Week Four Discussion: Identifying Cases
Continuing the discussion on COVID-19, what types of information gathering will you employ in your investigation? Think about medical records, interviews, flyers, social media, pharmacy sales, etc.
What types of information will you gather for your investigation, be specific (e.g., demographics, signs and symptoms, what else?)?
• What potential biases may be introduced in either what types of data is collected or how you collect the data?
• What can be done to minimize bias in data collection or study design?
• Also consider what you may encounter when you start to collect data.
• What cultural considerations might be necessary?
• How will you accommodate special populations or deal with sensitive information?
• What are the ethical considerations in testing these contacts?
• How do you ensure confidentiality in a high-profile outbreak?
• What personal precautions should be taken when interacting with possible cases infected with an unknown infectious respiratory pathogen?
• What other types of information might be useful to collect to paint a more accurate picture of the outbreak?
• What types of specimens might be important to collect to send to the laboratory for testing?
• How can GIS or social media or other high-tech applications be used to help pinpoint the source and spread of an
outbreak?
• What barriers or unique challenges in outbreaks can slow the process of case identification?discuss with your classmates how you may mitigate some of the barriers