infectious disease
Let an agent reason about infectious diseases through pathogen, transmission, case definition and notification duties, and never offer diagnosis or treatment decisions.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent reason about infectious diseases through pathogen, transmission, case definition and notification duties, and never offer diagnosis or treatment decisions.
A disease caused by a pathogen, a bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite or prion, that can be transmitted from one host to another directly or through a vector or the environment.
What it is for: Organising knowledge about diseases whose spread between hosts makes them a public health matter as well as a personal one.
It can be diagnose it, which only qualified professionals may do; notify it, where law makes it a notifiable disease; prevent it, by vaccination, hygiene, vector control and treatment; track it, through surveillance and case counts.
Distinguishing features
Caused by a pathogen and transmissible, unlike non-communicable diseases
Carries public health duties such as notification and isolation
Defined for surveillance by case definitions that differ from clinical diagnosis
Can be zoonotic, passing between animals and humans
What it looks like
No single appearance: signs vary with the pathogen; many infections are asymptomatic. Laboratory tests, not appearance, confirm them.
Physical character
incubation period: hours to years time - varies widely by pathogen
basic reproduction number R0: 0.5-18 secondary cases - measles is at the high end
How it is recognised
Symptoms suggest but do not establish an infection
Confirmation needs a laboratory test or a clinical case definition
Outbreaks are recognised by case clustering in time and place
Related models
is a kind of - inherits classification, diagnosis and treatment questions
is caused by - the organism or agent is a separate model
is spread by - insects and other vectors are separate models
is prevented by - vaccines are separate models with their own regulation
In practice
Families and kinds
by pathogen: bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic, prion
by route: airborne, droplet, contact, faecal-oral, vector-borne, bloodborne, sexual
by host range: human only, zoonotic
by status: endemic, epidemic, pandemic, eliminated, eradicated
Identifiers
ICD-11 code chapter 1 codes such as 1A00 WHO classification of diseases
SNOMED CT concept numeric concept id clinical terminology
Standards and regulation
International Health Regulations (2005)
National notifiable disease lists and reporting rules
WHO ICD-11 classification
Failure modes and hazards
Presenting an agent answer as a diagnosis or a treatment decision
Mixing clinical diagnosis and surveillance case definitions
Stigmatising language or disclosure of an individual health status
Out-of-date guidance during a fast-moving outbreak
Also called
+279
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Also registered as vr.tr.infectious-disease
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Pathogen and transmission What causes it and how it spreads.
Every intervention against an infectious disease depends on knowing the pathogen and the route.
Pathogen
The causative agent.
Causative agent
The pathogen and its classification.
- Which pathogen causes this disease? definition
- Are there strains or variants that behave differently? boundary
Transmission route
How it passes between hosts.
Routes and reservoirs
The routes of transmission and animal reservoirs.
- By which routes is it transmitted? definition
- Is there an animal reservoir or vector? definition
Case definition and diagnosis How a case is recognised.
Surveillance counts cases by definitions that differ from bedside diagnosis; the two must stay separate.
Case definition
Criteria for counting a case.
Surveillance definition
The confirmed, probable and suspected criteria.
- What is the case definition used for surveillance, and by whom? provenance
- How does it differ from clinical diagnosis? boundary
Testing
Laboratory confirmation.
Test methods
The tests used and their accuracy.
- Which tests confirm this infection, and how accurate are they? measurement
- What must an agent refer to a clinician rather than answer? action
Prevention and control Stopping spread.
Control measures are specific to the pathogen and route; generic advice is often wrong.
Prevention
Vaccines, hygiene and vector control.
Preventive measures
The measures that reduce transmission.
- Which preventive measures work against this disease? definition
- Is a vaccine available, and for whom is it recommended? definition
Outbreak control
Isolation, tracing and treatment.
Control measures
The measures used once cases occur.
- What control measures apply once cases occur? action
- Who has authority to impose them? provenance
Surveillance and duties Tracking and legal obligations.
Notifiable status creates legal duties and privacy constraints that an agent must respect.
Surveillance
Counts and trends.
Surveillance data
The case counts and their source.
- What do current surveillance data show, and from which source? measurement
- How complete is reporting? measurement
Notification and privacy
Legal duties and limits.
Duties and privacy
Notification duties and constraints on disclosure.
- Is this disease notifiable here, and who must notify? provenance
- What information about individuals must not be disclosed? boundary
What the second pass must settle
- Should each infectious disease link to its pathogen as a required relation?
- How should the registry mark guidance that changes during an outbreak?
- Which notification duties should the model carry per jurisdiction?