What Are They?

Infectious diseases are caused by the spread of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites) or prions to humans from other humans, animals, or the environment, including food and water.

All blood and body substances should be treated as potentially infectious to minimise the risk of infection spreading. 

Guidelines For Minmising Infection

Regardless of infectious status, all residents should be managed using standard precautions.

When an infection is identified, an individual risk assessment needs to be made for each resident. This will determine the need for transmission-based precautions, including the need for a single room.

Each resident's care plan should include an infection control care plan.

Droplet precautions should be implemented, and surgical masks should be worn if an infectious disease is detected in sputum or respiratory secretions.

Refer to your facility's cleaning policies for safe cleaning procedures.

Notifiable Diseases

All notifications will be directed to the relevant local public health unit (PHU) or equivalent. Infectious disease notification forms are available from the local PHU or equivalent. Infectious disease notifications are to be made as soon as the notifiable disease has been identified.

For further information, refer to national, individual state, and territory legislation/policy.

Notifiable Disease List

Please Note: This table does not cover all known infectious diseases. For diseases not listed, refer to your IPC Lead or facility manager.