We would like to advise colleagues of the forthcoming changes to the list of notifiable diseases all colleagues are required to report. This will take effect from 6th April 2025.
In addition to the existing infections the following diseases should be reported if a patient is suspected of having:
- Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
- Influenza of zoonotic origin
- Varicella (chickenpox)
- Congential syphilis
- Neonatal herpes
- Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) or acute flaccid myelitis (AFM)
- Diseminated gonococcal infection
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)
This is a requirement under the Health Protection [Notification] Regulations 2010.
Whilst there are obviously moments of pathological excitement across Surrey and Sussex, such as the discovery of European Bat Lyssavirus (EBLV) type 2 carried by a Daubentons bat in 1996 in East Sussex, in general, in terms of newly notifiable diseases, as non-specialist physicians GPs are most likely to encounter Varicella. The introduction of this to the list of notifiable diseases is in anticipation of the introduction of a childhood varicella vaccine in 2025, subject to ministerial approval.
Colleagues are reminded that notification is based on having:
“reasonable grounds for suspecting that a patient whom [the GP] is attending has a notifiable disease”.
This does not mean colleagues need to alter the way in which they decide to assess or manage a patient with a notifiable disease, for example, to undertake a F2F appointment if you would not have normally done so, simply that if such a suspicion exists, notification should occur.
Further details about notifiable diseases and how to report them is available below:
Reporting notifiable diseases