Outbreak Control, Case Study Example

In this case scenario, it is important to identify the key factors that will contribute to the development of a successful treatment and management plan for the patient and for the entire community within the senior living facility. This is a critical opportunity to examine the different areas that may be impacted by the risks associated with community residential areas and the ability to contract different types of illness or disease as a result of these conditions. Therefore, in these communities, the higher risk of disease due to age and reduced immunity is very real and requires an examination of the different alternatives that are available to manage this population effectively and to be proactive in reducing the risk and spread of disease as best as possible to prevent widespread illness among the residential population within this community.

For a patient who has been diagnosed with Legionnaire’s Disease, an abundance of precautions must be taken that will ensure that the patient is properly treated and isolated from the remainder of the population at the senior living facility, as this will support the spread of the disease throughout this population as best as possible. This disease represents a serious risk to the health and wellbeing of the older adult population living within this community because of its highly infectious nature and its influence on health outcomes for this vulnerable population; therefore, a comprehensive risk assessment must be conducted that will have a favorable impact on health outcomes for the affected group of residents within this community (Whiley, Keegan, Fallowfield, & Ross, 2014).

Legionnnaires Disease is classified as a form of Community-Acquired Pneumonia, and according to Watkins & Lemonovich (2011), “The overall annual incidence of CAP ranges from five to 11 per 1,000 persons, with more cases occurring in the winter months…in 2006, there were approximately 4.2 million ambulatory care visits for CAP in the United States…The estimated annual economic burden of CAP in the United States exceeds $17 billion” (p. 1299). These findings suggest that it is important to identify the specific resources that are required to support patients who face a high risk of developing one or more classifications of CAP, including Legionnaires Disease (Watkins & Lemonovich, 2011). These health concerns require an immediate and coordinated response from public health experts in order to determine the best possible strategy that will be effective in meeting the needs of this population as it aims to support their health needs as best as possible (Watkins & Lemonovich, 2011).

According to Sousa et.al (2013), “The number of elderly patients in the community with immunosuppressive conditions has increased progressively over recent decades. We sought to determine the incidence, causative organisms and outcome of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) occurring in immunocompromised older patients” (p. 187). Under these conditions, it is important to identify the specific factors that contribute to the formation of CAP in older adults and how to best address this condition through an effort to address community-based dwelling and other conditions where exposure may be very high (Sousa et.al, 2013). These concerns represent an opportunity to examine the different areas that impact the population in question and their level of exposure to one or more forms the disease, including Legionnaires Disease (Sousa et.al, 2013).

From this perspective, the patient in the case study must be continuously monitored for changes to his symptoms and the disease as a whole, and in an era of extreme precaution, he must be isolated from the rest of the population within the senior residential facility to minimize the risk of exposure for other residents. In addition, the patient must be provided with the tools and resources that are required to ensure that he is able to manage the disease effectively without spreading the infection to other residents. Therefore, it is necessary for the residential facility to address the situation with local public health officials as quickly as possible in order to prevent other residents from contracting the disease and experiencing its symptoms. These efforts require the residential facility to examine its own public health protocols and to identify areas where these protocols are weak so that they are able to contain the disease as best as possible, given the condition of the affected patient, the level of treatment that is required, and his level of exposure to the other residents. Most importantly, the risk of spreading the disease is likely to be higher when other residents possess low immunity and the inability to fight the infection in a timely manner to reduce their risk. These factors require the organization to examine its efforts to get ahead of the disease so that the risk to other patients is minimized as best as possible.

References

Sousa, D., Justo, I., Dominguez, A., Manzur, A., Izquierdo, C., Ruiz, L., … & Carratalá, J. (2013). Community?acquired pneumonia in immunocompromised older patients: incidence, causative organisms and outcome. Clinical Microbiology and Infection, 19(2), 187-192.

Watkins, R. R., & Lemonovich, T. L. (2011). Diagnosis, and Management of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults. Mortality, 100, 12.