The notification of infectious diseases in England and Wales.

For nearly a hundred years, it has been a statutory requirement for doctors to notify a Proper Officer of the local authority (now, usually, the Consultant in Communicable Disease Control) of cases of certain infectious diseases. This prompts local investigation and appropriate action to control the disease. These data are also used for the analysis of local and national trends. This article describes how the notification system has evolved, its legal basis, and some of its strengths and weaknesses, and suggests how improvements could be achieved. Trends in notification data are presented for several diseases and compared with data derived from other sources.