Yorkshire & Humber HPT Response Cell
UKHSA Yorkshire and Humber Health Protection Team
Tel: 0300 3030234
Webform: Click here
*** PLEASE READ ***
Please use the webform for the following purposes only:
1. To request a call back regarding an outbreak of a notifiable disease in your setting which has already been notified to the Yorkshire and Humber Health Protection team. You will need the HPZone reference for this.
2. To inform the UKHSA Health Protection Team of a new outbreak* of a notifiable disease in your setting
*An outbreak or incident may be defined in epidemiological terms as:
- an incident in which 2 or more people experiencing a similar illness which are linked by time or place
- a greater than expected rate of infection compared with the usual background rate for the place and time where the outbreak has occurred
For example:
- 2 or more cases of diarrhoea or vomiting which are in the same classroom, shared communal areas or taking part in the same activities.
- higher than usual number of people diagnosed with scabies
- higher than usual number of people with respiratory symptoms
The Health protection in children and young people settings, including education - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) guidance was updated recently (May 2024). Wording in the scabies section has been changed to advise there should be no enforced exclusion from school for scabies. This change has been driven by a desire to ensure any exclusion advice for missed education is proportionate and balanced against the risk of infection, taking into account any equity issues.
Contact the relevant UKHSA HPT for advice if you are concerned and/or have seen:
- the school is considering sending any letters/correspondence to parents or closing the school/year group
- a higher than previously experienced and/or rapidly increasing number of staff or student absences due to the same infection[footnote 2]
- evidence of severe disease due to an infection, for example if a child, young person or staff member is admitted to hospital[footnote 3]
- more than one infection circulating in the same group of children, young people and staff for example chicken pox and scarlet fever
- an outbreak of serious or unusual illness for example:
- E.coli or E. coli STEC infection
- Food Poisoning
- Hepatitis
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella (rubella is also called German Measles)
- Meningococcal meningitis or Septicaemia
- Scarlet Fever (if an outbreak or co-circulating chicken pox)
- Tuberculosis (TB)
- Typhoid
- Whooping Cough (also called pertussis)
These definitions should not be taken as a threshold for reporting or action.
The current adult social care guidance can be found here:
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infection-prevention-and-control-in-adult-social-care-acute-respiratory-infection/infection-prevention-and-control-ipc-in-adult-social-care-acute-respiratory-infection-ari
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infection-prevention-and-control-in-adult-social-care-covid-19-supplement/covid-19-supplement-to-the-infection-prevention-and-control-resource-for-adult-social-care
- Influenza-like illness (ILI): managing outbreaks in care homes - GOV.UK (gov.uk)
Registered Medical Practitioners
If you are a registered medical practitioner within the Yorkshire and Humber area wanting to make a notification of infectious disease (NOID) to UK Health Security Agency Y&H Health Protection Team, please enter our online notification system via the secure link here
If you think your patient may live outside of Yorkshire and Humber and you need help finding your local HPT use the postcode lookup. For some infections, public health measures to prevent onward spread of the disease need to be taken immediately. For urgent notifications please ring 0300 3030234 in or out of hours. To check if a notification is urgent, click here.
Please note due to large call volumes, UKHSA are unable to return every call and we are prioritising those that need immediate clinical support.