Background
The decision on the possible disease outbreak in Crab Apple Valley can occur only with the definition of the primary components of the case definition. Incorporating the criteria of persons, time, place, and clinical features in this scenario can help in the definition and investigation of an outbreak in the four-corner-city of the Western U.S. First, the component of “persons” helps in the description of common characteristics exhibited by patients linked to the illness. According to Palmore (2017), age, sex, occupation, and race orientations are incorporated into the definition of an outbreak of diseases through a person’s lens. Likewise, Manny Symptoms’s case study adopted the common symptoms in the admission of patients to Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Secondly, the “place” component describes the regional locations impacted by the spreading infection. For this case, evaluating the regional division of Crab Apple Valley and the prevalence of the infection’s spread plays a crucial role in describing the city’s public health.
Thirdly, the simple, objective, and clear “clinical features” may lead the medical investigation team to become familiar with the fast-spreading disease in the local and suburban markets of Crab Apple Valley. Vendors in the farmer’s markets and attendees in the local markets cab be tested to identify the dangers and control measures of the illness. Finally, the development of the disease outbreak case definition of the Western U.S city will occur by assessing the “time” factor. The focus here settles on delineating the exact periods associated with the onset of the spread of the disease. Symptoms’s journey of land purchase and inspection of the 100-acres of property would be part of the time element investigation of the outbreak of the unknown disease.
Steps of Outbreak Investigation
The investigation of a disease outbreak occurs in numerous processes and steps. Some of the steps included in the description of such activities include:
Establishment of a Possible Outbreak
Communities suspecting the outbreak of particular illnesses like the one observed in Crab Apple Valley should establish the existence of such elements through surveillance of data. In some cases, Alaeddini and Morgansen (2016) suggested that the regions impacted by an epidemic should contact health providers and well-established countries to help curb the spread of infections. I will investigate whether the illness is associated with chiggers’ bite or whether it originates from other agents.
Verification of the Diagnosis
Evaluation of medical signs enhance medical specialists to isolate outbreaks from common infections (Baranova & Malova, 2017). The collection of laboratory specimen and reliance on the rumors spreading in the community will impact the investigation process. The availability of other clients portraying similar characteristics to Symptoms’s health problems will lead to verifying the diagnosis choices incorporated in the analysis of patients. Case patients collected from various labs will also help in the verification process.
Identification and Definition of Cases
The discussion of all elements of case investigations happens in the third phase of outbreak analysis. Baranova and Malova (2017) suggested that the proceedings on the design of line lists associated with a particular illness occur through case definition. They are borrowing such insights to identify persons, time, laboratory criteria, place, and clinical features in the assessment of outbreaks.
Epidemiology Characterization
The main objective of the step involves the classification of outbreaks from their onset to their current states. They sought alternatives to disease outbreaks requiring medical professionals to incorporate epidemic curves. Similarly, Eissa (2019) stressed the significance of descriptive epidemiology in the visualization of future health projections, especially the outbreak of epidemics within societies.
Isolation of Risk Factors
Outbreaks remain a major threat to the public because infections above communal expectance increase the mortality rates within such settings. Alaeddini and Morgansen (2016) echoed that medical experts must publicly determine and announce the populations most affected by the illnesses to be sure of an outbreak. In this case, people working in local and suburban regions are at higher risk of contracting the fast-spreading disease.
Creation of Hypotheses
Global health organizations link the severity of an outbreak of diseases to certain health indicators. The independent and dependent variables involved in comparing the effects of outbreaks to human populations aid medical researchers in developing hypotheses (Eissa, 2019). Descriptive epi, historical information, pertinent exposure, and interviews with patients play a critical role in shaping realistic hypotheses.
Testing of Analytical and Hypotheses Studies
Understanding the actual agents responsible for the spread of outbreaks happens effectively with the conduction of analytical analysis. Besides, the relationships between infections and their effects can be connected efficiently with the proper implementation of hypothetical studies. For example, the case study will incorporate the mini-protocol to guide medics in testing the study design.
Draw Conclusion
Research conclusions document the findings of specific experiments. Similarly, the outbreak in Crab Apple Valley needs case definitions that lean on its investigations’ procedures. The seventh step incorporates the analysis of analytical epidemiological study and formulation of facts associated with the outbreaks.
