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Quiz epidemiology
Center for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization
About epidemiology
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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2012), an epidemic curve, which is a histogram of number of cases by time of onset of illness, would in useful in identifying and visualizing this health care agency’s outbreak’s magnitude. As you mentioned, the onset of symptoms experienced by the employees of this small health care agency vary greatly, and it is apparent that age is not a significant factor in regards to this illness. It is significant that 5 employees (Leah, Ann, Pat, Letitia, and Denise) had either ill children, or an ill husband at home during the time of this illness outbreak. In addition, it is noteworthy that 5 employees (Joan, Leah, Marie, Leslie, and Michelle) saw patient Mrs. D, which indicates in
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 49(3), 438-443. Doi:10.1086/600391. See full address and map. Medicare.gov/Hospital Compare - The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare (n.d).
Scott, II, R. D. (2009). The direct medical costs of healthcare-associated infections in U.S. hospitals and the benefits of prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/hai/pdfs/hai/scott_costpaper.pdf
Loo, Yueh-Ming and Michael Gale, Jr. “Influenza: Fatal Immunity and the 1918 Virus.” Nature 445 (2007): 267-268. 23 July. 2008 .
In the midst of perfect health, in a circumscribed community... the first case of influenza would occur, and then within the next few hours or days a large proportion- and occasionally every single individual of that community- would be stricken down with the same type of febrile illness, the rate of spread from one to another being remarkable... Barrack rooms which the day before had been full of bustle and life, would now converted wholesale into one great sick room, the number of sick developing so rapidly that hospitals were within a day or two so overfull that fresh admissions were impossible.
globally spread. The symptoms of this illness are quite defined and are very recognizable. Cause
During the event of a communicable disease outbreak, as a human services administrator, I would take all of the necessary steps to communicate to youths, parents and medical staff in a timely and efficient manner. My priority would be to isolate the disease as much as possible and to assist those that have been infected with getting the treatment that they need (Graham-Clay, 2005). In the event that there is an outbreak of a disease such as E-coli within a local high school, I would begin by notifying the medical staff immediately. Considering the fact that Ecoli is a food borne illness, it is considered to be a public health crisis and should be handled as such. There are three recognized phases of a crisis: prevention, preparedness, and recovery. Each of these phases requires planned communication strategies. An outbreak often creates a high-emotion, low-trust situation (Heymann, 2004).
During the past years, interest in health care promotion has increased which has been due to several factors. The major factor has been the shift from infectious diseases to chronic diseases that has been named as world killers. This shift is commonly referred to as epidemiologic transition characterized by low birthrates, ageing population and increased cost of health care (Kessler et al, 2013). Previously, disease identification was easy but with changing times and the emergence of many diseases, characteristics of diseases hav...
...s and measurement to decrease healthcare- associated infections. American Journal Of Infection Control, pp. S19-S25. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2012.02.008.
In descriptive epidemiology, data that describe the occurrence of the disease are collected by various methods from all relevant sources. The data is then collected by time, place, and person. Four time trends are considered in describing the epidemiologic data: secular, periodic, seasonal and epidemic. A description of epidemiologic data by place must consider three different locations: where the individual was when disease appeared, where the individual was when he or she became infected from the source, and where the source became infected with the pathogenic agent. The third focus of descriptive epidemiology is the infected person.
(CDC, 2017) This movie shows people with little to no scientific knowledge how fragile society really is. One scene where the CDC employee arrives at a meeting room in a government building were the 1st US case of this disease started was talking with the government officials. She was trying to explain how serious this outbreak really could be from a scientific perspective. She makes a great attempt to explain this outbreak in the simplest of terms so that someone with no scientific knowledge could
In the 1960s, doctors in the United States predicted that infectious diseases were in decline. US surgeon Dr. William H. Stewart told the nation that it had already seen most of the frontiers in the field of contagious disease. Epidemiology seemed destined to become a scientific backwater (Karlen 1995, 3). Although people thought that this particular field was gradually dying, it wasn’t. A lot more of it was destined to come. By the late 1980s, it became clear that people’s initial belief of infectious diseases declining needed to be qualified, as a host of new diseases emerged to infect human beings (Smallman & Brown, 2011).With the current trends, the epidemics and pandemics we have faced have created a very chaotic and unreliable future for mankind. As of today, it has really been difficult to prevent global epidemics and pandemics. Although the cases may be different from one state to another, the challenges we all face are all interconnected in this globalized world.
Medical anthropologists examine epidemic outbreaks through numerous approaches. According to Joralemon, “Epidemics offer particularly vivid demonstrations of the interconnections between biological, social, and cultural components in the human experience of disease” (2010:29). Many times these approaches cannot function on their own accord and rely on each other to solve the epidemic. It is the job of the medical anthropologist to put all the pieces of the disease puzzle together.
Throughout human history disease has been linked to many facets of life and even the rise and fall of entire civilizations. Biological, social, political and economic forces have all influenced how the outbreak of disease is handled. Epidemics have altered history in how they have developed and the impact that they have had. In turn, epidemic management has been influenced by history and governments as humans have learned to cope with outbreaks and the social and political implications that result from them. Today, biomedical engineers, politicians, historians and social scientists are leading the battle in an attempt to understand and combat infectious diseases. This report will explore epidemic management and its historical relationship with the international political system. Issues will be investigated that range from the societal effects of epidemics, to observing today’s public policy debates regarding outbreaks to the possible reduction or even dissolution of conflict in exchange for food and medical technology between nations. Research has made it abundantly clear that humans must be vigilant in combating epidemics. By drawing on multiple disciplines, it is possible to implement a sound disease management plan that will control and reduce the spreading and mortality of infectious agents across the globe, as well as reduce tension and conflict between the developed and developing worlds.
During the early 1900’s there was a deadly disease outbreak that had no cure. They called it “white death.” The scientific term was tuberculosis. The disease was terribly contagious and had claimed several lives so far. In 1900 Louisville, Kentucky had one of the highest death rates from this horrible disease. Due to the high numbers of people that were infected with this disease, the state of Kentucky built a special hospital that would specialize in the treatment of tuberculosis. The hospital was small and not enough rooms to house all the people were becoming ill. Eventually a bigger hospital was built. It was a state of the art hospital for our time. Big enough to hold and treat 400 patients. It also had housing for nurses, doctors and staff on the grounds. Not enough was known about this disease, except that it was very contagious. Anyone that came in contact with someone that was ill had to be isolated and treated. So far the only treatments that did seem to show minimal results were nutritional food, sunlight and fresh air.
Question 1: Describe and diagram the existing process for reporting and identifying major public health problems, such as a flu pandemic.