Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 9, September, 2024
AUTHORITY
These Rules Pertaining to Reportable Diseases are duly adopted
and promulgated by the Arkansas State Board of Health pursuant to the authority
expressly conferred by the Laws of the State of Arkansas including, without
limitation, Ark. Code Ann. §
20-7-101 et seq.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the Rules Pertaining to Reportable Diseases is
to provide for the prevention and control of communicable diseases and to
protect the public health, welfare and safety of the citizens of
Arkansas.
SECTION I. DEFINITIONS:
A.
Board means the Arkansas
State Board of Health.
B.
Complete quarantine means the limitation of freedom of movement of
such well persons or domestic animals as have been exposed to a communicable
disease, for a period of time not longer than the longest usual incubation
period of the disease, in such manner as to prevent effective contact with
those not so exposed.
C.
Secretary means the Secretary of the Arkansas Department of
Health.
D.
Department
means the Arkansas Department of Health.
E.
Emergency response employee
means firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency medical technicians,
first responders, and other individuals including employees of volunteer
organizations without regard to whether such employees receive compensation
who, in the performance of professional duties, respond to emergencies in the
State of Arkansas.
F.
Isolation means the separation for special consideration, control
or observation of some part of a group of persons or domestic animals from the
others to facilitate control of a communicable disease (e.g., establishments of
a sanitary boundary to protect uninfected from infected portions of a
population.)
G.
Medical
provider means any hospital, physician, nurse, hospital employee,
nursing home, nursing home employee, or other health care provider.
H.
Modified quarantine means a
selective, partial limitation of freedom of movement of persons or domestic
animals, commonly on the basis of known or presumed differences in
susceptibility, but sometimes because of danger of disease transmission. It may
be designed to meet particular situations. Examples are exclusion of children
from school; exemption of immune persons from provisions required of
susceptible persons (e.g., contacts acting as food handlers); restriction of
military populations to the post or quarters.
I.
Personal surveillance means
the practice of close medical or other supervision of contacts in order to
promote prompt recognition of infection or illness, but without restricting
their movements.
SECTION
II. GENERAL MEASURES FOR THE CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES.
The current edition of "Control of Communicable Diseases
Manual," published by the American Public Health Association, will generally be
accepted for applying control measures for communicable
diseases.
SECTION III.
RESPONSIBILITY FOR REPORTING.
A. It shall be
the duty of every physician, practitioner, nurse; every superintendent or
manager of a dispensary, hospital, clinic, nursing or extended care home; any
clinical or private laboratory; any person in attendance on a case of any of
the diseases or conditions declared notifiable; or the local health department
to report the disease or condition to the Department as provided in Section
III(D).
B. Any person who
determines by laboratory examination that a specimen derived from the human
body yields evidence suggestive of a reportable disease shall report
microscopical, cultural or other evidence of the presence of any of the
diseases declared notifiable within twenty-four (24) hours, to the Department
as provided in Section III(D).
C.
It shall be the duty of every superintendent of a public school district or
such person(s) designated by the superintendent of the public school district,
to report immediately to the Department any outbreak of three (3) or more cases
of any of the conditions declared notifiable as provided in Section
III(D).
D. Each report made under
this Section, or as provided in these Rules, shall be made utilizing one of the
following methods:
1. The preferred
electronic reporting portal using the HL7 feed or other reporting portal
provided by the Department;
2.
Direct calls, preferred for unusual cases or cluster information, to
1-501-280 -4115 during the normal
business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST, or to
1-800-554 -5738 outside normal
business hours, with the information available as provided in the Surveillance
Reporting Form as provided herein; or,
3. Faxes using the Surveillance Reporting
Form herein along with any pertinent lab information and notes to
1-501-661
-2428.
E. The
Surveillance Reporting Form may be found at
https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/images/uploads/pdf/CommunicableDiseaseReportingForm.pdf.
SECTION IV. NOTIFIABLE
DISEASES AND CONDITIONS
A. Notifiable
diseases and conditions are to be reported within 24 hours of diagnosis to the
Department as provided in Section III(D). Reports should include:
1. The reporter's name, location and phone
number.
