Using Epidemiology to Establish Disease Outbreak

Epidemiological Case #2: Norovirus in Vermont Applying Epidemiology study epidemics. More specifically, study occurrence distribution health problems. Using epidemiological techniques outlined chapters week's reading, address questions case studies outlined. Epidemiological Case #2: Norovirus in Vermont The questions to ask the mother include what the problem is i.e. illness description, tests performed, treatments provided, and if patient hospitalized or dead. Who is ill including names, sex, gender, occupation, and how they are related. When the person became ill, date and time the illness began.

Where the infected person is located, their address and telephone numbers. Finally, what caused them to become ill? The symptoms of the three children are mostly due to an infection. The incubation period of around 24 hours and short illness duration are consistent with a virus. Based on the information that the stool was negative for the usual bacteria, then a virus would be the likely cause of the illness (Tomov et al., 2013). On the list of possible etiologic agents, norovirus should be foremost.

Question 3 The initial step would be to contact the local health department. The local health department is better placed to report and identify similar cases. The local public health officials should be contacted to alert them of the problem. This would facilitate coordination of all public communications regarding the problem. Other party attendees should be contacted to establish if they fell ill. Stoll specimen of all infected persons for laboratory testing. The swim club manager should be contacted to establish if there are others with similar problems.

Question 4 Though the health department has the right to inspect the pool without the manager's compliance, it would not result in a quick response. Therefore, seeking the manager's full cooperation is vital. The investigators should let the manager know whom they are, why they are calling and assure him that they are only trying to establish the cause of the problem. The benefits the club would gain from the investigation should also be communicated to the manager. Any questions the manager might have should be answered with an open mind.

Question 5 The signs and symptoms presented by the patients are consistent with norovirus infection (Krickeberg, Pham, & Pham, 2012). There were nine male patients representing 43%. Seven years was the median age. The average age of the people who visited the swim club is unknown, but it is clear that children and babies were predominant. This would mean the likely source of the exposure was the club. The exposure period is between January 31 and February 1. The first case was reported on January 31 in an infant who visited the pool the same day.

The number of reported cases increased, and they peaked on February 2. Question 6 The following assessments of the swim club should be done environmental health, surrounding facilities, and operating policies and procedures. An epidemiologic study should be carried out to test the hypothesis of the outbreak source. The risks factors of the outbreak should also be identified. There should be effort to identify any vomiting and fecal incidents at the pool.

Part II Offices to respond The offices that need to respond are the State Health Department of Vermont, which is responsible for all outbreak investigations. The local health department should also respond since they will have direct access to the patients. There should be communication cooperation between all the departments involved to ensure that everyone is aware of what is happening. Streamlining communication will ensure that both departments approve all public communications.

Public health response The case does need an immediate public health response because the parents of the children should understand what was ailing their children. The birthday party was blamed for serving ice cream with raw eggs, but it was later established that was not correct. The response will offer information of the virus and how it could have been transmitted. This information will also be used to prevent similar cases from occurring. Type of emergency This is an epidemic since it affected many individuals simultaneously.

The outbreak only occurred within one community, which means it was not wide spread and was only concentrated in one are. Categories and examples of questions What are the symptoms? What food was consumed? How was the food prepared? Does the patient have any allergies? Where are the persons affected located? When did the outbreak occur? Steps for managing of fecal incidents Direct all patrons to exit the pool.

Make sure that all pools sharing the same filtration system are shut down The removal of the fecal matter should be done using a scoop or net and disposed of in a sanitary manner. The pool should be chlorinated and treated before patrons are allowed.