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Paramedic knowledge of the aetiology of twenty-five (25) epidemiologically significant infectious diseases as determined by the NHMRC [6] was found to be generally poor in this survey. The average proportion of respondents correctly identifying the aetiological cause for a disease was 59.3%. Interestingly, the most correctly identified cause of disease was that of HIV/AIDS, with almost all participants identifying correct aetiology. The poorest result was achieved for shigella. Only three disease types were noted to have correct percentage rates above 80, those being HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, and influenza. More than 50% of participants could not correctly identify the aetiology for 8 of the 25 diseases. These results may reflect the visible public profile of specific diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Regardless, the results reflect poor overall knowledge. Paramedic knowledge of the modes of transmission of infectious diseases was also assessed. The majority of the sample correctly identified the transmission modes of HIV/AIDS (85.9%), with the poorest result found for polio (6.4%). For 15 of the 25 infectious diseases, over 50% of respondents could not identify correct modes of transmission. Only modes of transmission for three diseases were noted as having correct percentage rates higher than 80, those being for HIV/AIDS, salmonella and influenza. Disturbingly, a proportion of participants either did not know or incorrectly identified modes of transmission for hepatitis B (20.4%) and C (30.2%). These diseases are widely regarded and documented as high-risk occupational hazards for health care workers performing exposure prone procedures . The results suggest paramedics in this study had poor knowledge of how infectious diseases are transmitted. Paramedics with poor knowledge of agents causing disease and poor knowledge of how disease is transmitted are hampered in their ability to prevent cross-infection .