2. The name of the disease
reported and the onset date.
3. The
patient's name, date of birth, address including county of residence, phone
number, age, sex and race. (PLEASE spell the patient's name.)
4. The attending physician's name, location
and phone number.
5. Any treatment
information, if known.
6. Any
pertinent laboratory or other information used in the
diagnosis.
B. Additional
disease-specific information may be requested. Any person desiring to further
discuss reportable diseases may call the Division of Epidemiology at (501)
280-4115 during normal business hours or
1-800-554 -5738 after hours,
holidays and weekends.
SECTION
V. DISEASES AND CONDITIONS
A.
NOTIFIABLE DISEASES AND CONDITIONS
Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM)
Alpha-Gal Syndrome
Anaplasma phacogytophila
Animal Bites
Anthrax**
Arboviral neuroinvasive and non-neuroinvasive diseases
Babesiosis
Bacillus cereus or Bacillus species that
cannot be ruled out as B. anthracis or B. cereus by
anthracis
Blastomycosis
Botulism** (foodborne, infant, wound, other)
Brucellosis
CD4+ T-Lymphocyte Count
Campylobacteriosis (includes all isolates, not just those
outbreak-related or on request)
Candida auris infection
Infections caused by Carbapenemase producing organisms
(CPO)
Chagas Disease
Chancroid
Chikungunya
Chlamydial infections
Cholera
Coccidioidomycosis (caused by
Coccidioides)
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2)
Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease
Cryptococcosis
Cryptosporidiosis
Cyclosporiasis
Dengue (Dengue Fever, Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever, Dengue Shock
Syndrome)
Diphtheria
Ehrlichiosis
Emerging threat agents
Encephalitis caused by: California serogroup virus, Eastern
equine encephalitis virus, Powassan virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, West
Nile virus, Western equine encephalitis virus
Encephalitis, all types
E. coli (Shiga toxin producing)
Food Poisoning, all types
Giardiasis
Glanders
Gonorrhea
Haemophilus influenzae Invasive Disease
Hansens Disease (Leprosy)
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome
Hepatitis (Type A, B, C, or E)
Histoplasmosis
HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)* (Qualitative, Quantitative,
and Genotyping tests included even if no virus is detected)
Influenza (Indicate viral type if known) all fatal cases and
all hospitalizations regardless of age
Legionellosis
Leptospirosis
Listeriosis
Lyme Disease
Malaria
Measles (Rubeola)
Melioidosis
Meningitis, all types
Meningococcal Infections**
Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) caused by
MERS-CoV**
Monkeypox
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C)
Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Adults (MIS-A)
Mumps
Novel Coronavirus**
Novel Influenza A Virus Infections**
Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
Plague** (Yersinia pestis)
Poliomyelitis**
Psittacosis
Q Fever**
Rabies, human and animal
Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis
Rubella, including congenital infection
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome virus (SARS) caused by
SARS-CoV-1**
Salmonellosis (including Typhoid)
Shigellosis (includes all isolates, not just those
outbreak-related or on request)
Streptococcal Disease, Invasive Group A
Streptococcus pneumoniae, Invasive disease,
include antibiotic resistance profile if performed
Syphilis*, including congenital infection
Tetanus
Toxic Shock Syndrome
Toxoplasmosis
Trichinellosis (Trichinosis)
Tuberculosis
Tularemia**
Typhus**
Vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus
and Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Varicella (Chickenpox) disease or death
Variola** (Smallpox)
Vibriosis - non cholera sp.
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers** (Crimean-Congo, Ebola, Lassa, Lujo,
Marburg, New World Arenavirus, Guanarito, Junin, Machupo, Sabia)
West Nile Virus
Yellow Fever
Yersiniosis (non-pestis; any
species including enterocolitica)
Zika
* Any woman infected with AIDS, HIV or Syphilis, who is
pregnant, must be so reported indicating the trimester of pregnancy. This
applies each time the woman becomes pregnant.
