POPM 3240 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Public Health Surveillance, Telehealth, Absenteeism
23 Apr 2019
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Document Summary
Refers to an increase, often sudden, in cases of disease above what is expected in the population. Often used interchangeably with epidemic , but : outbreak often refers to a more localized situation in space and/or time, epidemic often refers to a more widespread (and perhaps prolonged) situation. Make recommendation to reduce further risk of future outbreaks. Note: steps are presented linearly, but this isn"t always the case in practice. Often steps are simultaneous, overlapping, and/or in a different order depending on the unique situation. No two outbreak investigations are the same: determine existence of an outbreak. Illness reported by individuals, physicians, or others to public health authorities: recent trends: telehealth calls, absenteeism in schools/work, emergency room visits, syndromic surveillance (eg. sales of otc drugs), social networking, etc. If community-identified, try to lab-confirm the diagnosis: encourage individuals to submit samples, ensure cases are clinically similar and epidemiologically-linked.
