Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD) Reporting

Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD) Surveillance Manual

The North Carolina Communicable Disease Branch assists local health department staff, private health care providers and others in the state to confirm the occurrence of cases of vaccine-preventable illnesses, evaluate the need for intervention, and plan and implement control measures.

The manuals and resources below from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) serve as the foundation for North Carolina’s statewide surveillance of VPDs.

• Manual for the Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
• Bordetella collection and mailing instructions for the NC State Lab of Public Health (PDF)
• NC State Lab of Public Health's Information on Bordetella Pertussis
• North Carolina Hepatitis B Surveillance Manual (All Hepatitis B cases are now reported through the North Carolina Electronic Surveillance System (NC EDSS)).
• Reporting form for perinatally acquired hepatitis B (PDF)

VPD Reporting

Vaccine-preventable diseases which must be reported in North Carolina include:

• Diphtheria
• Haemophilus influenzae, an invasive disease
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B (Perinatally-Acquired)
• Hepatitis B carriage (7 days)
• Influenza death
• Measles (Rubeola)
• Meningitis, pneumococcal (7 days)
• Meningitis, invasive disease
• Mumps (7 days)
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Polio
• Rubella and congenital Rubella Syndrome (7 days)
• Smallpox (Immediately)
• Tetanus
• Typhoid
• Varicella
• Yellow Fever (7 days)

Local Health Departments should report the incidence of these diseases via the North Carolina Electronic Disease Surveillance System. Additional information and instructions are available in the N.C. Communicable Disease Manual.

Private providers must report any of the suspect VPDs listed above to their local health department within 24 hours unless otherwise stated. Local health departments should contact the Communicable Disease Branch within 24 hours. All initial reports should be by phone.