** These diseases (suspected or confirmed) must be reported
immediately to the Arkansas Department of Health. These diseases are of special
importance or may indicate a bioterrorism event. To report these diseases
(suspected or confirmed), please call (501) 280-4115 between the hours of 8:00
AM - 4:30 PM, or
1-800-554 -5738 after hours,
holidays and weekends. Further, any isolates from these organisms must be
submitted to the Arkansas Department of Health Laboratory.
Note: "Certain Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are
required to be reported to the ADH via the National Healthcare Safety Network.
Their omission above should not be interpreted as a release from this reporting
requirement."
B. REPORTABLE
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES
Asbestosis
Blood Heavy Metal Levels*
Blood Lead Levels**
Byssinosis
Chemical Exposures, All Types***
Clinical Radiation Adverse Event
Pesticide Exposures
Pneumoconiosis (Coal Workers)
Mesothelioma
Silicosis
Suspected Unintentional Radiation Exposure
* Any elevated blood level of mercury, arsenic, cadmium or
other heavy metal
** Blood lead levels 3.5 µg/dl or higher for patients 72
months old or younger, and levels 10 µg/dl or higher for patients >=
73 months of age
*** Includes chemical agents of terrorism
C. REPORT ANY UNUSUAL DISEASES OR OUTBREAKS
THAT MAY REQUIRE PUBLIC HEALTH ASSISTANCE. Any unusual disease or outbreak must
be reported immediately to the Department. To report these diseases (suspected
or confirmed), please call (501) 280-4115 between the hours of 8:00 AM - 4:30
PM, or 1-800-554 -5738 after hours,
holidays and weekends.
D. Clinical
samples or isolates containing the disease agents listed in this section must
be submitted to the Department laboratory for further identification testing.
This may include viral or bacterial isolates or human tissue or blood samples
containing the agent. In the case of stool testing, if no isolate containing
the live pathogen is available, then the raw stool should be submitted.
Bacillus cereus by anthracis or Bacillus
species that cannot be ruled out as B. anthracis or B.
cereus by anthracis)
Brucellosis
Burkholderia mallei
Burkholderia pseudomallei
Campylobacter species
Candida auris (Candida haemulonii)
Carbapenemase producing organisms (CPO)
Chemical agents of terrorism
Emerging threat agents
Haemophilus influenza, invasive
isolates
Listeria species
Neisseria meningitidis
Salmonella species
Shiga toxin producing E. coli
Shigella species
Vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus
aureus
Vibrio cholerae
Vibrio parahaemoliticus
Vibrio vulnificus
SECTION VI. OTHER DISEASES.
All outbreaks of diseases on the list (or other emerging
diseases not specifically mentioned on the list) should be reported immediately
(within 4 hours). To report these diseases (suspected or confirmed), please
call (501) 280-4115 between the hours of 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, or
1-800-554 -5738 after hours,
holidays and weekends.
All unusually drug resistant infections should be reported
within 24 hours to the Department.
Other diseases not named in these lists may at any time be
declared notifiable as the necessity and public health demand, and these rules
shall apply when so ordered by the Secretary.
SECTION VII. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SECRETARY.
When the Secretary has knowledge or is informed of the
existence of a suspected case or outbreak of a communicable disease:
A. The Secretary shall take whatever steps
necessary for the investigation and control of the disease, as authorized by
Acts of the Arkansas General Assembly under Title 20 of the Arkansas Code,
et al.
B. If the
Secretary finds that the nature of the disease and the circumstances of the
case or outbreak warrant such action, the Secretary shall make, or cause to be
made, an examination of the patient in order to verify the diagnosis, make an
investigation to determine the source of the infection, and take appropriate
steps to prevent or control spread of the disease.
SECTION VIII. CEASE AND DESIST ORDERS.
If the Secretary has reasonable cause to suspect that any
person who is HIV positive is intentionally engaging in conduct that is likely
to cause the transmission of the virus, the Secretary may issue an order to
said person to cease and desist such conduct. Failure to comply immediately
shall constitute a violation of these rules. Such violation shall be promptly
reported to the prosecuting attorney in the county where the person resides for
appropriate action.
