Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Contact tracing
Introduction
In epidemiology, contact tracing is the identification and diagnosis of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person. For sexually transmitted diseases, this is generally limited to sexual partners but for highly virulent diseases such as Ebola and tuberculosis, a thorough contact tracing would require information regarding casual contacts.
Some AIDS activists have argued that contact tracing is counter-productive in that it would lead persons to avoid seeking medical treatment for fear that it would breach their right to privacy.