PUB 540 Oswego Outbreak Investigation

Sample Answer

Part 2

In the epidemiological study, the outbreak of diseases depend on various factors. In other words, disease can be caused by different forms of infections that are either occurring naturally in the environment of manmade. Measuring the outbreak of diseases involves the collection and analysis of data to understand the risk factors. Data are always collected from the respondents on various possible causes of the disease outbreaks.

There are different methods that can be applied in the process of data analysis to determine the accuracy of the data analysis outcomes. Contingency table is one of the best approach of analyzing and interpreting the cause of a disease (Aygören-Pürsün et al., 2018). Before engaging in the use of contingency table, there is always the need to determine the frequencies and to understand different aspects of the data for accurate outcomes (Carcillo et al., 2017).

Investigation of the disease outbreaks involved different procedures which has to be successfully followed. Every step ought to be covered to ensure the accurate prediction can be made. In the above case, the first step involved in the disease outbreak is the identification of the possible. The second step involved the identification of the food products and the kinds of pathogens that cause that spread or the disease outbreak. The investigation processes should also involve the possible agents involved in the spread of the disease among the populations.

In the above case study, there was the analysis of disease outbreaks from the food products (Roche et al., 2015). Some of the food products that were presented include cabbage, Jello, mashed potatoes, cakes, coffee, milk, fruit salad etc. The data was collected at different dates and the respondent were asked whether they consumed the food product. The interview was a “Yes” or “No” answer.

From the analysis, there was the determination of the attack rate and the attack rate ratio. The outcomes were determined from the responses obtained from the clients. From the ratios obtained in the process of analysis, the above scenario meets the definition of a disease outbreak (Panisello et al., 2016). The contingency tables presented clearly summarize the relationship that exist between the categorical variables that have been presented.

The variables have been shown simultaneously (Tomza‐Marciniak et al., 2018). The steps required to investigate the disease outbreak involves the collection of data, which has already been presented in the Microsoft Excel. After the process of data collection, there was the determination or the calculation of risk ratios (Geng et al., 2017). The above computation was done for each of the food item presented in the table.

The outcomes was presented in Oswego Line Listing Workbook. The frequencies presented in the table, Oswego Attack Rate Table was used to determine the attack rates and the attack rate ratios through the application of the Excel formulas (Saghafian et al. 2018). From the given risk ratios, there is a clear indication that the above criterion meets the definition of the disease (Kateri, 2015). The above steps aided in the investigation of the Oswego event through the presentation, analysis and interpretation of the data.

For each information to be successful, there was careful analysis and presentation of data. Also, the processes of data collection were accurate and this led to the successful outcomes. The disease outbreak was facilitate of a means of transmission (Saghafian et al., 2018). In this case, the rout of transmission was through ingestion of pathogenic organisms that came from the contaminated food (Kent et al., 2017). The food contamination is often attributed to the exudes or faces which are transmitted by different agents.

In the above case study, the contaminated food was consumed which led to the transfer of the disease into the body which later caused outbreak.
There are different control measures that can be taken into consideration in the above case (Sevá et al., 2017). Maintaining cleanliness is one of the best approach in controlling the disease outbreak. Recalling food product is another best approach that can be undertaken to control the spread of the disease. These are primary prevention measures that ought to be undertaken to manage the disease outbreak.

Discuss the Possible Agents(S) Responsible For the Outbreak

The possible agents responsible for cause of the disease outbreak is the pathogens found in the food items presented above. Disease outbreak is often caused by the infection that can transmitted from one person to the other when there is contact. In the above case, the disease outbreak was caused by the transfer of pathogens from the food products. The outbreak also occurred as a result of exposure to chemicals found in the food materials. There could also be exposure to radioactive chemicals. With the above factors, there was high possibility of rapid transfer of diseases from one person who consumed the food material to the other.

Graph 1.

Epidemic Curve

From graph 1, the epidemiological curve indicates the measurements involving all the food components involved in the study process. The curve shows a sharp increase in the number of infections by the food products.

Graph 2

In graph 2 the curve shows the number of participants measured against the variable, spinach. In other words. The epidemiological curve shows that there is low chances of disease outbreak for those who consumed spinach.

Graph 3

In epidemiological curve 3, the trend shows that there is little chances of occurrence in the disease.

Graph 4

The curve in graph 4 shows the participants versus the variable Jello. The curve indicates that there is little chances in the disease outbreak when Jello is consumed.

References

• Aygören-Pürsün, E., Magerl, M., Maetzel, A., & Maurer, M. (2018). Epidemiology of Bradykinin-mediated angioedema a systematic investigation of epidemiological studies. Orphanet journal of rare diseases, 13(1), 73. Retrieved from https //link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13023-018-0815-5
• Carcillo, J. A., Sward, K., Halstead, E. S., Telford, R., Jimenez-Bacardi, A., Shakoory, B., … & Hall, M. (2017). A systemic inflammation mortality risk assessment contingency table for severe sepsis. Pediatric critical care medicine a journal of the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, 18(2), 143. Retrieved from 10.1097/PCC.0000000000001029
• Geng, J., Xu, J., Nie, W., Peng, S., Zhang, C., & Luo, X. (2017). Regression analysis of major parameters affecting the intensity of coal and gas outbursts in laboratory. International Journal of Mining Science and Technology, 27(2), 327-332. Retrieved from https //doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2017.01.004
• Kateri, M. (2015). Contingency table analysis. Methods and implementation using R (First edition). Aachen, Germany Editorial Advisory Booard. Retrieved from https //link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-0-8176-4811-4
• Kent, P., Boyle, E., Keating, J. L., Albert, H. B., & Hartvigsen, J. (2017). Four hundred or more participants needed for stable contingency table estimates of clinical prediction rule performance. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 82, 137-148. Retrieved from https //doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.10.004
• Panisello, P. J., Rooney, R., Quantick, P. C., & Stanwell-Smith, R. (2016). Application of foodborne disease outbreak data in the development and maintenance of HACCP systems. International Journal of Food Microbiology, 59(3), 221-234. Retrieved from https //doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1605(00)00376-7
• Roche, S. E., Garner, M. G., Wicks, R. M., East, I. J., & de Witte, K. (2015). How do resources influence control measures during a simulated outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Australia?. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 113(4), 436-446. Retrieved from https //doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2013.12.003
• Saghafian, F., Malmir, H., Saneei, P., Milajerdi, A., Larijani, B., & Esmaillzadeh, A. (2018). Fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of depression accumulative evidence from an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies. British journal of nutrition, 119(10), 1087-1101. Retrieved from https //doi.org/10.1017/S0007114518000697
• Sevá, A. D. P., Martcheva, M., Tuncer, N., Fontana, I., Carrillo, E., Moreno, J., & Keesling, J. (2017). Efficacies of prevention and control measures applied during an outbreak in Southwest Madrid, Spain. PloS one, 12(10), e0186372. Retrieved from https //doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0186372
• Tomza‐Marciniak, A., Stępkowska, P., Kuba, J., & Pilarczyk, B. (2018). Effect of bisphenol A on reproductive processes a review of in vitro, in vivo and epidemiological studies. Journal of Applied Toxicology, 38(1), 51-80. Retrieved from https //doi.org/10.1002/jat.3480