SECTION
IX. ISOLATION.
It shall be the duty of the attending physician or other
attending medical provider, immediately upon discovering a disease requiring
isolation, to cause the patient to be isolated pending official action by the
Secretary. Such medical provider also shall advise other members of the
household regarding precautions to be taken to prevent further spread of the
disease, and shall inform them as to appropriate, specific, preventive
measures. The medical provider shall, in addition, furnish the patient's
attendant with such detailed instructions regarding the disinfection and
disposal of infective secretions and excretions as may be prescribed by the
Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health.
SECTION X. STATE AND LOCAL QUARANTINE
A. The Secretary shall impose such quarantine
restrictions and regulations upon commerce and travel by railway, common
carriers, or any other means, and upon all individuals as in his judgment, as
the Governor-appointed and Arkansas Senate-confirmed public health officer for
the State, may be necessary to prevent the introduction of communicable disease
into the State, or from one place to another within the State.
B. No quarantine regulations of commerce or
travel shall be instituted or operated by any place, city, town or county
against another place or county in this or in any other State except by
authority of the Secretary, as delineated by Act of the Arkansas General
Assembly and codified in Title 20 of the Arkansas Code.
C. No person shall interfere with any health
authority having jurisdiction, or carry or remove from one building to another,
or from one locality to another within or without the State, any patient
affected with a communicable disease dangerous to the public health except as
provided under the rules governing the transportation of
same.
SECTION XI.
TERMINAL DISINFECTION.
Each person released from quarantine or isolation shall take
such measures as are required by the Department for that particular disease.
The area of isolation shall be disinfected according to the instructions of the
Department.
SECTION XII.
IDENTIFICATION OF THE BODY OF A DECEASED PERSON WHO HAS BEEN INFECTED BY A
COMMUNICABLE DISEASE
Any physician or any other person who has reason to believe
that a deceased person may have been infected by Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
(CJD) shall immediately after death attach to the large digit of the right
foot, a red indicator measuring no less than 3 inches by 5 inches, which
clearly states that the patient may have been infected with Creutzfeldt-Jakob
Disease (CJD). If the body is wrapped in plastic sheets or other covering
material and the toe tag is not visible, a duplicate clearly visible tag shall
be applied to the outside covering material.
SECTION XIII. PROTECTION OF EMERGENCY
RESPONSE EMPLOYEES
A. Any emergency response
employee who fears that he or she has been exposed to a communicable disease
may notify the Department. Upon notification, the Department shall determine if
the exposure requires additional investigation. In the event that it is
determined that the exposure is one which should not create the risk of
transmission of a communicable disease, the emergency response employee shall
be so notified. If requested, he or she will be instructed as to additional
steps that may be taken to confirm that no exposure to actual disease has
occurred. If the Department determines that the exposure was one that could
have caused the transmission of a communicable disease, the Department shall
immediately contact the treating physician to determine if the patient was
infected with a communicable disease. If it is determined that the individual
was infected with a communicable disease, the emergency response employee shall
be contacted immediately by the Department and counseled concerning the
recommended course of action.
B.
Any medical provider who has knowledge that an emergency response employee has
been exposed to a communicable disease shall notify the Department immediately.
The Department shall contact the emergency response employee immediately and
provide appropriate counseling concerning the appropriate course of
action.
C. Any medical provider who
has knowledge that a patient with a communicable disease is being transferred,
transported or treated by an emergency response employee shall, prior to said
transfer, transportation or treatment notify the emergency response employee of
the patient's communicable condition.
SECTION XIV. EXCLUSION AND READMISSION TO
SCHOOL OR CHILD CARE FACILITIES.
Under these duly promulgated Rules, it shall be the duty of the
principal or other person in charge of any public or private schools, or child
care facilities, at the direction of the Department, to exclude therefrom any
child, teacher or employee affected with a communicable disease until the
individual is certified free of disease, by written notice from a physician,
school nurse, public health nurse or the Department.
SECTION XV. TUBERCULOSIS.
Refer to the Rules Pertaining to the Control of Communicable
Diseases - Tuberculosis, Arkansas State Board of Health, as last
amended.
