Course Project Part 6

Questions

1. Based on the CPE lab results, rewrite your case definition so this criterion (positive lab result or compatible symptoms without a lab test) can be used to rule individuals in or out of your outbreak investigation.

Click Here to download and read the scenario for Course Project Part 6.  Answer the questions below.  Write your answers in complete sentences. You may need to use additional resources outside of your textbook to complete this part of your project. Please be sure to cite any sources you may use with APA and include a Reference page.

You have also used the line listing to analyze the time association with the GI illness. Table 2 (below) contains the list of the times each resident became ill (illness onset).

2. Create an epidemiology curve to illustrate Table 2. The time of symptom onset should be the X axis. At what time did the GI illness begin most frequently?
3. Considering the average incubation period of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin and the data from your epidemiology curve, what is the probable time range the residents were exposed? How does this help you determine a possible host for the disease?

Based on your suspicion of a food as the cause of the illnesses, you studied the menu of meals the residents consumed 24 and 48 hours prior to the GI illness. Items on the menu include:

The next step in your investigation is developing a hypothesis. A hypothesis is simply a suspicion of how the EATC residents became ill. When creating hypotheses consider all the facts you know about the illness (agent), the possible conditions (environment) the agent must have to become infectious, and who (host) is at risk for the disease. Also consider the potential time of exposure to the disease, the place in which exposure could have occurred and who could have been exposed. The next step in the investigation is to evaluate your hypothesis so the more specific and factual your hypothesis the more likely your evaluation will be useful.

4. What is your hypothesis of what caused the residents to become ill? Your hypothesis should include the food you suspect, the time of exposure, the place of exposure and the at-risk population. Be as specific as possible because later you will conduct a study to test your hypothesis. Stating that your hypothesis is “a foodborne outbreak” is not acceptable.