SARS Outbreak Study 1

Learning
Objectives		   >   Introduction
to Study		   >   Student
Role		   >   Data
Collection		   >   Data
Analysis		   >   Plan of
Action		   >   Discussion
Questions

Step 1: Learning Objectives

  1. Describe the principles of an outbreak investigation:
    1. Define an outbreak.
    2. Describe an epidemic in terms of person, place and time.
      • Describe what factors are considered in determining whether a person should be classified as suffering from a disease under investigation (case definition).
      • Describe how the choice of case definition can influence an outbreak investigation.
      • List different methods of surveillance used to ascertain cases.
    3. List steps in an outbreak investigation.
    4. Describe the role of an epidemiologist during an outbreak investigation.
  2. Describe the principles of outbreak management
    1. List some of the control measures which can be implemented in outbreak management.
    2. Describe different methods of outbreak management directed towards various components of the epidemiological triad which consists of host, agent and vector.
    3. Describe how the presence or absence of a reservoir influences persistence of the epidemic.
    4. Distinguish between eradication and elimination of a disease.
  3. Explain the importance of unrestricted flow of information between different public health agencies and timely communication of this information to the public.

Video: Dr. Ian Lipkin

Video Still Dr. Ian Lipkin is a faculty member at the Department of Epidemiology and also a pre-eminent figure in the area of Emerging Infectious Diseases Epidemiology. Dr. Lipkin is the leader of the team that identified the West Nile virus in the brains of encephalitis victims in New York State in the fall of 1999. He is currently the head of the Jerome L. and Dawn Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory at the Mailman School of Public Health.

Dr. Lipkin is among the researchers from around the world collaborating on the investigation of the SARS outbreak this year. Dr. Lipkin and his colleagues are currently working around the clock in the worldwide effort to develop diagnostics, therapies, and vaccines to combat the SARS virus and to prevent its spread next year.

Listen to his introduction to this exercise and his perspectives on the future of the SARS epidemic.

Learning
Objectives		   >   Introduction
to Study		   >   Student
Role		   >   Data
Collection		   >   Data
Analysis		   >   Plan of
Action		   >   Discussion
Questions