SECTION XVI. PUBLIC
FOOD HANDLERS
No person known to be infected with a communicable disease, or
suspected of being infected with a communicable disease, or who has been found
to be a carrier of disease-producing organisms, shall engage in the commercial
handling of food, or be employed on a dairy or on premises handling milk or
milk products, until he is determined by the Department to be free of such
disease or incapable of transmitting the infection.
SECTION XVII. COMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN
DAIRIES
A. When the Department has good cause
to believe that a milk supply is suspected to be the source of infection for
any one of the communicable diseases known to be transmitted through milk, the
Department shall prohibit the use, sale, or disposal of such milk except by a
method approved by the Secretary until such time as the Secretary deems it to
be safe for human consumption.
B.
When a case of Typhoid Fever, Salmonella infection, Brucellosis, Shigellosis,
Pulmonary Streptococcal infection, Diphtheria, or any other disease capable of
being transmitted through milk is confirmed on the premises where a dairy is
maintained, the Department shall prohibit the use, sale or disposal of such
milk except by a method approved by the Secretary until he is satisfied that
such is safe for human consumption.
SECTION XVIII. LABORATORY TESTS FOR THE
RELEASE OF CASES OR CARRIERS OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
When laboratory tests are required for the release of cases, or
carriers, the tests shall be performed by the Public Health Laboratory or by
another laboratory approved by the State Epidemiologist. A specimen may be sent
to a laboratory not so approved, provided that it is divided and a portion of
the specimen is sent to an approved laboratory. Release shall be considered on
the basis of the report of the approved laboratory only.
SECTION XIX. DIPHTHERIA LABORATORY SPECIMENS
FOR DIAGNOSIS AND RELEASE
A. Cultures should
be obtained separately from the nose and throat by means of sterile swab and
test tube as provided by the Department for aid in diagnosis.
B. A case or carrier of Diphtheria shall not
be released until two cultures from the throat and two from the nose, taken not
less than twenty-four (24) hours apart, fail to show the presence of Diphtheria
bacilli. The first of such cultures shall be taken not less than one week from
the day of the onset of the disease. A virulence test should be made in any
case where positive cultures are reported three weeks or longer after the onset
of the disease or discovery of a carrier. If the organisms are non-virulent,
the patient may be released.
SECTION
XX. TYPHOID FEVER
A. Laboratory
Specimens for Diagnosis of Cases and Release
1. Samples of feces and whole blood submitted
to the Public Health Laboratory for culture within the first week of the
suspected case of Typhoid Fever give the greatest probability of obtaining a
positive result insofar as the culture is concerned. Such cultures when
positive are the only proof of diagnosis of Typhoid Fever.
2. All patients testing positive for Typhoid
Fever should undergo additional testing to determine if they are a carrier.
Carrier testing involves submission of successive stool samples at least one
month apart until three negative samples are obtained.
3. Patients who have been determined to have
Typhoid Fever shall be isolated or excluded for such period as required, and
shall be released from isolation and from supervision only by the health
authority. If the person is continent and does not work in food-handling then
they do not have to be excluded. If the person is incontinent or a food-handler
then they will be required to be excluded from job duties and followed by the
department until they have three negative stool samples at least one month
apart and are cleared through the Arkansas Department of
Health.
B. Typhoid
Carriers
1. Any person who has recovered from
Typhoid Fever and in whose feces or urine Typhoid bacilli are present one year
or longer after such recovery shall be declared to be a chronic carrier. Any
person who has recently recovered from Typhoid Fever and from whose feces or
urine Typhoid organisms are cultured by the Public Health Laboratory during the
first year from such recovery shall be considered a convalescent, or temporary
carrier, and shall conform to all the Rules regarding the control of Typhoid
carriers. Any person found in the investigation of a case or cases of Typhoid
Fever from whose feces or urine Typhoid bacilli are cultured by the Public
Health Laboratory shall be declared to be a chronic carrier except that such
person be one who has recently recovered from Typhoid Fever.
