Epidemiology Unit 5 Course Project Part 5, Case Study Example

Question 1: According to the above data, what is the attack rate among the interviewed residents?

Cluster 1: 9/20 are ill

Cluster 2: 6/18 are ill

Cluster 3: 16/24 are ill

A total of 31/ 62 are sick for an attack rate of roughly 50%.

Question 2: What is the attack rate for those who eat the BBQ?

The attack rate for those who ate the BBQ is 30/58- for a total percentage of 52%.

Question 3:

Question 4: You conducted a cohort study, now calculate the risk ratio for the chopped BBQ.

Risk Ratio= 30/58/ 1/ 12

= .52/ .08= 6.24

Question 5: What is your theory on why the attack rate increased as BBQ was consumed after 4:15PM?

Because the kitchen staff prepared the BBQ in a different way; that is, individuals who ate the BBQ before were not exposed to the uncleanliness that pervaded the later preparation.

Question 6: How confident are you that your answer to question 5 is correct? Should you conduct another

epidemiology study to test your hypothesis? Why or why not?

No, regardless of what the ultimate answer “is”, the purpose of the epidemiological study is to understand the cause of the outbreak- not to understand (and ultimately solve) every small minutiae.

Question 7: Considering the EATC training center had two Gl illness outbreaks in the recent past and you’ve found evidence that the correct outbreak is related to food, what recommendations would you give to EATC 1 prevent future food borne illnesses?

The EATC training center should undertake a number of revisions to its current policy:

1. Encourage hand washing;
2. Stipulate new preparation standards for the food preparation including a new baseline for how the food should be prepared.