‘Epidemiological procedures follow a standardised course of action.’ Discuss.
Conceptually, control measures come after hypotheses have been confirmed, but in practice control measures are usually implemented as soon as the source and mode of transmission are known, which may be early or late in any particular outbreak investigation.
Each of the steps is described below in more detail, based on the assumption that you are the health department staff member scheduled to conduct the next field investigation.
Step 1: Prepare for field work
The numbering scheme for this step is problematic, because preparing for field work often is not the first step. Only occasionally do public health officials decide to conduct a field investigation before confirming an increase in cases and verifying the diagnosis. More commonly, officials discover an increase in the number of cases of a particular disease and then decide that a field investigation is warranted. Sometimes investigators collect enough information to perform descriptive epidemiology without leaving their desks, and decide that a field investigation is necessary only if they cannot reach a convincing conclusion without one.
Step 2: Establish the existence of an outbreak
In contrast to outbreak and epidemic, a cluster is an aggregation of cases in a given area over a particular period without regard to whether the number of cases is more than expected. This aggregation of cases seems to be unusual, but frequently the public (and sometimes the health agency) does not know the denominator. For example, the diagnosis in one neighborhood of four adults with cancer may be disturbing to residents but may well be within the expected level of cancer occurrence, depending on the size of the population, the types of cancer, and the prevalence of risk factors among the resident
Step 3: Verify the diagnosis
The next step, verifying the diagnosis, is closely linked to verifying the existence of an outbreak. In fact, often these two steps are addressed at the same time. Verifying the diagnosis is important: (a) to ensure that the disease has been properly identified, since control measures are often disease-specific; and (b) to rule out laboratory error as the basis for the increase in reported cases.
Step 4: Construct a working case definition
The case definition must not include the exposure or risk factor you are interested in
____ _________ _________ ______ _________ ________ ____ _______.
_____ ________ _____ ___ _____ _______ ___ ____ _________ _________.
____ ________ ____ _______ ______.
___ __________ ______ _________ ________ _________ _________ ____.
_____ _____ _____ ___ ______.
__________ _______ ________ ________ ____.
_____ ______ __________ __________ __________.
__________ _____ _________ __________ ___ _________ _______ ____ ____ ___.
______ ________ ______ ________ ____ ____ ________ ________.
______ __________ ___ ____ ____ _____ __________ ______ ______ ___ ____.
_________ ________ __________ ___ _________ ___ ________ _________ _________ _______ _________.
______ __________ _______ _______ __________.
________ __________ _______ _______ ___ ________.
_______ _________ ________ ________ _____ ____ ________ _____ ___ _____ ____ _____.
________ ________ ______ ________ ___ ____ _________ ___ _____.
____ _____ __________ ____ _________ _______ _____ ___.
________ __________ _________ ___ ___ ______ ____ _________ __________ _______.
______ _______ ________ _______ _____ ___.
____ ________ _______ ______ ___ ______ _______ _______ _________.
__________ _________ _________ _____ ____ _________ _____ ____ ______ _______ _____.
_______ _______ ______ _______ _____ ________ _________ ___ ________ ______ _____ __________.
__________ ________ __________ _______ _____ _________ _________.
______ _____ _______ ________ ____ _______ ____.
____ __________ _______ ______ ____ _____.
__________ _______ ____ ________ ________ _______ ________ _______ ________ ___ _________ ______.
_________ _____ _______ ___ __________ _____ _________ _______ _________ ________ ___.
_________ ________ _____ __________ _______ ______ ___ ____ _________ ___ _______.
_________ ________ ________ _________ _____ ________ ______ ________ __________.
______ _______ ____ ________ _________ ______ _____ _______ _______ ____ _______ ______.
___ ____ _________ _______ _______ _________ ____ __________ _______ ___.
_____ ________ ________ ____ ___ _________ ______ ________ _______ ____.
_______ _____ ____ _____ _____ _________.
_____ __________ _________ __________ ___ ________ __________ ________ ________ ___.
___ _____ _____ _________ ___ _______ ___ ________ _______.
_________ ___ __________ ______ ____.
_____ _____ _________ ___ ___ _______ _________ ___ __________ ___.
_____ _________ ______ ________ ______ ______.
________ _____ _____ _____ ______ ___.
________ ________ _____ ______ ___ __________.
__________ _______ _________ ___ __________ ________ _____ _______ ________.
______ ______ ____ __________ ______ ___ _____ _____ __________ _________ __________.
___ ________ ________ ________ ______ ___ ____ ___ ___ _______.
__________ _______ _________ ______ ___ _______.
______ ______ _________ ___ _______ ________ _____ _____ _____.
______ _________ ______ ___ ____ ___ __________ ________ ______ __________ ____ _______.
____ ____ ___ ___ _________ ___.
______ ______ _________ ____ ________.
__________ _______ ______ ___ ___ ______.
______ _________ _________ _________ _________ ___ _______.
___ ____ ________ ______ _________.
________ _____ ______ _________ _________ _________ ___ _________ ___.
_______ ______ __________ ________ ________ _______ ____ _________ _____.
________ ______ _______ ___ ___ _________ ________ _________ ________.
__________ _____ ____ ________ _______ __________ ____.
__________ ___ _______ ___ ________ _________ _____ __________ _____ ________ _____.
_________ __________ _______ _____ ____ ___.
________ _______ _____ ______ ____ ________ _____.
___ ______ _____ ____ _______ ___ ________ ____ _______ _____ ____ ______.
______ _________ _______ _____ _______ ________ _____ ____ ___ ________ ________.
__________ _______ ______ _____ _______ ________.
____ _____ __________ ___ _____ ____ ___ _________.
______ ____ _______ ____ _______ _________ ________ ________ ____.
_______ _________ ___ _______ _____ ___ _________ __________.
______ _______ __________ ________ ______ ________ __________ ____ _____.
____ ______ ______ ____ ______ _____ _______ _______ ____ ______ _____.
_________ _____ _______ _____ ___.
- Solved Assignments
- Study Notes
- Guess Papers
- Question Papers
✓ Unlock up to 60% of the answer
✓ No payment required