Final answer:
The CDC is responsible for monitoring infectious diseases and health care worker exposure in the United States through the NNDSS, and it provides data and updates through the MMWR to ensure informed health care practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The responsibility for monitoring infectious diseases, including health care worker exposure, falls predominantly on the shoulders of public health organizations, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) playing a central role in the United States. As an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC operates the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS), coordinating with regional, state, and territorial health departments to monitor diseases that are considered to be of public health importance. Notifiable diseases are those that must be reported to the CDC by health care professionals, and this list includes conditions like HIV infection, measles, and West Nile virus infections, among many others.
The data on these reportable diseases collected from state and local health agencies is compiled into the NNDSS and published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), which is an essential resource for health care workers and the public. This surveillance system not only aids in tracking the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases but also helps to inform necessary preventive measures and responses, including the training and protection of health care workers exposed to infectious patients, as evidenced during past public health incidents such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ebola outbreak.