Assignment principles of disease and epidemiology biology worksheet

Assignment principles of disease and epidemiology biology worksheet

Assignment principles of disease and epidemiology biology worksheet

Directions: To complete this worksheet, you will use a website called Epiville. The case study you will be

learning about deals with SARS. Complete each step below to answer the questions.

Read the Student Role portion of the case study. Be sure to read the news transcript, along with

the background information of the case by clicking the links at the bottom of the page.

Read the Data Collection portion of the case study. Think about how this information will help

you make a connection between a disease and a population.

Read the Data Analysis portion of the case study. Answer the eight practice questions on this

page to prepare you to complete this worksheet.

Read the Outbreak Control portion of the case study. Answer the practice question on this page

to prepare you to complete this worksheet.

Answer the questions below.

1. Provide a brief description of SARS, supporting your description with sources from the case.

SARS better known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is a viral respiratory infection caused

by a virus from the coronavirus family. SARS is transmitted through contact with an infectious

person. According to Epiville, “SARS was first reported in Asia in February 2003”. Over a course of

a few months the illness had spread to more than 2 dozen countries. The illness wasn’t

contained until the middle of 2003. A little over 8400 people had become sick from SARS and a

little over 800 had died.

Describe the patterns that can be identified in the population impacted by the SARS outbreak,

citing the case to support your response.

In the case we are looking at one location in particular. That location being the Amony

Apartment Complex. With a population size of about 53000. This Apartment complex has a total

of 200 units and about 600 residents. A total of 70 individuals have been hospitalized with SARS

like symptoms. Of the 70 people hospitalized 53 of the have be diagnosed with the illness.

3. Draw conclusions about the mode of transmission of the disease based on your analysis of the

disease and population.

The main way that SARs is transmitted is by close contact with the disease. “Disease

transmission refers to any mechanism by which an infectious agent is spread from a source or

reservoir to another person”. According to the data collected, 20 staff members at The Star

Hospital had contracted the disease because they came in close contact with the patient that

was admitted for having the disease. The residents of Anomy Apartment Complex line so close

to one another and come in some type of contact with each other frequently that the disease

was able to spread quickly. Looking over the data collected there were more cases of SARS in

that one location compared to the other location in the small town. In conclusion, those who are

having SARAs like symptoms should be isolated from everyone until it is determined that they do

not have the disease. In doing this everyone is safe and the disease will not spread.

This worksheet was modified using information from the original case study found on the Epiville.