Public Health Agency

Table of Diseases

This section of the manual outlines some of the common diseases/conditions and what precautions are required to prevent their transmission or spread.

For each disease/condition, information is available on the following:

  1. Transmission based precautions – what precautions are required when caring for a patient with the disease/condition
  2. Infective material – where the organism causing the disease/condition is most likely to be found
  3. Duration of precautions – the length of time precautions should remain in place to prevent on-going transmission or spread to other individuals
  4. Isolation in a single room – whether isolation in a single room is necessary; this will ensure optimal placement of patients whilst they are considered infectious
  5. Comments – additional comments including whether the disease/condition is notifiable under The Public Health (Northern Ireland) Act 1967.

This list is neither complete nor authoritative and will be updated as and when required.

Please use the search box below to filter the table by keywords.  You can also re-order the table by clicking on any of the column headers.

Disease / Condition sort ascending Transmission Based Precautions Infective Material Duration of Precautions Isolation in Single Room Comments
Yellow Fever Standard Blood Duration of hospitalisation Yes (if actively bleeding) Notifiable Disease
Varicella/Herpes Zoster Airborne Respiratory secretions or vesicle fluid of skin lesions Until all lesions are crusted over Yes (while infectious) Notifiable Disease
Typhoid Fever and Paratyphoid Fevers Contact Faeces Until asymptomatic Yes (if symptomatic) Notifiable Disease
Tuberculosis (pulmonary) Airborne Sputum or pus Until 2weeks after start of effective therapy Yes Negative pressure isolation; notifiable disease
Tuberculosis (non-pulmonary) Standard No
Toxoplasmosis Standard Possibly bodily fluids No
Tonsillitis Airborne and Standard Secretions Yes
Threadworm Standard Mucous secretion from worm No
Tetanus Standard No direct person to person transmission No
Tapeworm Standard Possibly faeces No
Syphilis Standard Lesion secretions and blood No Skin lesions of primary and secondary syphilis may be highly infective
Streptococcus Group B (Neonatal Unit only) Standard Possible faeces Yes
Streptococcus Group A (scarlet fever) Droplet Respiratory secretions Until 24hours after start of effective therapy Yes Notifiable Disease
Streptococcus Group A (pneumonia) Droplet Respiratory secretions