Disaster Epidemiology Flashcards
what is a disaster ?
the result of an ecological breakdown between humans and their environment.
serious or sudden event t hats a community needs help to cope with, often with outside help or international aid
what are 4 types of disasters ?
- natural- earthquakes, fires, floods, or heat
- outbreaks- emerging infections, bioterrorism,
- technological - power outages
- terroist attacks -
what are the core functions of public health ?
PPP-
prevent- spread of disease, injuries,
protect- against env hazards,
promote - and encourage healthy behaviors
Assure the quality and accessibility of health services
Respond to disasters and assist communities in recovery
what are 3 things for the role of ID epi in disasters ?
- detection of disease
- monitoring of health consequences
- Planning and evaluating outbreak infection control measures
what does Disaster Outbreak Detection do ? 2
Establish the expected number of cases in an area
Identify increases in the number of detected cases of a disease that may suggest an epidemic
what are 3 Challenges of Reportable Disease for Detection of Bioterrorism and other Outbreaks?
- Lag time bt patient seeking care, diagnosis being made and report being submitted
- early on disease may look like another disease- specific prodrome
- Reporting mostly based on known diseases- difficult on unknown disease
what is Syndromic surveillance?
BEFORE-The systematic and ongoing collection, analysis, and interpretation of data that precede diagnosis.
what is the rational of syndromic surveillance ?
Disease caused by bioterrorism agents may look similar to disease
why is Early detection and response is important to the control of outbreaks caused by bioterrorism agents? 2
- Detection based on diagnosed cases would be too slow
2. Need to identify a signal of an epidemic before diagnoses are made
what are the 3 challenges in syndromic surveillance?
- Difficulty in establishing ability to detect clusters
- low specificity
- Difficulty establishing expected value
what 2 methods do we use to monitor health consequences?
- rapid assessment
2. Disaster surveillance
define Disaster surveillance
Ongoing through recovery
define rapid assessment
Immediate assessment and short-term surveys
2 to 4 days
Simultaneous with rescue
what are the 6 goals of needs assessment ?
- Assess for ongoing hazards
- determine magnitude
- Determine medical & public health needs of the community
- determine available resources
- Determine need for external assistance
- Determine how to enhance or reconstitute existing public health surveillance system
what 4 components are needed for data collection ?
- Review existing information
- Visual inspection of affected areas
- Interview with key informants
- Rapid surveys / rapid needs assessments
Where does Review Existing Information on Affected Area occur ?
- geo characteristics
- Size, demographics and prior health of population
- Health services prior to disaster
- health services already allocated, procured or requested
what is CASPER?
Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response
method for rapidly conducting household based health needs assessment surveys with 2 stage sampling
what is CASPER used for ?
Assess the effects of disaster
Assess the effectiveness of control measures
what are the 4 steps in CASPER?
Preparation
Conduct data collection
Analyze data
Disseminate findings to those who can use the information
PCAD
What lead to the emergence of cholera in Haiti?
drinking untreated water from the river or canals before the onset of symptoms
introduced into Haiti by United Nations security forces from Nepal
❖ Hot summer season followed earthquake
earthquake - damaged
ppl had no previous immunity