Comparison of Facts and Hypothesis
After driving a conclusive approach in evaluating the outbreak in Crab Apple Valley, it will be essential to compare the study’s hypotheses to the facts. For example, identifying what makes the disease a fatal infection in the Western U.S city and its relationship with its agents can help in this stage.
Communications about the Findings
Research participants influence the decision-making on the control measures of disease outbreaks. Supervisors in charge of data analysis may use the information obtained from Manny Symptoms’s case study to communicate findings on the fast-spreading disease. The drafting of reports and awareness creation regarding the outbreak can be formulated and announced publicly in the ninth stage of an outbreak investigation.
Execution of Preventive Measures
Feasible recommendations should be made in this step of defining an outbreak. The final phase of investigating an outbreak depends on the expertise and skill of research professionals in relating interventions to the problem at hand. The execution of the preventive measures leaned on the adoption of formal and informal reports of illnesses and the PulseNet public health surveillance methods.
Surveillance Methods
Passive infectious disease surveillance involves the inexpensive techniques medical institutions adopt in the coverage of large areas impacted by an epidemic. The use of health jurisdiction report systems involved the passive methods used to survey the pending outbreak. The informal and formal reports received from hospitals, clinics, and other reliable sources from the community were paramount in the surveillance. In contrast, the use of active surveillance methods like verification of diagnosis, confirmation of the number of cases, and talks with laboratory technicians would enhance the case study to develop positive findings.
Probable and Suspect Cases
The case study presented numerous data on the number of suspects and probable and confirmed cases affected by the disease outbreak in Crab Apple Valley. On the one hand, one hundred and twenty vendors in the farmer’s market and eighty in the local market were the suspect cases associated with the infectious outbreak. On the other hand, the presentation of seventy-three local farmer’s market attendees and city purchasers to the EMS can be used as a probable population in the case study. Besides, the sixty-two individuals that needed further testing were also connected to the probable causes. By the end of the diagnostic week, thirty-one out of four hundred and eighty employees recorded symptoms of the fast-spreading epidemic. One hundred and sixty-six individuals were at risk of testing positive for the outbreak.
Mode of Transmission
Even though the main cause of the outbreak is unknown to Manny Symptoms, the epidemic seems to be transmissive through close contact with infected individuals. The infection began spreading after the interactions of the first patient with dirt mounds between the rows of trees on his new plantation. Afterward, Symptoms interacted with vendors, attendees, and workers from local and suburban markets when the entire population in the city began complaining about flu-like signs. The example of the 120 vendors from the suburban farmer’s market region and 31 medical employees at EMS in the case study communicates the dangers of close contact with infected persons.
Cumulative Incident
Cumulative incident (CI) is useful in investigating disease outbreaks because it showcases the attack rates of isolated infections in a particular region. The Crab Apple Valley Palmer (2015) explained that the case scenario in Crab Apple Valley could depend on CI to measure the occurrence of new cases of fast-spreading infection. Alternatively, CI can describe acute illnesses over short durations; CI is used to predict the risk of a disease over short or longer periods. The calculation of cumulative incidence is done through the division of new infections by the total number (population) of individuals at risk over a specific time interval (Palmer, 2015). The cumulative frequencies were calculated for the total plague cases reported from 4/1/21-to 4/7/21.
Project Purpose
The purpose of the healthcare agency involved in the disease outbreak investigation is to understand the causes, effects, and control measures of the infection among the Crab Apple Valley community.
References
Alaeddini, A., & Morgansen, K.A. (2016). Optimal disease outbreak detection in a community using network observability. 2016 American Control Conference (ACC).
Baranova, I. P., & Malova, I.A. (2017). The level of spontaneous and induced Γ-interferon in flu and respiratory-synCitial infections.Epidemiology and Infectious Diseases, 22(4), 178-182.
Eissa, M. (2019). A long-term impact study of the bacterial outbreak using a control chart-risk assessment combination. Worldwide Medicine, (0), 1.
Palmer, M. H. (2015). Faculty opinions recommendation of cumulative use of strong anticholinergics and incident dementia: A prospective cohort study. Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature.
Palmore, T. N. (2017). Whole genome sequencing for outbreak investigation.Infection Prevention, 187-196.