2. Control of Typhoid Carriers
a) The urine and feces of a Typhoid carrier
shall be disposed of in such a manner that they will not endanger any public or
private water supply, or be accessible to flies.
b) No Typhoid carrier shall prepare or handle
any food or drink to be consumed by persons other than members of the household
with whom he resides.
c) No Typhoid
carrier shall conduct or be employed in any restaurant, hotel or boarding
house, or conduct a lodging house in which, prior to taking lodgers, a separate
toilet and bathroom have not been installed for the use solely of the Typhoid
carrier. Said toilet shall be located in a part of the house separate from any
part that may be occupied by a lodger.
d) Any person determined to be a Typhoid
carrier as defined in these Rules shall sign an AGREEMENT, to be witnessed by
at least two persons. Said AGREEMENT shall read as follows:
TYPHOID CARRIER AGREEMENT
In view of the fact that I have been proven to be a
Typhoid carrier, I do solemnly swear to abide by the following rules as long as
I remain a Typhoid carrier, which I understand will probably be for the
remainder of my life:
1.
Under no circumstances will I handle milk or milk products such as
cream, ice cream, butter or cheese, nor any other foodstuffs, nor will I do any
cooking of food except for my own individual consumption and for those members
of my immediate family who have been immunized against typhoid fever within the
past three years.
2.
Following each visit to the toilet I will wash my hands thoroughly with
soap and water.
3.
I will inform the Arkansas Department of Health, Outbreak Response
Section, 4815 West Markham Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205-3867, by phone
at 1-501-537 -8969, in advance of any
change in address from that listed below.
Signature of Carrier
Complete Address of Carrier
Signatures and addresses of two
witnesses
Name Address
Name Address
Date of
Signing
3. Release of Chronic Typhoid Carriers from
Control Restrictions
a) A chronic Typhoid
carrier may be released from restrictions only on approval of the Secretary and
only after submitting proof of a minimum of six (6) consecutive negative feces
cultures (for urinary carriers, urine cultures) taken at least one (1) month
apart and at least ten (10) days after taking any antibiotic, and performed by
the Division of Laboratories of the Department. At least two (2) of the
specimens must be liquid stools obtained after administration of a cathartic
such as magnesium sulfate. At least two (2) of the specimens must be validated
by collection under close supervision as having come from the carrier. For
fecal carriers, the identity of the specimen may be confirmed by oral
administration of a suitable marker material under supervision and finding this
material in a specimen. Cultures of duodenal fluid may be substituted for stool
cultures, if desired.
b) A released
chronic carrier who wishes to work in a food handling or other occupation from
which carriers are excluded must present evidence from a Local Health
Department that he has received instruction in methods of food handling and
personal hygiene. While employed in such a restricted occupation he must submit
evidence of a negative stool (or urine if appropriate) culture and additional
food handling instruction every year.
SECTION XXI. SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
(SYPHILIS, GONORRHEA, CHLAMYDIA, HIV (HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS), CHANCROID,
LYMPHOGRANULOMA VENEREUM, GRANULOMA INGUINALE) AND OPHTHALMIA NEONATURUM
(GONORRHEAL OPHTHALMIA)
A. Testing of pregnant
women.
1. Every physician attending a
pregnant woman shall take, or cause to be taken, a sample of venous blood at
the time of first examination and during the third trimester, ideally at 28 to
32 weeks gestation, and submit such sample to an approved laboratory for a
standard serologic test for Syphilis; a standard test for Human
Immunodeficiency Virus; and a standard test for Hepatitis B. Any person other
than a physician permitted by law to attend pregnant women but not permitted by
law to take blood samples, shall cause a specimen of blood to be taken by, or
under the direction of a physician duly licensed to practice medicine and
surgery, and have such specimen submitted to an approved laboratory for
testing.
2. Any person reporting a
birth or stillbirth shall state on the certificate whether a blood test for
Syphilis had been made upon a specimen of blood taken from the woman who bore
the child for which a birth or stillbirth certificate is filed and the
approximate date when the specimen was taken.
B. Ophthalmia Neonatorum (Gonorrhea
Ophthalmia)
1. Ophthalmia Neonatorum is to be
reported to the Epidemiology Program, Arkansas Department of Health, as soon as
the disease is suspected.
