[Complementary to notification required by the national Protection against Infection Act. State-specific mandatory infectious disease notification in Saxony-Anhalt].

In May 1991 a decree supplementing the federal Epidemic Law concerning the mandatory notification of communicable diseases was implemented by the Ministry of Health in Saxony-Anhalt. This was updated and newly implemented in 1997. With implementation of the national Protection against Infection Act in 2001 further amendment of the state regulation (published in April 2005) be came necessary. The following diseases or laboratory evidence of the underlying pathogens, respectively, will now be notifiable with inclusion of the affected individual's name: aseptic meningitis, mumps, rubella, varicella, epidemickera to conjunctivitis, pertussis, and pneumococcal meningitis. The possibility of preventing further spread of the pathogen to others though immediate implementation of preventive measures by the public health service justifies notification of the individual's name. Furthermore, the epidemiological situation is to be monitored and evaluated. This also applies to Lyme disease, which will be anonymously notifiable. Particular emphasis is placed on vaccine-preventable diseases in the state regulation for mandatory notification in Saxony-Anhalt, since priority is placed on attaining the health goal "age-appropriate vaccination status in over 90% of the population". The state-specific notification regulation of Saxony-Anhalt has worked well in preventing and controlling communicable diseases. It is a source of reliable data, which may be helpful in the discussion regarding the amendment of the Protection against Infection Act. Non-anonymous notification should be enforced nationally at least for all vaccine-preventable diseases for which a post-exposure vaccination is recommended by the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO).