Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 90 - REGULATIONS FOR DISEASE REPORTING AND CONTROL › Part IV - Control of Disease › Section 12VAC5-90-100 - Methods

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The board and commissioner shall use appropriate disease
					 control measures to manage the diseases listed in
					 12VAC5-90-80 A, including but not
					 limited to those described in the "Methods of Control" sections of the 20th
					 Edition of the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual (2015) published by the
					 American Public Health Association. The board and commissioner reserve the
					 right to use any legal means to control any disease which is a threat to the
					 public health.
When notified about a disease specified in
					 12VAC5-90-80, the local health
					 director or his designee shall have the authority and responsibility to perform
					 contact tracing/contact services for HIV infection, infectious syphilis, and
					 active tuberculosis disease and may perform contact services for the other
					 diseases if deemed necessary to protect the public health. All contacts of HIV
					 infection shall be afforded the opportunity for appropriate counseling,
					 testing, and individual face-to-face disclosure of their test results. In no
					 case shall names of informants or infected individuals be revealed to contacts
					 by the health department. All information obtained shall be kept strictly
					 confidential.
The local health director or his designee shall review
					 reports of diseases received from his jurisdiction and follow up such reports,
					 when indicated, with an appropriate investigation in order to evaluate the
					 severity of the problem. The local health director or his designee may
					 recommend to any individual or group of individuals appropriate public health
					 control measures, including but not limited to quarantine, isolation,
					 immunization, decontamination, or treatment. He shall determine in consultation
					 with the Office of Epidemiology and the commissioner if further investigation
					 is required and if one or more forms of quarantine , isolation, or both will be
					 necessary.
Complete isolation shall apply to situations where an
					 individual is infected with a communicable disease of public health
					 significance (including but not limited to active tuberculosis disease or HIV
					 infection) and is engaging in behavior that places others at risk for infection
					 with the communicable disease of public health significance, in accordance with
					 the provisions of Article 3.01 (§ 32.1-48.01 et seq.) of Chapter 2 of
					 Title 32.1 of the Code of Virginia.
Modified isolation shall apply to situations in which the
					 local health director determines that modifications of activity are necessary
					 to prevent disease transmission. Such situations shall include but are not
					 limited to the temporary exclusion of a child with a communicable disease from
					 school, the temporary exclusion of an individual with a communicable disease
					 from food handling or patient care, the temporary prohibition or restriction of
					 an individual with a communicable disease from using public transportation, the
					 requirement that a person with a communicable disease use certain personal
					 protective equipment, or restrictions of other activities that may pose a risk
					 to the health of others.
Protective isolation shall apply to situations such as the
					 exclusion, under § 32.1-47 of the Code of Virginia, of any unimmunized
					 child from a school in which an outbreak, potential epidemic, or epidemic of a
					 vaccine preventable disease has been identified.
To the extent permitted by the Code of Virginia, the local
					 health director may be authorized as the commissioner's designee to implement
					 the forms of isolation described in this section. When these forms of isolation
					 are deemed to be insufficient, the local health director may use the provisions
					 of Article 3.01 (§ 32.1-48.01 et seq.) of Chapter 2 of Title 32.1 of the
					 Code of Virginia for the control of communicable diseases of public health
					 significance or, in consultation with the Office of Epidemiology, shall provide
					 sufficient information to enable the commissioner to prepare an order or orders
					 of isolation , quarantine, or both under Article 3.02 (§ 32.1-48.05 et
					 seq.) of Chapter 2 of Title 32.1 of the Code of Virginia for the control of
					 communicable diseases of public health threat.
Statutory Authority: § 32.1-35 of the Code of
						Virginia.