Contact tracing
Finding and identifying people in contact with someone with an infectious disease / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In public health, contact tracing is the process of identifying people who may have been exposed to an infected person ("contacts") and subsequent collection of further data to assess transmission.[1][2] By tracing the contacts of infected individuals, testing them for infection, and isolating or treating the infected, this public health tool aims to reduce infections in the population.[2] In addition to infection control, contact tracing serves as a means to identify high-risk and medically vulnerable populations who might be exposed to infection and facilitate appropriate medical care.[1] In doing so, public health officials utilize contact tracing to conduct disease surveillance and prevent outbreaks.[2] In cases of diseases of uncertain infectious potential, contact tracing is also sometimes performed to learn about disease characteristics, including infectiousness.[1][2] Contact tracing is not always the most efficient method of addressing infectious disease.[2] In areas of high disease prevalence, screening or focused testing may be more cost-effective.[1][2]
The goals of contact tracing include:[3]
- Interrupting ongoing transmission and reduce the spread of an infection
- Alerting contacts to the possibility of infection and offer preventive services or prophylactic care
- Alerting the general public about exposures or outbreaks (IE: COVID-19, Measles, TB, etc)
- Offering diagnosis, counseling and treatment to already infected individuals
- If the infection is treatable, helping prevent reinfection of the originally infected patient
- Learning about the epidemiology of a disease in a particular population
- Being a tool in multifaceted prevention strategy to effectively curb the spread of an infectious disease.