected that some of the definitions may be revised over time. The case definitions are available here and printed copies have been circulated to clinicians and laboratories.

Under the amended regulations, unusual clusters or changing patterns of illness that may be of public health concern must also be reported. This is an important development, particularly in the context of any potential deliberate release of biological agents. 

The amendment states that a standard form for the purpose of returning infectious disease shall be compiled and circulated by HPSC. This is available here on the HPSC website. Printed copies are also available from regional public health department offices, to which notifications should be returned.

This new legislation is a major step forward in the surveillance of infectious diseases in Ireland.

Last updated: 22 January 2009