2. It
shall be the duty of the local health authority in whose jurisdiction the case
occurs to investigate the case to confirm the diagnosis by bacteriological
examination and, if of Gonococcal origin, to determine if the attendant at
delivery used prophylactic medication in the eyes of the infant.
3. Due to the nature of the infection and its
communicability, and inasmuch as Gonorrheal Ophthalmia is amenable to
antimicrobial therapy; it shall be the duty of every physician to administer
appropriate antimicrobial therapy at once (consistent with the current American
Academy of Pediatrics' Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases (i.e.:
The Red Book). It shall be the duty of every midwife attending such cases, or
suspected cases, to refer all such cases to a licensed physician for
treatment.
C. It shall be
the duty of every physician to report, as soon as diagnosed, every case of
sexually transmitted disease using either of (1) the reporting methods under
Section III (D) of these Rules; or (2) Adult Case Report form, found at
https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/programs-services/topics/std-prevention,
as provided by the Department, to the Sexually Transmitted Disease Program,
Arkansas Department of Health. Physicians shall report the patient by name,
address, age, sex, race and date of birth within twenty-four (24) hours of the
diagnosis in case of primary, secondary and congenital Syphilis and Syphilis in
pregnant women.
D. Whenever the
Secretary has reasonable grounds to believe that any person is suffering from
Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chancroid, Chlamydia, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus),
Lymphogranuloma Venereum or Granuloma Inguinale in a communicable state, the
Secretary is authorized to cause such person to be apprehended and detained for
the necessary tests and examination, including an approved blood serologic test
and other approved laboratory tests, to ascertain the existence of said disease
or diseases: provided, that any evidence so acquired shall not be used against
such person in any criminal prosecution.
E. The Secretary may, when in the exercise of
his discretion he believes that the public health requires it, commit any
commercial prostitute, or other persons apprehended and examined and found
afflicted with said diseases, or either of them who refuses or fails to take
treatment adequate for the protection of the public health, to a hospital or
other place in the State of Arkansas for such treatment even over the objection
of the person so diseased and treated provided the commitment can be done
without endangering the life of the patient.
F. It shall be the duty of a physician on the
occasion of the first visit to or by a person suffering from Syphilis,
Gonorrhea, Chancroid, Chlamydia, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus),
Lymphogranuloma Venereum or Granuloma Inguinale to instruct said person in the
precautions to be taken to prevent communication of the disease to others, and
to inform him of the necessity of continued uninterrupted treatment until such
adequate treatment has been administered.
G. It shall be the duty of every physician to
administer appropriate and adequate treatment to any individual regardless of
age, sex, or race whom he has reasonable grounds to believe is suffering from
Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chancroid, Chlamydia, HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus),
Lymphogranuloma Venereum or Granuloma Inguinale in a communicable state, to
render the disease non-communicable to others for the protection of the public
health. Likewise, it shall be the duty of every physician to treat,
prophylactically or therapeutically, any individual regardless of age, sex or
race whom he has reasonable grounds to believe has been exposed to a
communicable case of Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chancroid, Chlamydia, HIV (Human
Immunodeficiency Virus), Lymphogranuloma Venereum or Granuloma Inguinale for
the protection of the public health. Consent to the provision of medical and
surgical care or services by a physician licensed to practice medicine in this
State, when executed by a minor who is or believes himself to be afflicted with
a sexually transmitted disease, shall be valid and binding as if the minor had
achieved his majority.
SECTION
XXII. RABIES CONTROL.
Refer to the Rules Pertaining to Rabies Control, Arkansas State
Board of Health, as last amended, and the Rabies Control Act, Ark. Code Ann.
§
20-19-301, et. seq as last
amended.
SEVERABILITY
If any provision of these Rules, or the application thereof to
any person or circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect
other provisions or applications of these Rules which can give effect without
the invalid provisions or applications, and to this end the provisions hereto
are declared to be severable.
REPEAL
All Rules and any parts of Rules in conflict herewith are
hereby repealed.
CERTIFICATION
This will certify that the foregoing Rules Pertaining to
Reportable Diseases in Arkansas were adopted by the Arkansas State Board of
Health at a regular session of the Board held in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the
July 28, 2022.
