Outbreak Management and High Consequence Infectious Disease Flashcards
List some examples of common outbreaks.
Gastroenteritis
C.difficile infection
MRSA (methicillan resistant straph aureus)
Multi-resistant gram negative bacilli
Influenza / other resp. illness
What should a case definition include?
-People involved
-The pathogen
-The place
-Time period
What are the three case catergories?
Confirmed
Probably
Possible
What is meant by a confirmed case?
Patient has predetermined signs and symptoms or a positive lab test
What is meant by a probable case?
Patient has predetermined signs and symptoms or close contact
What is meant by a possible cause?
Patient has one or few predetermined signs and symptoms
What is meant by a point source?
Source comes from a single person
What is meant by a continuous common source?
Ongoing contamination e.g. water source
What is meant by propagated source?
Person to person spread
What are some of the control measures which should be put into place in an outbreak?
Patient placement
Hand hygiene
PPE
Safe management of care equipment and environment
Stagg
Closure of ward/unit
Waste and linen
Give an example of an animal which can spread ebola to humans.
Fruit bat
How is ebola transmitted from person to person?
Direct contact with infected bodily fluids
Can spread after death, common in open casket funerals seen in Africa
Which regions is Ebola more likely to infect people in?
Central and West Africa
Ebola starts with generic symptoms e.g. fever, headache, fatigue etc.
However, which symptoms follow which are characteristic of Ebola?
Internal or external bleeding
How is diagnosis of Ebola made?
PCR of blood
What is the treatment of Ebola?
Mainly supportive e.g. fluids, oxygen
Ongoing research for antivirals
Lassa fever is another viral haemorrhagic fever.
What animal does it come from?
Rats or, Mastomys rodents to be specific ;)
Become infected by their faeces or urine
How does transmission of Lassa virus occur?
Human to human transmission via contact with infected bodily fluids
Sorry, forgot a question about Ebola, what is the mortality rate like?
Very high- approx. 50% cases result in death
What is the incubation period for Ebola?
2-12 days
Which areas are endemic of Lassa fever?
West Africa- Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Liberia, Benin
What is the mortality rate like for Lassa fever?
Quite low, approx !%
Most cases are asymptomatic or mild symptoms with only 1% resulting in severe illness resulting in death
What is the incubation period of Lassa fever?
6-21 days
Lassa fever also has generic symptoms like weakness, malaise, headache, sore throat, chest pain, diarrhoea, cough etc.
However, what can happen in approx. 25% of cases?
Deafness
->had a wee Google and as far as I can work out, it’s permanent…
How is a diagnosis of Lassa fever made?
PCR of blood
What’s the treatment of Lassa fever?
Supportive
Antivirals are experimental
CCHF- Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever..Where is CCHF endemic?
Africa
Balkans (Turkey, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, etc.)
Middle East
Asia
What are the host of CCHF?
Mammals like goats and cattle
How is CCHF spread?
Tick bites or direct contact with infected blood
What is the incubation period of CCHF?
Depends of type of transmission
Ticks- 1-9 days
Blood-1-13 days
->lecturer said for a lot of these conditions, they consider the incubation period to be three weeks after returning and after that, it is assumed any illness if not related to the travel. Obviously some exceptions as some conditions can have incubation periods of a few months
What is the mortality rate of CCHF?
High at 30%
Again, a lot of the symptoms of CCHF are generic. What are some more suggestive symptoms?
Severe abdominal pain
Sore eyes
Photophobia
What is the management of CCHF?
Supportive
Experimental antivirals- Ribavarin
Mpox, previously known as Monkeypox, is endemic where?
Central/Western Africa
What is the natural reservoir animal of Mpox?
More likely to be rodents but monkeys discovered initially hence the name
What is the incubation period of Mpox?
5-21 days
Which symptom is more characteristic of Mpox?
Lesions on face, extremities, sometimes genital
Lesions evolve in 1-2 day increments
Contagious until crust falls off with intact skin underneath
MERS?
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
->same family as Covid but a lot more severe w/ a 35% mortality rate
Which animals are thought to be the host of MERS?
Camels
How can MERS spread?
Between animals and humans e.g. contact w a camel or consumption of camel milk
Droplet spread person to person
Symptoms of MERS?
Fever
Cough
Difficulty breathing
Diarrhoea and vomiting
What is the treatment of MERS?
Supportive
->basically, a lot of these infectious conditions just require supportive care through fluids and oxygen with more research being done into anti-virals
There are four types of influenza, ABCD, which can infect humans?
A- can cause influenza pandemic
B- causes seasonal flu
C- can infect but very rare
If you see a patient in A&E which you suspect of having an infectious disease, what should be done?
Put them in a side room
Get their number and take a history on the phone
If suspicion still there, they need to be put in a negative pressure room
