Terminology in the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and Classification of Infectious Diseases
Key Terms
1. Infectious disease means a disease transmitted directly or indirectly from humans or animals to humans caused by an infectious agent.
2. Infectious agent means a virus, bacterium, parasite, or fungus capable of causing an infectious disease.
3. Vector of transmission means insects, animals, environment, food, and other objects that carry infectious agents and are capable of transmitting diseases.
4. Person with an infectious disease means a person infected with an infectious agent and showing clinical symptoms of the disease.
5. Carrier of an infectious disease means a person carrying an infectious agent but showing no clinical symptoms of the disease.
6. Contact person means a person who has come into contact with a person with an infectious disease, a carrier of an infectious disease, or a transmission vector, and is therefore at risk of contracting the disease.
7. Suspected case of infectious disease means a person who has had contact or who shows clinical symptoms of an infectious disease but whose causative agent has not yet been identified.
8. Infectious disease surveillance means the continuous, systematic collection of information on the situation and trends of infectious diseases, and the analysis and interpretation of such information to provide input for planning, implementing, and evaluating disease prevention and control measures.
9. Biosafety in testing means the use of measures to minimize or eliminate the risk of transmission of infectious agents within laboratories, from laboratories into the environment, and to the community.
10. Vaccine means a preparation containing antigens that stimulates an immune response in the body, used for disease prevention.
Medical biological products means biologically derived products used for the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of human diseases.
11. Immunity status means the level of resistance of an individual or community to an infectious agent.
12. Epidemic means the occurrence of an infectious disease with the number of cases exceeding the expected normal number within a defined period of time in a specific area.
13. Epidemic zone means an area identified by a competent authority as having an epidemic.
14. At-risk zone means an area adjacent to an epidemic zone or where epidemic-causing factors appear.
15. Medical isolation (quarantine) means the separation of persons with infectious diseases, suspected cases, carriers of infectious agents, or objects capable of carrying infectious agents, in order to limit disease transmission.
16. Medical treatment measures means the implementation of measures such as the use of vaccines, medical biological products, quarantine, disinfection, elimination of infectious agents, elimination of vectors, and other medical measures.
Classification of Infectious Diseases
1. Infectious diseases are classified into the following groups:
a) Group A: Specially dangerous infectious diseases capable of very rapid transmission, wide dissemination, and high mortality rate, or whose causative agent has not been clearly identified.
Group A infectious diseases include: Poliomyelitis; Influenza A (H5N1); Plague; Smallpox; Viral hemorrhagic fevers caused by Ebola, Lassa, or Marburg viruses; West Nile fever; Yellow fever; Cholera; Severe acute respiratory infections caused by viruses; and newly emerging dangerous infectious diseases with unidentified causative agents.
b) Group B: Dangerous infectious diseases capable of rapid transmission and potentially fatal.
Group B infectious diseases include: Adenovirus infection; HIV/AIDS; Diphtheria; Influenza; Rabies; Pertussis; Pulmonary tuberculosis; Streptococcus suis infection in humans; Amoebic dysentery; Bacillary dysentery; Mumps; Dengue fever and Dengue hemorrhagic fever; Malaria; Typhus; Measles; Hand-foot-mouth disease; Anthrax; Chickenpox; Typhoid fever; Tetanus; Rubella; Viral hepatitis; Meningitis caused by meningococcal bacteria; Viral encephalitis; Leptospirosis; Rotavirus diarrhea; Zika virus infection.
c) Group C: Less dangerous infectious diseases with slower transmission.
Group C infectious diseases include: Chlamydia infection; Syphilis; Helminth infections; Gonorrhea; Trachoma; Candida albicans infection; Nocardiosis; Leprosy; Cytomegalovirus infection; Herpes virus infection; Tapeworm infections; Liver fluke disease; Lung fluke disease; Intestinal fluke disease; Scrub typhus; Rickettsial infections; Hemorrhagic fever caused by Hantavirus; Trichomonas infection; Infectious pyoderma; Pharyngitis, stomatitis, myocarditis caused by Coxsackie virus; Gastroenteritis caused by Giardia; Gastroenteritis caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus; and other infectious diseases.
2. The Minister of Health shall decide on the adjustment or supplementation of the list of infectious diseases under the groups specified in Clause 1 of this Article.
Legal basis:
Articles 2 and 3 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases, 2007.
