Legal aspects of the struggle against infectious illnesses in Austria-Hungary

Abstract

The article gives an overview of the main legal regulations in Austria-Hungary applicable to the struggle against infectious illnesses. Various legal acts were given out both by the central authorities, e.g. by the Ministry of the Interior, and at the level of the regional authorities, here in particular the circulars of the c.k. governorate should be mentioned. Of the various measures implemented, those aimed at putting an end to the epidemic as quickly as possible should be singled out in the first place. These included the information obligations of local authorities, especially municipal authorities, concerning the occurrence of individual disease entities and the need for regular cooperation in this area, e.g. with higher authorities, e.g. the county governor’s office, or also with military authorities. In addition, the aim was to create a separate place (building) in each municipality for isolating the patients. The procedure for carrying out disinfection, e.g. by means of instructions issued for this purpose, was worked out in details. Local authorities were obliged to work together closely with the district doctors. Reporting and information duties were also imposed on the district doctors. Remarkably meritorious in the struggle against epidemics was the Austrian Red Cross Society. The measures taken tried to respond to the real needs of the local population and sought to rectify any irregularities that occurred in practice, e.g. by drawing the attention of hospital authorities to the premature discharge of patients home. The possibility of testing objects that could potentially contain germs was also regulated in some details. It should also be emphasised that these aspects were not only used in medical law, but also in other areas of public law, e.g. the regulation of railway traffic or the operation of schools or prisons during epidemics. In addition, some obligations in the field of prevention of epidemics also applied to entrepreneurs, which were then verified when doctors made inspections.