Home › NCK Licensing Exam (Nursing) › Public Health › Epidemiology and Outbreak Investigation › Verifying the diagnosis early in an outbreak inv…
Verifying the diagnosis early in an outbreak investigation serves which two purposes?
AFinding the reservoir and naming the mode of spread
BConfirming the disease and ruling out laboratory error
CCounting the cases and calculating the attack rates
DSetting the case definition and drawing the epi curve
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Confirming the disease and ruling out laboratory error
1. Control measures are usually specific to a disease, so acting on a wrong diagnosis wastes the response.
2. Verification therefore first ensures the disease has been properly identified.
3. It also rules out laboratory error as the reason for the apparent rise in reports.
4. Investigators review clinical and laboratory findings, visit some patients, and summarise clinical features in frequency distributions.
5. Counting cases, drawing the epidemic curve and finding the reservoir all come later, once the diagnosis is secure.
_Source: CDC Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice, 3rd Edition, section Step 3 Verify the Diagnosis_
Related questions
At a banquet the attack rate was 65.4% among people who ate beef and 11.4% among those whoWhich study design suits an outbreak of gastroenteritis among wedding guests, where a compCommunicating the findings of a completed outbreak investigation usually takes which two fAfter control measures have begun, active surveillance is continued mainly to answer whichControl and prevention measures are numbered eleventh in the conceptual sequence of an outA health department must judge whether an increase in reports of a notifiable disease is aInvestigators telephone and visit hospitals and clinics to collect information on any furtEarly in an investigation a loose case definition is often used and tightened later. Why d