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Managing an outbreak

Read this short article which provides information on what health protection teams are, and how to contact your local team.
Infectious disease can spread quickly in childcare environments, meaning it is vital to know who to contact when local infection outbreaks occur. An outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease in a particular time and place.

Local health protection teams (HPTs) lead Public Health England’s response to all health related incidents. They provide specialist support to prevent and reduce the impact of:

  • Infectious diseases
  • Chemical and radiation hazards
  • Major emergencies

HPTs can help with:

  • Local disease surveillance
  • Maintaining alert systems
  • Investigating and managing health protection incidents and outbreaks
  • Implementing and monitoring national action plans for infectious diseases at local level

If you notice that there are lots of children off with the same symptoms, you can contact the local team, contact details can be found here.

Now we have examined how to manage outbreaks, we will look more specifically at the impact of COVID-19 on childcare settings.

© BSAC & UKHSA
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Preventing and Managing Infections in Childcare and Pre-school

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