The process of tracing people with whom someone with an infectious disease has been in contact.
A measure that allows public health officials to locate people who have come in contact with individuals diagnosed with a serious infectious disease. People who have been exposed to these diseases may be infected themselves. Contact tracing, usually coordinated by local public health agencies, involves the process of finding and informing people who have had contact with an infected person. This procedure can help limit the spread of infectious diseases by offering diagnostic testing and treatment to people who may not know they have been exposed, as is often the case with sexually transmitted diseases.
An attempt to find the source of an infectious or toxic outbreak, typically through patient interviews and laboratory specimens.
Contact tracing is a service offered by clinics specializing in the treatment of sexually transmitted infections. Its primary purpose is to identify and locate all individuals who have had close contact with a person diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection, urging them to undergo examination and treatment. Contact tracing is also employed in cases involving other infections, notably tuberculosis, meningitis, and imported tropical diseases.