Infectious Diseases

Our role and responsibilities

Together with the Victorian Department of Health, Council’s Environmental Health Unit is responsible for the investigation of outbreaks of infectious diseases.

Environmental Health Officers could become involved in the public health management of infectious disease cases in various ways:

• Cases may be referred to us by the Department of Human Services for further investigation.
• Cases might be reported directly to us from our local community.
• Our officers might become aware of cases from their own investigations and inspections.

Exclusion Periods	Minimum exclusion periods for Schools & Children’s Services Centres (pdf 109kb)
Protect Yourself	Hand washing (pdf 140kb) Coughing and Sneezing (pdf 140kb)
Flu	Flu & You (pdf 730kb) Seasonal/Avian/Pandemic Influenza (flu) (pdf 68kb)
Mosquitoes	Avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes (pdf 119kb) Mosquito control around the home (pdf 175kb)

Sharps Disposal

Council provides syringe disposal bins in a majority of our public toilets. These bins are monitored and maintained by a contracting service.

Syringe Collection

A syringe collection and disposal service is available for syringes on public land. Syringes on private property are the responsibility of the owner/occupier.

Safe retrieval and disposal of needles and syringes

Do	Don’t
Tell children to never pick up needles and syringes, but to call an adult. Place used needles in a proper container (such as a sharps container) Store the container in child and animal proof areas Pick up the syringe by the blunt end (barrel end) with gloves Wash your hands afterwards with warm soapy water	Toss loose syringes in the bin Clip needles with scissors Get rid of syringes in the toilet Put syringes in aluminium cans or glass containers Put the sharps container in the bin. This can be a risk to garbage collection workers as even heavy duty containers will break under enough pressure.