Unusual Conditions That Require Clinician Reporting
The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) depends on clinicians to identify and report infectious diseases. Clinicians may be the first to see a potential outbreak in the making and their prompt notification to SFDPH enables us to investigate and begin disease control activities as soon as possible. For some diseases every hour makes a difference in preventing illness and death.
In addition to specific legally reportable diseases and conditions we ask that clinicians immediately (within one hour) report unusual occurrences or patterns of disease, such as:
- Serious, unexpected, unexplained acute illness with atypical host characteristics
Examples: severe illness in a young patient without immunologic defects, underlying illness, recent travel or other exposure to a potential source of infection
- Multiple similarly presenting cases, especially if these are geographically associated or closely clustered in time
Example: persons who attended the same public event or gathering or who work in the same building
- An increase in a common syndrome occurring out of season
Example: many cases of influenza-like illness in summer
- An unusual age distribution for common diseases
Example: many cases of chickenpox-like illness among adult patients who would be expected to be immune to varicella
Report an unusual condition or disease
Download the Confidential Morbidity Report |
