[The new Protection against Infection Act].

The emergence of new infectious diseases and, as a result of globalisation, exposure to diseases that had already been largely eradicated in the Federal Republic of Germany show how important it is to put a Protection against Infection Act into place that matches a current requirement profile. A sine qua non for targeted action is a valid data pool on infection epidemiology and its evaluation on the regional, Laender and federal levels. Under the recent Act, more effective use is to be made of laboratory diagnosis technologies, and the co-operation between the medical profession, public health services and scientists intensified to enhance the protection of the general public against infections. Of special importance here are the tasks that fall to the health office as lower health authority with its subsidiary services and in its function as the partner and advisor of the citizens and the inpatient and outpatient health care services. Regulations covering the reporting system, vaccinations and immunizations, hospital hygiene, schools and community facilities, food trade, water for human use, work with pathogens have been rendered more precise and/or updated.